Does anyone know a way to find out how long a car has been on the lot/available?
Thanks!
https://www.cargurus.com although if the car has been dealer traded it gets a little tricky
If it’s a used car just look at the CARFAX.
New Car only a dealer can see, I think? (help correct me if wrong folks!)
Check out the link I posted, they give you age on new and used cars, pretty legit
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Cargurus.com will show the time on a lot. They don’t show every dealership’s inventory, however.
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Any good sales manager will steer his staff towards aged units
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True, but going into the lot with this knowledge does help out 
Thank you for that info Joe!
At what point do dealerships usually become more motivated to discount and move aged units?
If you have paid for unlimited Carfax reports for some reason (like if you have also been shopping for a used car) you will be able to plug in the VIN and see the day the vehicle was imported (if built outside of NAFTA) along with when it was prepped at the dealership.
It’s hit or miss. Depends on the dealership and business model. Domestic dealers generally run with greater days/dollars supply, so age gets to be more of an issue than with the volume import brands.
+1 for CarGurus. Typically it shows number of days at that dealership and total number of days offered for sale.
Most states require an annual inspection sticker. Most dealers slap that sticker on there as soon as it hits the lot. You won’t know the exact day but you will know the month it was received. I guess make sure it is not over a year old, but I would think that would be more obvious. Check the glove box for some kind of dealer shipping slip, etc…
You can also read the code on the tires that shows when it was manufactured. The date of manufacture is the last four digits of the DOT code. The first two digits are the week of manufacture, and the last two digits are the year. For example, if the last four digits of the DOT code are 0203, that means that the tire was manufactured during the second week of the year 2003.
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Is one carjojo.com better than the next? 
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Thanks for the Carguru tip. Just found out the car I test drove this weekend has been there for almost 9 months. I walked on their first offer it was so bad. I’ll take another stab when it hits the 10 or 12 month mark.
The car i drove on Sunday was on the lot for 8 months, they couldnt give 2 fucks.
Are you sure the inspection sticker goes on when the DEALER gets the car and not the BUYER? We don’t have inspection stickers in CA, but we do have registration tags that do not go on the car until the car is purchased.
As for the tire info, it is important to know, but i dont think it should be used in the context of finding out the age on the lot. The date code is when the tire was made, not necessarily when the car was on the lot. Its simliar to looking up the build date off the VIN.
Hopefully these fine gents have added a couple of new websites and info to your leasing toolkit. Thank you for that and taking the time to read all this
Cheers!
Yes, at least in VA…
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I know that’s the case in PA.
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Do you think the carjojo site is actually accurate with the days on lot info?