Buy the 2026, Not the 2027: Every Model Where the Outgoing Year Is the Better Deal

Every fall the same question lands at the dealership: take the 2026 sitting on the lot, or order the 2027 that is still a month out? This year the answer is unusually clear, because the 2027 model year is less about new cars than about subtraction. Across the dozen-plus nameplates we have priced since September, the pattern is the same: the sticker goes up a little, a trim or a powertrain quietly disappears, and the car that lost something is the one you can still buy today as a 2026. A few brands went the other way and cut prices, and for those the advice flips. Below is the full list, model by model, with the math.

The context matters. New-car prices are not falling: Cox Automotive put the average September transaction at $50,562, and incentives at 6.6% of the price, down from 7.3% a year earlier, as we showed in our look at who is cutting 2027 prices and why. So a leftover 2026 is not automatically a bargain. It is a bargain when the 2027 costs more for the same car, when the 2027 dropped the version you wanted, or when the 2027 does not exist at all. Here is where each of those applies.

The table: what changes for 2027, and what to do

Prices below are the figures each automaker published, and we say in every row whether destination is included. Do not compare a before-destination number with an after-destination one: that is the fastest way to invent a $1,500 difference that isn't there.

Two caveats on that table. Jeep, Ford, and Chevrolet have not published 2027 prices for the Wrangler, Bronco, and F-150, so those three stay out of the price columns until they do. And every "2026 price" is the manufacturer's list price, not a dealer's asking price; what a specific store will take is a local question.

Gone for 2027: the last-chance list

The strongest case for a 2026 is a version that will not be built again. Lexus accounts for three of them. The TX 550h+ was the only three-row Lexus that could run on electricity alone, rated at 404 hp and 33 miles of EV range, and Lexus dropped it without explanation, as we reported in our 2027 TX pricing story. The RX lost its Standard grade, which is why the cheapest 2027 RX costs $2,675 more than the cheapest 2026. And the NX 350 turbo, the last gas-only NX, is gone from a 2027 lineup that is hybrid or plug-in only.

The Wrangler 4xe is the biggest exit by volume. It sold 55,554 units in 2024 and was, by Stellantis' own count, America's best-selling plug-in hybrid for three straight years. Jeep's 2027 Wrangler rundown lists three engines and no plug. Our analysis of why the Wrangler 4xe isn't coming back covers the business side; the buyer's side is simpler. Whatever 4xe you find on a lot is leftover stock, and before you sign, check the VIN against NHTSA's recall lookup. Campaign 25V741, filed in October 2025, covers about 320,065 Wrangler and Grand Cherokee 4xe models for a high-voltage battery that can fail and catch fire, and at filing the remedy was still under development. A plug-in you are told not to charge is not a plug-in; make sure the fix has been applied, or that it exists.

Lincoln's Corsair is a different kind of exit. The 2027 car is better equipped, with a 305-hp hybrid, standard all-wheel drive, and BlueCruise, but it costs $7,310 more and comes from China, as we broke down in our 2027 Corsair price story. The 2026 Grand Touring plug-in and the front-drive Premiere are both gone. If either is what you wanted, the 2026 is the only year that has it, and Ford Authority counted only about 300 new ones in July.

Two more are gone in a stricter sense. Ford stopped building the F-150 Lightning in December 2025, so the only Lightning market is the used one, and our used Lightning buying guide lists the recall campaigns to check. Polestar cannot sell a 2027 model year in the United States at all after the Commerce Department declined to clear it under the Connected Vehicle Rule, and the company has said it will sell down its earlier inventory and stop. The discounts were large, but you would be buying from a brand that is leaving; our Polestar buying guide explains what that means for service and software.

The same car for more money

This is the biggest group, and the one where a 2026 is only a deal if there is a closeout program attached. The Camry is the clearest example: the 2027 is the 2026 with a $100 higher sticker on every grade, and nothing else changed. Nissan's Altima and Rogue added $210 and $200, Kia's Sorento added $200, Jeep's Cherokee added $130, and the Pathfinder moved between nothing and $300. Lexus added $500 on most RX grades, $200 to $400 on the TX, and $750 on the GX.

The Rogue deserves a second look, because the 2027 is not quite the same car. Nissan retuned the CVT and the 2027 spec sheet lists 28/33/30 mpg for front-drive models, down from the 29/36/32 Nissan quoted for the mid-year 2026.5 car. Nissan has not explained the drop. The 2026.5 Rogue is therefore both cheaper and, on paper, more efficient; our 2027 Rogue pricing story has the full trim walk.

Watch the destination charge in this group, too. Lincoln raised the Corsair's from $1,495 to $2,295, which is $800 of the headline increase on its own. Subaru added $95 across the Outback line, which quietly trims every price cut. Toyota has not published a 2027 Camry destination charge yet; the 2026 figure is $1,295.

Where the 2027 is the better deal

Not every changeover favors the old car. Subaru cut the 2027 Outback almost everywhere, with a new $32,995 base trim $2,000 under the cheapest 2026 and the Limited, Touring, and both XT grades down $770 to $1,900, per Subaru's pricing announcement. The Impreza did the same a month earlier. A dealer would need to take more than $2,000 off a leftover 2026 Outback base-equivalent before it beats a 2027 at list, and Subaru's sales numbers suggest the cuts land exactly where the brand needs volume.

The Mach-E is a value move rather than a cut. The 2027 Select RWD costs $2,200 more than the 2026, but it comes with an 88-kWh usable pack instead of 73, so the price per kilowatt-hour falls from roughly $518 to roughly $454, as we calculated in our 2027 Mach-E pricing story. If range matters, wait. If the smaller pack covers your driving, the 2026 is the cheaper car, and Ford's EV sales fell 80% in the third quarter, which is not the profile of a brand holding the line on leftover stock.

The Silverado 1500 is the hardest call, because the 2027 is a new generation with a 10-speed automatic, bigger screens, and more standard driver assistance, and every trim but one costs more. GM's finance chief told analysts that incentives on the outgoing truck are several hundred basis points below past changeovers, as we noted in our Q3 earnings scorecard. Chevrolet ended September with 88 days of supply against an 82-day industry average, so the pressure to clear 2026 trucks is modest. Buy a 2026 if the RST or LTZ is the trim you want, since both are gone; otherwise the 2027 is more truck for its money.

Where the leverage actually is

Inventory, not the calendar, decides how much a dealer will move. Cox Automotive's end-of-September days'-supply figures put Ford at 101 days, GMC at 106, Buick at 124, and Ram, Dodge, and Jeep at 149 to 169, all well above the 82-day average. Chevrolet sat at 88. Tesla reported 11 days of supply globally and its highest backlog ever. Those numbers are brand-level, not model-level, but they say where closeout money is likeliest to show up: Jeep lots with 2026 Wranglers and Cherokees, Ford lots with 2026 trucks and Mach-Es, and Buick and GMC stores generally.

Official closeout programs are the other half. Every automaker publishes them on its own site, but the pages are gated by ZIP code and the offers change monthly, so we are not reprinting rates here that may not apply where you live. When we checked on October 21 and 22 for our comparisons, the October programs we found on nissanusa.com, toyota.com, and ford.com carried November 2 end dates, and Hyundai's ran through November 3. November's programs replace them the following day, and we will update this guide once they post. Until then, the rule is simple: a 2026 without a published program on it is just an older car at a newer car's price.

The model-year math nobody mentions at the desk

A 2026 bought in November 2026 is a one-year-old car on paper the day you drive it home, and it will be a two-year-old car next November, when the 2027 you did not buy is still a one-year-old car. At trade-in time, and in insurance total-loss valuations, that year is real money, and no dealer brings it up. So the honest rule for negotiating on an outgoing model year is this: the 2026 has to be cheaper than the 2027 by more than the price increase, because the price increase is the only thing the 2027 costs you and the model year is something the 2026 costs you.

That gives you a two-part test for any 2026 on a lot. First, does the 2027 version cost more for the same car, drop a trim or a powertrain you want, or not exist? If none of those apply, as with the Outback or the base Mach-E, the 2026 needs a program to make sense. Second, with the program applied and destination included on both sides, is the 2026 at least a model year's worth cheaper? If a dealer wants the 2027's price for the 2026, order the 2027.

Three cases, with numbers

Lexus RX 350 Standard, buy the 2026. The 2026 Standard listed at $52,775 with DPH. The cheapest 2027 is the 350 Premium at $55,450 with the same $1,550 DPH. That is $2,675 before any program, on a trim that no longer exists, for a car whose powertrains carry over unchanged. Even paying list for the 2026, you are ahead by the price of a model year and then some. The only reason to wait is if you want the Premium's equipment anyway, in which case the 2026 Premium is $500 cheaper than the 2027 one.

Nissan Rogue S FWD, buy the 2026.5. List is $29,490 against $29,690 for the 2027, both before the $1,575 destination charge, so the 2026.5 starts $200 ahead. Then add fuel. At 15,000 miles a year and AAA's national average of about $4.29 a gallon on October 26, the 2026.5 at 32 mpg combined burns about 469 gallons, or roughly $2,010; the 2027 at 30 mpg burns 500 gallons, or about $2,145. That is $135 a year on Nissan's own estimates, or about $670 over five years, on top of the $200. The caveat: the EPA has not posted official 2027 figures on fueleconomy.gov, and if the 2027 tests closer to the 2026.5, the fuel gap shrinks to nothing. The $200 stays.

Ford Mustang Mach-E Select RWD, wait for the 2027. The 2026 lists at $37,795 with 73 kWh; the 2027 lists at $39,995 with 88 kWh, both before destination. The extra $2,200 buys 15 kWh, about 21% more battery for about 6% more money. Ford's 2026 extended-range cars were rated at up to 320 miles, and the 2027 car's EPA figures are not out yet, so treat the range gain as likely rather than certain. For most buyers that is still the better car. The exception is someone who charges at home every night and never drives 200 miles in a day; for them, a 2026 with a closeout program is the cheaper EV, and Ford has more motive than most to clear it.

One more trap: the "2026" is not always one car

Model years can change mid-cycle, and the changes do not show on the window sticker. Nissan's 2026 Kicks earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick only for vehicles built after June 2026, when the automaker fitted new rear seat belts; earlier 2026 cars rated Marginal in the updated moderate overlap test, as we covered in our compact SUV IIHS guide. The Rogue has a 2026 and a 2026.5 with different fuel-economy ratings. Before you buy any leftover, read the build date on the door-jamb label and check which version of the "2026" you are getting.

What we don't know yet

• 2027 prices for the Wrangler, Bronco, and F-150. Jeep and Ford have opened orders without price lists. Until those post, the 2026 versions can't be scored.
• November closeout programs. The October offers we found end November 2 and 3. We will update the table once the replacements are published.
• 2027 Lexus NX pricing and the 2027 Camry destination charge. Both are missing from the automakers' releases.
• Official EPA ratings for the 2027 Rogue and Mach-E. The fuel and range math above uses manufacturer estimates until fueleconomy.gov posts the numbers.
• Fourth-quarter sales. If the brands with the deepest inventory move it in October, the leverage map above changes in January.