With Halloween quickly approaching, shopping for a new vehicle this season can feel eerily like entering a haunted house. Amid the ongoing inventory shortage and rising new-vehicle prices, there’s an uncertainty that comes along with the car-buying process: Is the dealer lot hauntingly empty? Are vehicle price tags frighteningly high? Can discounts and incentives get you out unscathed?
Related: How Long Will the Vehicle Inventory Shortage Last?
These are all valid concerns, according to J.D. Power. The firm’s latest report finds the average vehicle transaction price in September reached a record high of $42,802 — up nearly 19% from the prior year. Contributing to the spike are reduced manufacturer incentives that are trending in the opposite direction. The average incentive per vehicle in September was $1,755 — down $2,037 from the prior year. As a percentage of vehicle MSRP, the average incentives in September hit a record low of 4% — down over five percentage points from the prior year.
To ease some of the trepidation of buying a new vehicle in the current landscape, we hunted down the best new-car deals for October. The following vehicles offer the highest factory discounts, some of which are more than double the average manufacturer incentives reported above.