Is it the best time of the year to buy a new car?

The end of the year is a popular time to buy a new car. But consumer advocates say despite all those ads touting deep discounts, now may not be best time to buy.

Between now and New Year's Day, new car sales are expected to be 78 percent higher than the average week in December.

Editors at the non-profit website Checkbook.org caution consumers to not get swept up in all the year-end marketing hype. They found better bargains scattered throughout the year, especially on slow-selling models.

Checkbook.org says how much dealerships discount is really based on supply and demand, not on motivation to make year-end sales quotas.