How to buy a car at/below MSRP?

I bought my car (Subaru Forester LTD) in 2021, during the so-called car shortage which happened due to the micro-chip shortage during the pandemic. Since this was my first car, I was not really sure what I should be doing. During my research, I came across youtube videos by the 'Your auto advocate' group https://www.youtube.com/@YourAdvocateAllianceYAA  and started following them and learning more about car buying terminology through their free deal school course at https://community.joinyaa.com/c/deal-school/. It teaches you about car financing and quick terminologies to make you a smarter car buyer. 

After going through the deal school and learning the terminology/tricks of the trade, I created a pseudo-email account and started sending emails to different car dealers in the area, since I did not want to be spammed by the dealers with their 'last-minute' deals. I used the email templates that the team at @yaa so painstakingly have written, which can be found here [https://joinyaa.com/guides/email-templates-to-buy-a-car-online/] I am sure they have updated the templates since the last time I used them, but I got a decent deal on my car so I have no qualms in recommending them. Please note: The dealer will ALWAYS try to get you to come to the showroom to give you a good deal, but please do not fall for that trap. If they cannot send you an email with their so-called 'good deal' then it is NOT worth driving to the dealership. If they want your business they will need to work with you for it. 

Also, the yaa group had an add-on that looked up the car's VIN and could tell you have long the car sat on the dealer's lot. This just gives you some bargaining power when you are at the dealership. https://joinyaa.com/cars/#/ 

So coming to my journey. I started scrolling through the videos as noted above at the beginning of 2021 to just understand stuff. I started my search in earnest on June 20th, 2021, and finalized the car by June 22nd, 2021. I work in Wisconsin and I am comfortable driving around for a good deal, I contacted dealers in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The dealers in Chicago gave me the best quote but the dealer in Iowa was amazing. Since in addition to the deal, he was ready to give me a FREE loaner vehicle till my car came in, and hence I decided to go with him.

The breakdown of my deal is approximately like this.
$ MSRP
-$2,566  Discount
$MSRP-discount-> Sales Price plus state tax and fees

Thanks to my credit score I got 0% financing for 36 months and hence I am paying it over 3 years.  I really could not have done/learned how to buy a car without the team at your-auto-advocate and a big thank you to Zach Shefska, Ray Shefska Kimberly Kline, and many others who directly/indirectly helped me in finalizing the deal.

The dealership that I worked with was C&S Subaru in Waterloo [www.candscarcompany.com] and the person I worked with was Mr. Scott Thurn. (319) 291-7321 Office; (319) 415-8051 Cell

Things that I liked about my dealer

1.  The deal (got it below the MSRP)
2. Free loaner vehicle till the car came in 
3. Just being very responsive and super helpful and no additional sale gimmick. 
4. Even though he got the car I wanted from a nearby dealer he did not up the price because of that.

If you need any more detail please let me know.

Neil Fernandes