Meet the Man Who Gets Paid to Argue With Car Dealers
Tomi Mikula spent a decade on the dealer side of the table. Now he's using that knowledge against them — and 600,000 people are watching.
If you've ever walked out of a car dealership feeling like you lost a fight you didn't know you were in, you're not alone. Car buying has quietly become one of the most financially punishing experiences in modern consumer life — and one entrepreneur from North Carolina thinks he has the fix.
Tomi Mikula, 33, is a professional car negotiator. For a flat fee of $1,000, he gets on the phone with dealers and haggles on your behalf. He also livestreams the whole thing.
Poacher Turned Gamekeeper
Mikula spent over a decade working inside dealerships, selling cars and auto financing. That experience gave him something most buyers simply don't have: fluency in dealer-speak, deep knowledge of inventory systems, and a sixth sense for when a salesperson has room to move on price.
When he left that world, he took all of it with him.
He started small — negotiating deals for free for strangers he met on Reddit. After closing about 50 deals at no charge, he put a price on his services. Today, his company Delivrd, has a team of five professional negotiators and brings in around $200,000 in revenue a month.
"You're hiring a middleman to deal with the middleman to make the middleman more efficient," he says, with the kind of self-aware humor that has helped him build a following.
Why the Phone Beats the Showroom
One of Mikula's core strategies is deceptively simple: never go in person.
Buyers who spend hours on a showroom floor start to feel emotionally invested — too tired, too committed, too far in to walk away. Mikula avoids that trap entirely by running nearly all his negotiations by phone from his home office. It keeps the focus where it belongs: on the numbers.
When dealers pressure him to come in, he has a polished deflection ready: "I've already driven one. I really want it. Gotta have it. I'm just trying to get a good deal today."
He also pits dealers against each other, soliciting competing quotes on the same vehicle. That competition forces dealers to cut into their own margins rather than simply passing along standard manufacturer rebates.
The Stakes Are Real
This isn't just about saving a few hundred bucks on floor mats. Car affordability has hit a crisis point. According to Edmunds, one in five buyers at the end of last year locked in monthly payments of $1,000 or more — the highest share ever recorded. Add in high borrowing costs and a menu of add-ons like extended warranties, tire protection, and GAP insurance, and the final price of a vehicle can balloon by as much as 30% above the sticker.
Mikula navigates all of it, sometimes helping clients unpack their financing terms after a price has already been agreed upon.
600,000 People Are Watching
The livestreaming side of the business started almost by accident. About two years ago, Mikula's brother convinced him to post a recording of a particularly heated 27-minute call — one where a dealer called him a liar and started referring to him as "Bubba." The video got 600,000 views.
He got the message.
Now he broadcasts his negotiations live to a combined audience of 600,000 followers on TikTok and YouTube. The viral moments — dealers hanging up in frustration, price standoffs, the occasional colorful accusation — have become their own draw. But Mikula is clear that the drama is the exception, not the rule. Most deals hinge quietly on timing, local inventory, and market competition.
His audience isn't limited to buyers, either. Jim Simon, a 55-year-old American expat living in Singapore, tunes in on his daily walks. "I use it to Zen out," he says.
Lessons You Can Use Right Now
You don't need to hire Mikula to benefit from how he thinks. Here's what his approach teaches any buyer:
- Negotiate the out-the-door price, not the monthly payment. Monthly payments can be stretched to obscure the true cost of a car.
- Pull up local inventory before you negotiate. If dozens of the same model are sitting on nearby lots, you have leverage — use it.
- Never feel trapped by time spent. Showroom pressure is designed to make you feel like walking away is a loss. It isn't.
- Get competing quotes. One offer is not a negotiation. Multiple offers are.
Payam Amiri, a first-time new car buyer who studied Mikula's videos before heading to a dealership, put these lessons to work and drove away in a 2026 Mazda CX-50 Premium for $4,000 below the asking price.
The Closing Stretch
On the last business day of February, Mikula set himself a challenge: close 30 deals in a single day, livestreamed, with a bingo card of self-imposed tasks for entertainment. By hour eight, the food his family dropped off had gone cold, and his delivery was losing its edge.
He ended the day with 18 deals closed — short of 30, but enough to hit triple bingo on his card.
"Thirty was always ambitious," he admitted afterward.
He signed off and went to eat his cold burger. In car negotiation, as in sales, dinner is for closers.