[0:00] My name's Ray Schiffsky and I sold cars
[0:02] for 43 years. My son Zach and I are
[0:05] going to show you exactly how you go
[0:06] about negotiating the best possible car
[0:09] deals in 2026.
[0:12] >> Welcome to Gotcha Subaru. My name's
[0:14] Zach. How can I help you today, sir?
[0:15] >> Uh my name's Ray and I'm interested in
[0:18] one of your cross tracks.
[0:19] >> Okay. Thanks for coming in, Ray. Really
[0:21] appreciate that. Yeah, we've got plenty
[0:23] of cross tracks on the lot. Did you
[0:24] happen to do some research? Do you know
[0:25] a specific one you're interested in or
[0:27] do you want me to show you a few that
[0:28] might be good options for you? Uh, I was
[0:30] interested in a 2025 Cross Trek Limited
[0:33] that you had. Uh, I've done a little bit
[0:35] of research on the car and I believe
[0:38] you've had that car for I don't know
[0:40] about 187 days. It's a white one with
[0:42] the with black interior. Yeah. The stock
[0:44] number I have it right here. The stock
[0:46] numbers S's and Sam 3768186.
[0:52] >> Okay, sounds like you did your research.
[0:54] Let me look up that stock number really
[0:56] quickly. Let me punch it into my
[0:57] computer. Give me one second here. That
[0:58] was S's as in Sam 3768186.
[1:03] So, okay. Yep. This pulled up really
[1:05] quickly here for me, Ray. I've got it
[1:07] right here. 2025 Subaru Cross Trek
[1:09] Limited $36,547
[1:12] MSRP. It's got that interior like you
[1:14] mentioned. I think you said something
[1:15] about the days, but I don't I don't
[1:16] quite remember what that was. Yeah. Do
[1:17] you want me to get the keys? Do you want
[1:18] to go for a test drive? I mean, what can
[1:20] I do for you here?
[1:21] >> Well, uh, we need to discuss the out
[1:24] the-do price on the vehicle. Um, I I
[1:27] know that you've had it a while. You
[1:29] know, I' I've done some market research
[1:32] and I know that that they're selling
[1:34] fairly well, but this particular one,
[1:37] according to the market research that
[1:39] I've done, you've been advertising this
[1:41] vehicle for sale for the last 187 days.
[1:45] So, it's probably been sitting around a
[1:47] little longer than what your sales
[1:49] manager would prefer. And and I was
[1:52] thinking because of that, he could do me
[1:55] a favor and I can do you guys a favor.
[1:57] If we can work out a deal that's
[1:58] acceptable, I could take that vehicle
[2:00] off your books.
[2:01] >> Okay. So, uh I hear you loud and clear.
[2:03] You've been doing your research. We love
[2:04] when customers come in and they've done
[2:05] their research. Just makes the
[2:06] negotiation process that much simpler
[2:09] for us. But 187 days, I don't know where
[2:11] you're getting that number. I think this
[2:12] one just came off the truck the other
[2:14] day. It's brand new, fresh on the lot.
[2:16] That being said, you also said out the
[2:18] door price. What What do you mean by
[2:19] that, Ray? What can I do for you when it
[2:21] comes to the out the door?
[2:22] >> And and and you're right, it did just
[2:23] come off the truck 187 days ago. That
[2:26] would be 6 months. Just just just so we
[2:29] understand each other. Uh just a few
[2:32] days ago. 6 months is not just a few
[2:34] days ago. Um the the out the door
[2:37] number, what I'm talking about is I need
[2:39] to get a complete breakdown of the price
[2:42] of the vehicle, including all fees.
[2:45] That's state taxes, registration, every
[2:48] fee that you would charge me. And I need
[2:50] to know what that out thedoor number is
[2:52] as if I am going to actually write a
[2:55] check for it.
[2:56] >> Okay. Gotcha. Well, see, at our
[2:57] dealership here at Gotcha Subaru, I'm
[2:59] not allowed to actually give out
[3:01] pricing. I'll have to go talk to my
[3:02] manager for that. Do you want me to go
[3:04] run to my manager and get you a price
[3:05] quote?
[3:05] >> Uh, you can either run to your manager
[3:07] or have your manager run out to you. One
[3:09] of the two.
[3:11] >> Okay, Ray, good news. my manager gave me
[3:13] the numbers here. And I want to let you
[3:15] know that this deal is only good today.
[3:18] So that means that if you were to come
[3:19] back tomorrow, this price would no
[3:20] longer be honored. This deal is only for
[3:23] today. Now, online, we had the vehicle
[3:25] advertised at $34,285.
[3:29] Now, every vehicle here at Gotacha
[3:31] Subaru gets two add-ons. One is our
[3:33] Gotacha dock fee, which is $1,000. So
[3:36] that takes us up to $35,285.
[3:39] And then we add $2,000 in the Gotcha
[3:42] appearance package. That's to make sure
[3:43] that the vehicle stays in tip-top
[3:45] condition. It's a paint sealant and an
[3:47] interior protection product. And it even
[3:49] includes uh this thing called a window
[3:51] etch, which makes sure if your vehicle
[3:53] gets stolen, we're able to locate. So
[3:54] that's an additional $2,000. So we're up
[3:56] to $37,285.
[3:59] There's some state fees and some taxes
[4:01] and things like that. Most my manager
[4:03] can get on an out the door worksheet for
[4:05] you here in just a couple minutes. But I
[4:06] wanted to talk to you a little bit.
[4:07] Again, this is the best deal we can
[4:09] possibly offer and it's and it's only
[4:11] good for today.
[4:12] >> Well, that that that that probably
[4:14] explains why that car has been sitting
[4:15] here 187 days. Um,
[4:19] you know, I really I'm not interested in
[4:22] your gotcha package. Um, I I don't need
[4:24] the paint protection. I've got a garage
[4:26] at home. Uh, interior protection. Um,
[4:29] you know, I don't have any kids or
[4:31] anything that are going to be spilling
[4:32] their sodas and and their snacks in the
[4:35] car. Um, and and window etch, uh, you
[4:38] know, I've done my research. Window etch
[4:40] is worthless. So, here here's what we
[4:42] need to do. We need to work on an out
[4:44] the-do number and and that out the door
[4:47] number has to be less the the selling
[4:50] price has to be less than what it's
[4:52] advertised online for. And it cannot
[4:55] include the $1,000 dock fee and the
[4:58] $2,000 gotcha package. So, if you would
[5:01] be so kind, I I'll just ask this one one
[5:05] more time. Could you run or skip or walk
[5:08] quickly to your manager and ask him to
[5:12] provide me with that information? I need
[5:14] that complete breakdown. Listen, I I
[5:17] know that you're advertising it at a
[5:19] good price, but that advertised price
[5:21] means nothing if you're going to add
[5:23] $3,000 worth of uh useless stuff that I
[5:27] wasn't remotely interested in. So, I I
[5:30] know the invoice was 34391 or something
[5:34] like that. We need to do better.
[5:36] >> Now, Ray, I'm going to go talk to my
[5:37] manager, but I know he's going to ask me
[5:39] two questions. One is, how do you plan
[5:41] on purchasing this vehicle? That can
[5:42] impact the out the door price if you're
[5:44] going to finance it, pay cash, lease it.
[5:46] That can change the ultimate selling
[5:47] price of the vehicle. And the other
[5:49] question my manager is going to ask me
[5:50] is, do you have trade in? Because again,
[5:52] that can totally change the out the-do
[5:54] price of the vehicle. So, let me know
[5:56] the answer to those questions and then
[5:57] I'll skip and jump and walk back to my
[5:59] manager and get you a new out the door
[6:01] price.
[6:01] >> I'm I'm I'm planning on buying it once I
[6:04] get that out the door number that I can
[6:06] look at. That's how I'm planning on
[6:08] buying it. If I don't get to see that
[6:09] information, it doesn't matter if I'm
[6:11] going to finance it, if I'm going to
[6:13] lease it, or if I'm going to pay cash
[6:15] for it. Okay? Let's establish a selling
[6:18] price with all the fees first and then
[6:20] then if that's acceptable, then I can
[6:22] have that conversation as to how to pay
[6:25] for it with the finance manager when I
[6:27] go to complete all the paperwork.
[6:29] >> But what about your trade in? You must
[6:30] have a trade in. And again, that can
[6:31] totally change the numbers of this car
[6:33] deal. So, I need to know, do you have a
[6:34] tradein?
[6:35] >> Uh, I I I don't know if I have a trade
[6:37] in or I don't have a trade in. I have
[6:39] the opportunity to sell my car, the my
[6:42] existing car to my neighbor who's uh
[6:44] whose daughter's graduating high school
[6:46] and she needs a car and they like the
[6:48] car or I I I have an offer from CarMax
[6:52] um and I can sell it directly to them.
[6:55] So, let's not worry about the trade.
[6:56] That's a complete separate transaction.
[6:59] Just get me that out the door price. I
[7:02] don't want to have to ask again. If I
[7:04] have to ask again, well, I'll have to go
[7:06] to your competitor. Well, Ray, I'm going
[7:08] to go talk to my manager, but I don't
[7:10] know if you've given me enough to work
[7:11] with here. I don't know how you're
[7:12] planning on paying for the vehicle. I
[7:14] have no clue if you have a trade. It
[7:15] sounds like you probably do, but maybe
[7:17] you won't sell it to us. And obviously,
[7:19] you're not interested in any of our
[7:21] gotcha packages, which is a bit of a
[7:22] bummer, but I'll go talk to my manager
[7:24] and see what I can do.
[7:25] >> Well, yes, please. And uh and if you can
[7:28] speed up the process just a tad, I would
[7:30] greatly appreciate it.
[7:31] >> So, Pops, there we go. That's pretty
[7:33] much the experience of negotiating a new
[7:35] car at the dealership. And quite
[7:36] frankly, if you are buying a new car in
[7:38] 2026, you shouldn't do any of this at
[7:40] the dealership. You should do all of
[7:41] this virtually. You can get those out
[7:43] the door price quotes either via phone,
[7:45] text, or email, and ultimately compare
[7:47] offers from multiple dealerships because
[7:49] that back and forth that we were just
[7:50] starting to get into, sure, it was a
[7:52] couple minutes long in this video, but
[7:53] that can last hours at the dealership,
[7:55] and that's really not a good use of your
[7:57] time.
[7:57] >> Uh, no. And the best use of your time is
[7:59] is to do that research online. Uh to
[8:02] reach out uh via email or text. Uh the
[8:06] phone is wonderful, but you know, they
[8:09] might record the conversation, but you
[8:11] won't. I prefer written context here so
[8:14] that you can refer to what they said and
[8:16] what you said. So, I would prefer email
[8:18] or text. Um, and and yes, reach out to a
[8:22] number of dealers, but you you you have
[8:24] to do that research prior to ever going
[8:28] into the dealership. You have to do that
[8:30] outreach prior to ever going to the
[8:33] dealership so you have as much of this
[8:35] established as you possibly can so you
[8:38] don't have to do that back and forth
[8:40] dance in the dealership.
[8:41] >> Yeah. I want to separate research and
[8:43] outreach though, Dad, because research
[8:44] is trying to figure out things, for
[8:46] example, like how long the vehicle's
[8:47] been on the lot, what the dealer invoice
[8:49] price is, how fast inventory is turning
[8:50] over. Outreach is outreach and getting
[8:53] out the door price quotes. And to me,
[8:54] those feel like very separate activities
[8:56] in 2026 if I'm buying a new car. You
[8:58] referenced multiple times in that
[9:00] roleplay 187 days on the lot. You
[9:02] mentioned the dealer invoice cost. You
[9:04] were very knowledgeable. You even
[9:05] mentioned that the car was selling,
[9:06] those types of cars were selling fast in
[9:07] that market area. All that research can
[9:10] be done online. We provide that
[9:11] information at car edge.com. Many other
[9:13] websites provide information as well.
[9:15] You got to do that and you have to
[9:16] locate five, 10, 15 vehicles that match
[9:19] your criteria. The outreach is a whole
[9:21] another ballgame. You can do the
[9:22] research and never do the outreach. And
[9:24] the price may change as you saw in that
[9:25] roleplay by $3,000. And for doing the
[9:28] outreach, it's all about, to your point,
[9:29] getting written out the door price
[9:31] quotes. And then the strategy is very
[9:33] simple. You just get the lowest number
[9:35] there depending on how much energy you
[9:37] want to put in. and you can share those
[9:38] quotes with the dealers you're talking
[9:40] to to see who wants to match or beat it.
[9:42] I think that's like really the the the
[9:45] all-encompassing approach here is do
[9:46] your research and then when you go to do
[9:48] your outreach, know your strategy is get
[9:49] multiple offers. So in 2026, the actual
[9:52] time spent at the dealership should be
[9:54] to take delivery. In many states, you
[9:55] can also do e signature. So really going
[9:58] to the dealership is just taking
[9:59] delivery of the vehicle, not even doing
[10:01] the negotiation. I do think it's
[10:03] important to note and we'll make a
[10:04] follow-up video that is a role play for
[10:05] the finance office because in a lot of
[10:07] instances that does take place at the
[10:09] dealership. That's where your interest
[10:10] rate comes in, the auto loan. But pretty
[10:12] much everything can be done before you
[10:13] go to the dealership. If you do your
[10:15] research and your outreach beforehand,
[10:17] obviously back at car edge.com, we have
[10:19] tools that can help you do this. And at
[10:20] a minimum, even just watching this video
[10:22] means you're a step ahead of most car
[10:24] shoppers.
[10:24] >> Absolutely. You, I think, nailed it.