What is Deal School?
Deal School is an entirely free online curriculum that is intended to teach you the bare minimum of what you should know before you buy a car. Taught by Ray and Zach Shefska, Deal School is two and half hours of video content, plus six quizzes to test your knowledge along the way. The goal of Deal School is to help you better understand the car buying process, and how car dealerships operate.
Why did you create Deal School?
Deal School was born out of frustration. Frustration that buying a car is so challenging. As the CarEdge YouTube channel began to grow, we realized that we could help a lot of people by simply organizing our content into a logical progression. With over 100 videos on YouTube, it can be hard to find the exact topic you are looking for. With Deal School, you can simply glance at the curriculum, find the topic you’re interested in, and jump right there. We created Deal School so that when people ask us “How can I negotiate a car deal?” We can simply link them to Deal School, and know that they are getting a good answer. We hope that if a friend or family member ever asks you about how you bought your car, you’ll tell them about Deal School as well.
What’s the catch?
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? So what’s the catch? If there is a “catch” it’s that you have to sign up with an email address to access Deal School. Otherwise, there is no “catch.” We’ve disabled advertisements on Deal School videos, so you won’t be interrupted by those. Instead, you should be able to click through video to video and focus on learning.
Why do we want your email address? Because in the not too distant future we are going to have products that we are going to sell. Those products will help you navigate the car buying process, and we’ll try to make money from selling them. If you sign up for Deal School with your email address, then we have a way to contact you in the future when we have products to sell (and other free resources too).
How long will Deal School be available?
There is no “expiration date” on Deal School. My dad and I will most likely need to update the course materials in a year or so (as dealership practices change), but aside from that, what you see is what you get, and it will be that way into the future.
What will I learn from Deal School?
Deal School is broken into six core lessons:
- How Car Dealerships Operate
- Initial outreach to the dealership
- How to select a car
- How to negotiate a car deal
- Choosing how to pay for the car
- What to expect in the F&I office
Each lesson has a varied number of topics within them. Topics have associated videos and course materials (blog posts, other video, other resources, etc.).
In total there are 50 videos that are a part of the course.
What if I want a different course?
As of right now, Deal School is the only course we have available. We’re very interested in producing more, so if you feel strongly about another topic (for example an entire course dedicated to financing a purchase), then please let us know. How should you let us know? Take a look down below!
How can I share feedback?
Your feedback is invaluable. CarEdge has become what it is today thanks to you. To share feedback with us about Deal School, please complete this short survey: https://caredge.com/deal-school/survey/
I think this is going to be great!
Love listening to those 43 years of experience.
It’s too bad purchasing an auto has to be an adversarial process, but every auto salesperson I’ve been friends with is focused upon extracting every cent they can from the car buyer. Too bad it can’t be a simple, equitable process, but nothing in life is like that. Even healthcare is sublet to the lowest bidder…….
Some observations after going thru much of the course.
(1) I knew exactly what I wanted before I went to the dealer-a sedan. I knew, from extensive research on the potential vehicles I had an interest in, that I would be looking at the top trim level because I want ventilated seats. I also knew I wanted a new car. My car of choice, until it’s ruled out, is a Lincoln MKZ. I have watched numerous videos of this car and probably know the infotainment system as well as the sales person.
(2) I have interacted with 2 sales people. The first one before I saw your channel. I went to sit in the car only. I went into the dealership (A). Several men seemed busy and ignored me. When I proceeded to walk out to my Acura, I got someone’s attention (Michael) and was able to sit in the car and go over things on the interior. The car was still on the list and I got his card.
After watching your video on how to choose a salesperson a month or so ago, I called another dealership (B)(different city and much larger dealership, hence many more selection of cars). I called and spoke to the receptionist and said I was an older woman and I would feel more comfortable with a woman sales person. She connected me with Nancy. I called and made an appointment for a test drive of a specific vehicle. She let me take the test drive for as long as I wanted. I told her that I wanted to take it to my home so that my husband could see it. I told her the mileage I would put on it to see if that was OK and gave here a general idea of how long I would have it. She did not go with me. The first turn out of the dealership – a very large “campus” – was a left turn at a stop light. There were more left turns on the way back. And it was a rainy day. When I returned, her question to me was, what did I think of the car. It was a hybrid so it was a bit different. Also, the car rides and handles a bit different from my 10 YO Acura. Plus my husband was not comfortable in the seats. So my answer to her was that I hadn’t ruled it out but I hadn’t ruled it in. There’s more to the story re my husband and the conversation I had with Nancy that created a connection. When I left she said that she would be here for me if need be.
So last week I called Michael to take the test drive of the car I had sat in. My husband came with me and we figured out the seats so he was comfortable. Michael did not accompany us, but the first turn was a right one! When I returned the car, he asked me what I thought of it. Again I was neutral. This was a gas version. Even though I was neutral on the car, Michael immediately went into how they could appraise my car while I was there. The sales manager also came over to get me to do an appraisal. I was firm and left the dealership. The next day Michael texted me and said he was sure that they could get me into the right payment – a complete turn off as I am a cash buyer.
Tomorrow I have another appointment with Nancy. I will be test driving the hybrid model I already drove as well as a gas model which is equipped more to my liking than dealer A’s. Don’t know how it will turn out so I will now be watching the negotiation section of your “school.” I know you talk about cross shopping the car among different dealers but dealer B is about the only deal in town if I want to buy a hybrid off the lot. Suggestions?
I guess the point of my ramblings is that a lot of what you have covered re the interaction with the sales person has not been my reality.
Having said that, I really do enjoy your content. So many thanks.
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