EOFY Deals: When Is the Best Time to Buy a Car in Australia?

Six weeks out from 30 June, and the deals are already landing. Driveaway pricing, free servicing bundles, and finance offers with headline rates that look almost too good to be true. Dealers across the country are clearing stock, chasing targets, and getting more flexible by the week.

But here's the thing. EOFY isn't the only window, and the deals you see advertised aren't always the best deals available. If you know how the buying calendar works, you can save thousands, not just in June, but at four different points during the year.

The four best windows to buy a car in Australia

1. End of Financial Year (May to June)

This is the big one. Dealers need to hit manufacturer targets by 30 June. Miss the target, miss the bonus. That pressure flows straight to pricing.

Right now in May 2026, you'll see finance offers advertised at headline rates that look too good to pass up. Be careful. These often bake the cost into the purchase price or come with conditions that limit your negotiating power. The better move is to compare independently and use pre-approved finance as your baseline.

If you're buying through an ABN, the timing matters even more. The asset needs to settle before 30 June to claim the deduction in this financial year. That means getting your finance sorted in May, not leaving it to the last week of June.

2. End of calendar year (November to December)

Dealers chase a second set of targets in December. Combine that with lower foot traffic over the holiday period and you've got salespeople with time on their hands and deals to close. December is also when demo vehicles pile up. More on that below.

3. Model changeover periods

When a new model year arrives, the outgoing version needs to go. A 2026 Corolla sitting next to the 2027 model is a problem for the dealer, not for you. The car is identical in every practical way, but the dealer will discount it to move it. Watch for changeover announcements from the brands you're interested in.

4. End of quarter (March, June, September, December)

Quarterly targets matter too. The last week of each quarter is when dealer principals start approving deals they wouldn't normally accept. June and December are strongest because they overlap with EOFY and year-end, but March and September are underrated buying windows.

What's happening in the market right now

The Australian new car market has tipped in favour of buyers. Year-to-date sales are down 1.5% on 2025. Supply has recovered from the post-COVID squeeze, but demand has softened with cost-of-living pressure. That means stock is sitting on dealer lots longer, and flexibility on pricing is back.

EVs now account for 16.4% of all new car sales in Australia. That's a record. If you're considering electric, competition between manufacturers has pushed pricing lower than it's ever been in Australia, and EOFY is accelerating that further.

Demo cars are your secret weapon. Dealers register demonstrator vehicles throughout the year, and by May and June there's a surplus. These are cars with low kilometres, full warranty, and the dealer needs them gone. Expect discounts of $3,000 to $8,000 on a vehicle that's effectively new.

The pre-approval advantage

Most buyers walk into a dealership without finance arranged. That's a mistake, because it hands the dealer two profit opportunities instead of one: the car sale and the finance margin.

Arriving with pre-approved finance changes the dynamic entirely. You know exactly what you can spend. You're not waiting for a bank to say yes. From the dealer's perspective, you're a cash buyer who can settle fast. That's the kind of buyer who gets the better deal.

Pre-approval also protects you from dealer finance, which often looks attractive on the surface (0% interest, no deposit) but bakes the cost into the purchase price or adds fees you won't see until the paperwork.

Get your finance sorted before you start shopping. It takes minutes, not days.

Skip the negotiation entirely

Not everyone wants to spend their weekends haggling at dealerships. If that's you, there's another option.

Emu Money's car buying service does the negotiation for you. Tell us the make, model, and spec you want, and we shop it across our network of hundreds of dealerships to find the best price available. Because we buy volume, we can often access fleet and wholesale pricing that isn't available to walk-in buyers, with savings of up to 12% off the retail price.

On a $55,000 SUV, that's up to $6,600 back in your pocket before you've even started talking about finance.

You get the car you want, at a better price, with finance arranged through the same process. No weekends lost. No back-and-forth. No wondering if you left money on the table.

Five rules for buying during EOFY

Get competing quotes. Visit at least three dealerships for the same model. A written quote from one dealer is your best negotiating tool at the next. Or let Emu Money's car buying service do this for you across hundreds of dealerships.

Don't fall for "today only" pressure. If a dealer says the price is only available today, it almost certainly isn't. Offers run until 30 June. Walk away and come back if needed.

Check demo and run-out stock. Ask specifically about demonstrators and outgoing model year vehicles. These are often the deepest discounts on the lot, and dealers don't always advertise them.

Settle before 30 June if you need the tax year. For ABN buyers claiming a deduction, settlement date is what counts. The vehicle needs to be paid for and in your name before the financial year ends.

Don't finance at the dealership. Compare your options independently. A finance specialist with access to 50+ lenders will almost always find a better rate than the dealer's in-house option.

Ready to go shopping?

Get your finance sorted before you hit the dealerships, or let us do the whole thing. Emu Money compares car loan options across 50+ lenders and gets you pre-approved. Or use our car buying service and we'll find the car, negotiate the price, and arrange the finance. Compare car loan options.

Subject to lender approval, terms, and conditions apply.