Don't Buy a Car Until You Watch THIS Video | How to Negotiate in 2026

[00:00] My name's Ray Schiffsky and I sold cars

[00:02] for 43 years. My son Zach and I are

[00:05] going to show you exactly how you go

[00:06] about negotiating the best possible car

[00:09] deals in 2026.

[00:12] >> Welcome to Gotcha Subaru. My name's

[00:14] Zach. How can I help you today, sir?

[00:15] >> Uh my name's Ray and I'm interested in

[00:18] one of your cross tracks.

[00:19] >> Okay. Thanks for coming in, Ray. Really

[00:21] appreciate that. Yeah, we've got plenty

[00:23] of cross tracks on the lot. Did you

[00:24] happen to do some research? Do you know

[00:25] a specific one you're interested in or

[00:27] do you want me to show you a few that

[00:28] might be good options for you? Uh, I was

[00:30] interested in a 2025 Cross Trek Limited

[00:33] that you had. Uh, I've done a little bit

[00:35] of research on the car and I believe

[00:38] you've had that car for I don't know

[00:40] about 187 days. It's a white one with

[00:42] the with black interior. Yeah. The stock

[00:44] number I have it right here. The stock

[00:46] numbers S's and Sam 3768186.

[00:52] >> Okay, sounds like you did your research.

[00:54] Let me look up that stock number really

[00:56] quickly. Let me punch it into my

[00:57] computer. Give me one second here. That

[00:58] was S's as in Sam 3768186.

[01:03] So, okay. Yep. This pulled up really

[01:05] quickly here for me, Ray. I've got it

[01:07] right here. 2025 Subaru Cross Trek

[01:09] Limited $36,547

[01:12] MSRP. It's got that interior like you

[01:14] mentioned. I think you said something

[01:15] about the days, but I don't I don't

[01:16] quite remember what that was. Yeah. Do

[01:17] you want me to get the keys? Do you want

[01:18] to go for a test drive? I mean, what can

[01:20] I do for you here?

[01:21] >> Well, uh, we need to discuss the out

[01:24] the-do price on the vehicle. Um, I I

[01:27] know that you've had it a while. You

[01:29] know, I' I've done some market research

[01:32] and I know that that they're selling

[01:34] fairly well, but this particular one,

[01:37] according to the market research that

[01:39] I've done, you've been advertising this

[01:41] vehicle for sale for the last 187 days.

[01:45] So, it's probably been sitting around a

[01:47] little longer than what your sales

[01:49] manager would prefer. And and I was

[01:52] thinking because of that, he could do me

[01:55] a favor and I can do you guys a favor.

[01:57] If we can work out a deal that's

[01:58] acceptable, I could take that vehicle

[02:00] off your books.

[02:01] >> Okay. So, uh I hear you loud and clear.

[02:03] You've been doing your research. We love

[02:04] when customers come in and they've done

[02:05] their research. Just makes the

[02:06] negotiation process that much simpler

[02:09] for us. But 187 days, I don't know where

[02:11] you're getting that number. I think this

[02:12] one just came off the truck the other

[02:14] day. It's brand new, fresh on the lot.

[02:16] That being said, you also said out the

[02:18] door price. What What do you mean by

[02:19] that, Ray? What can I do for you when it

[02:21] comes to the out the door?

[02:22] >> And and and you're right, it did just

[02:23] come off the truck 187 days ago. That

[02:26] would be 6 months. Just just just so we

[02:29] understand each other. Uh just a few

[02:32] days ago. 6 months is not just a few

[02:34] days ago. Um the the out the door

[02:37] number, what I'm talking about is I need

[02:39] to get a complete breakdown of the price

[02:42] of the vehicle, including all fees.

[02:45] That's state taxes, registration, every

[02:48] fee that you would charge me. And I need

[02:50] to know what that out thedoor number is

[02:52] as if I am going to actually write a

[02:55] check for it.

[02:56] >> Okay. Gotcha. Well, see, at our

[02:57] dealership here at Gotcha Subaru, I'm

[02:59] not allowed to actually give out

[03:01] pricing. I'll have to go talk to my

[03:02] manager for that. Do you want me to go

[03:04] run to my manager and get you a price

[03:05] quote?

[03:05] >> Uh, you can either run to your manager

[03:07] or have your manager run out to you. One

[03:09] of the two.

[03:11] >> Okay, Ray, good news. my manager gave me

[03:13] the numbers here. And I want to let you

[03:15] know that this deal is only good today.

[03:18] So that means that if you were to come

[03:19] back tomorrow, this price would no

[03:20] longer be honored. This deal is only for

[03:23] today. Now, online, we had the vehicle

[03:25] advertised at $34,285.

[03:29] Now, every vehicle here at Gotacha

[03:31] Subaru gets two add-ons. One is our

[03:33] Gotacha dock fee, which is $1,000. So

[03:36] that takes us up to $35,285.

[03:39] And then we add $2,000 in the Gotcha

[03:42] appearance package. That's to make sure

[03:43] that the vehicle stays in tip-top

[03:45] condition. It's a paint sealant and an

[03:47] interior protection product. And it even

[03:49] includes uh this thing called a window

[03:51] etch, which makes sure if your vehicle

[03:53] gets stolen, we're able to locate. So

[03:54] that's an additional $2,000. So we're up

[03:56] to $37,285.

[03:59] There's some state fees and some taxes

[04:01] and things like that. Most my manager

[04:03] can get on an out the door worksheet for

[04:05] you here in just a couple minutes. But I

[04:06] wanted to talk to you a little bit.

[04:07] Again, this is the best deal we can

[04:09] possibly offer and it's and it's only

[04:11] good for today.

[04:12] >> Well, that that that that probably

[04:14] explains why that car has been sitting

[04:15] here 187 days. Um,

[04:19] you know, I really I'm not interested in

[04:22] your gotcha package. Um, I I don't need

[04:24] the paint protection. I've got a garage

[04:26] at home. Uh, interior protection. Um,

[04:29] you know, I don't have any kids or

[04:31] anything that are going to be spilling

[04:32] their sodas and and their snacks in the

[04:35] car. Um, and and window etch, uh, you

[04:38] know, I've done my research. Window etch

[04:40] is worthless. So, here here's what we

[04:42] need to do. We need to work on an out

[04:44] the-do number and and that out the door

[04:47] number has to be less the the selling

[04:50] price has to be less than what it's

[04:52] advertised online for. And it cannot

[04:55] include the $1,000 dock fee and the

[04:58] $2,000 gotcha package. So, if you would

[05:01] be so kind, I I'll just ask this one one

[05:05] more time. Could you run or skip or walk

[05:08] quickly to your manager and ask him to

[05:12] provide me with that information? I need

[05:14] that complete breakdown. Listen, I I

[05:17] know that you're advertising it at a

[05:19] good price, but that advertised price

[05:21] means nothing if you're going to add

[05:23] $3,000 worth of uh useless stuff that I

[05:27] wasn't remotely interested in. So, I I

[05:30] know the invoice was 34391 or something

[05:34] like that. We need to do better.

[05:36] >> Now, Ray, I'm going to go talk to my

[05:37] manager, but I know he's going to ask me

[05:39] two questions. One is, how do you plan

[05:41] on purchasing this vehicle? That can

[05:42] impact the out the door price if you're

[05:44] going to finance it, pay cash, lease it.

[05:46] That can change the ultimate selling

[05:47] price of the vehicle. And the other

[05:49] question my manager is going to ask me

[05:50] is, do you have trade in? Because again,

[05:52] that can totally change the out the-do

[05:54] price of the vehicle. So, let me know

[05:56] the answer to those questions and then

[05:57] I'll skip and jump and walk back to my

[05:59] manager and get you a new out the door

[06:01] price.

[06:01] >> I'm I'm I'm planning on buying it once I

[06:04] get that out the door number that I can

[06:06] look at. That's how I'm planning on

[06:08] buying it. If I don't get to see that

[06:09] information, it doesn't matter if I'm

[06:11] going to finance it, if I'm going to

[06:13] lease it, or if I'm going to pay cash

[06:15] for it. Okay? Let's establish a selling

[06:18] price with all the fees first and then

[06:20] then if that's acceptable, then I can

[06:22] have that conversation as to how to pay

[06:25] for it with the finance manager when I

[06:27] go to complete all the paperwork.

[06:29] >> But what about your trade in? You must

[06:30] have a trade in. And again, that can

[06:31] totally change the numbers of this car

[06:33] deal. So, I need to know, do you have a

[06:34] tradein?

[06:35] >> Uh, I I I don't know if I have a trade

[06:37] in or I don't have a trade in. I have

[06:39] the opportunity to sell my car, the my

[06:42] existing car to my neighbor who's uh

[06:44] whose daughter's graduating high school

[06:46] and she needs a car and they like the

[06:48] car or I I I have an offer from CarMax

[06:52] um and I can sell it directly to them.

[06:55] So, let's not worry about the trade.

[06:56] That's a complete separate transaction.

[06:59] Just get me that out the door price. I

[07:02] don't want to have to ask again. If I

[07:04] have to ask again, well, I'll have to go

[07:06] to your competitor. Well, Ray, I'm going

[07:08] to go talk to my manager, but I don't

[07:10] know if you've given me enough to work

[07:11] with here. I don't know how you're

[07:12] planning on paying for the vehicle. I

[07:14] have no clue if you have a trade. It

[07:15] sounds like you probably do, but maybe

[07:17] you won't sell it to us. And obviously,

[07:19] you're not interested in any of our

[07:21] gotcha packages, which is a bit of a

[07:22] bummer, but I'll go talk to my manager

[07:24] and see what I can do.

[07:25] >> Well, yes, please. And uh and if you can

[07:28] speed up the process just a tad, I would

[07:30] greatly appreciate it.

[07:31] >> So, Pops, there we go. That's pretty

[07:33] much the experience of negotiating a new

[07:35] car at the dealership. And quite

[07:36] frankly, if you are buying a new car in

[07:38] 2026, you shouldn't do any of this at

[07:40] the dealership. You should do all of

[07:41] this virtually. You can get those out

[07:43] the door price quotes either via phone,

[07:45] text, or email, and ultimately compare

[07:47] offers from multiple dealerships because

[07:49] that back and forth that we were just

[07:50] starting to get into, sure, it was a

[07:52] couple minutes long in this video, but

[07:53] that can last hours at the dealership,

[07:55] and that's really not a good use of your

[07:57] time.

[07:57] >> Uh, no. And the best use of your time is

[07:59] is to do that research online. Uh to

[08:02] reach out uh via email or text. Uh the

[08:06] phone is wonderful, but you know, they

[08:09] might record the conversation, but you

[08:11] won't. I prefer written context here so

[08:14] that you can refer to what they said and

[08:16] what you said. So, I would prefer email

[08:18] or text. Um, and and yes, reach out to a

[08:22] number of dealers, but you you you have

[08:24] to do that research prior to ever going

[08:28] into the dealership. You have to do that

[08:30] outreach prior to ever going to the

[08:33] dealership so you have as much of this

[08:35] established as you possibly can so you

[08:38] don't have to do that back and forth

[08:40] dance in the dealership.

[08:41] >> Yeah. I want to separate research and

[08:43] outreach though, Dad, because research

[08:44] is trying to figure out things, for

[08:46] example, like how long the vehicle's

[08:47] been on the lot, what the dealer invoice

[08:49] price is, how fast inventory is turning

[08:50] over. Outreach is outreach and getting

[08:53] out the door price quotes. And to me,

[08:54] those feel like very separate activities

[08:56] in 2026 if I'm buying a new car. You

[08:58] referenced multiple times in that

[09:00] roleplay 187 days on the lot. You

[09:02] mentioned the dealer invoice cost. You

[09:04] were very knowledgeable. You even

[09:05] mentioned that the car was selling,

[09:06] those types of cars were selling fast in

[09:07] that market area. All that research can

[09:10] be done online. We provide that

[09:11] information at car edge.com. Many other

[09:13] websites provide information as well.

[09:15] You got to do that and you have to

[09:16] locate five, 10, 15 vehicles that match

[09:19] your criteria. The outreach is a whole

[09:21] another ballgame. You can do the

[09:22] research and never do the outreach. And

[09:24] the price may change as you saw in that

[09:25] roleplay by $3,000. And for doing the

[09:28] outreach, it's all about, to your point,

[09:29] getting written out the door price

[09:31] quotes. And then the strategy is very

[09:33] simple. You just get the lowest number

[09:35] there depending on how much energy you

[09:37] want to put in. and you can share those

[09:38] quotes with the dealers you're talking

[09:40] to to see who wants to match or beat it.

[09:42] I think that's like really the the the

[09:45] all-encompassing approach here is do

[09:46] your research and then when you go to do

[09:48] your outreach, know your strategy is get

[09:49] multiple offers. So in 2026, the actual

[09:52] time spent at the dealership should be

[09:54] to take delivery. In many states, you

[09:55] can also do e signature. So really going

[09:58] to the dealership is just taking

[09:59] 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.