Most people assume the savvy car buyer is the one who shows up knowing exactly what they want, from trim selection to paint color. They’ve done the research. They’ve made their decision. They’re ready to buy.

Here’s what the data actually shows: that buyer is often the easiest one for a dealer to work with. And not in a good way.

A new study from Cox Automotive found that only 29% of car buyers started the shopping process knowing exactly what vehicle they wanted, down from 37% in 2020. Meanwhile, buyer satisfaction with their vehicle selection hit 62%, up sharply from just 36% during the inventory crunch of 2022. Overall new-vehicle buyer satisfaction reached 76% in 2025, an all-time high.

Could ‘clueless’ car shoppers really be making better purchasing decisions in today’s car market? Let’s dig into the details.

Why Flexibility Is Actually a Negotiating Advantage

After 43 years working in dealerships, I can tell you something most car buyers don’t realize: dealers can read a locked-in buyer from across the showroom floor.

When you walk in and announce you want a specific model in a specific trim in a specific color, you’ve handed the dealer a map to your wallet. They know you’re not going anywhere. They know the price pressure is low. And they’ll structure the deal accordingly.

The buyer who walks in open to a few different options? That buyer is harder to pin down. And that’s a good thing for your negotiation.

Flexibility signals that you have choices. Dealers respond to buyers who have choices.

What Open-Minded Buyers Are Actually Doing

The 71% of buyers who went into the process without a fixed vehicle in mind weren’t just wandering around hoping something caught their eye. They were shopping smarter.

They let needs drive the search, not brand loyalty.

Instead of starting with a model name, start with what you actually need. How many people are you hauling regularly? What’s your commute? Do you need cargo space, towing capacity, or just solid fuel economy? More and more car buyers are realizing that brand loyalty often doesn’t lead to better outcomes. CarGurus found that more than half of car shoppers consider three or more brands. Yes, reliability, safety ratings, and resale value are important, but in 2026, these attributes can be found across the market.

They cross-shopped new and used.

In 2025, 66% of buyers considered both new and used vehicles, up from 57% the year before. That matters because the used market has returned close to pre-pandemic norms — more inventory, more stable pricing — and there’s real value to be found if you’re not religiously committed to buying new.

They looked at leasing.

Among new-vehicle shoppers, 29% weighed leasing versus buying in 2025, an all-time high. Leases were typically saving buyers more than $100 per month compared to financing a purchase. If you’ve never seriously considered leasing because you “just don’t lease,” it might be worth running the numbers before you decide.

They checked the deals before falling in love with a vehicle.

Incentives shift every month. What’s well-discounted in March might be full price in June. A buyer anchored to one specific vehicle has to take whatever deal exists on that vehicle right now. A buyer open to a few options can follow the money — and find the model where the manufacturer is hungry to move inventory.

Use CarEdge’s Best Deal Hub to see what’s on sale this month. Before you shop, find dealerships known for transparent pricing and no-nonsense deals with our Car Dealer Ratings [NEW!].

The Informed-But-Flexible Approach

None of this means you should walk into a dealership without doing your homework.

Know your budget before you know your vehicle. And know your budget as an out-the-door number, not a monthly payment. Dealers sell monthly payments because it obscures the total cost of the deal. When you know the OTD price you can afford, you can evaluate any vehicle clearly — regardless of how a dealer tries to frame it. 

Use our invoice price lookup tool to understand what dealers are actually paying before you negotiate.

Once you have a few vehicles in mind, get competing quotes before you step foot on a lot. The buyer who has quotes from multiple dealers on multiple vehicles has all the leverage. The buyer committed to one car at one dealer has none.

Our Concierge team can help you run this process — getting real offers from dealers without the back-and-forth, so you can compare apples to apples and make the call that’s actually right for you.

The Bottom Line

The most satisfied car buyers are the ones who kept their options open. They consider more vehicles, compare more deals, and don’t let brand loyalty or a fixed idea of what they “should” buy get in the way of a good decision.

The market has more inventory and more incentives than it has in years. There are good deals out there right now, but they’re spread across segments and brands, and they change monthly. The buyer who’s willing to follow the data instead of a predetermined list is going to find them.Start with what you need. Set a real budget. Then use CarEdge to see what the market is offering before you decide what you want. Here’s how we can help.

New to car buying, or simply want to brush up your negotiating skills for the 2026 car market? Checkout our free guide to buying a car with confidence below: