Are Auto Shows still Worth it in 2026?

🔥Are auto shows still worth it in 2026? With 371,000 people attending the Canadian International Auto Show in 2024, I went to find out if traditional car shows still provide value in the age of online car shopping, virtual showrooms, and dealer home delivery. Auto shows are still absolutely worth it for car enthusiasts and serious shoppers, but not essential for everyone. I break down exactly who should go, who should skip it, and practical tips to maximize your experience.YouTube Video Version: https://youtu.be/dHkaF4KF7J4

🎥 Watch This Honest Performance Car Owner Playlist Video Next: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT27agbpHd__COhbKBXgRI4Okhvs0AX-O📋 CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Introduction01:21 - What is the CIAS?02:42 - The Case AGAINST Auto Shows02:46 - Everything's Already Online03:52 - Dealer Test Drives Are Better05:23 - It's Crowded and Tiring06:14- The Case FOR Auto Shows06:16 – Exotics and Hypercars07:33 – Comparison Shopping08:28 – Tactile Experience09:14- The Experience IS The Point10:25 – The Cars Dealerships Don’t Stock11:28 - The Verdict: Should You Go?13:40 - Practical Tips for Attendees16:17 – Funny, Silly and Weird Stuff at the Show17:54 - Final Thoughts and Next StepsAll Rights Reserved. Copyright, Liability Waiver and DisclaimersNo part of the content of this video or any video published under Gary the Car Nut, and other encompassed entities, shall be stored, copied, recreated, republished, or transported. Prior express written permission by Gary Beutler is required for any use of this video. The advice, guidance, and principles outlined in all content produced by Gary the Car Nut, Gary Beutler, and other encompassed entities are not guaranteed to be appropriate for your unique situation, you are responsible to do your own research, I’m not responsible for any losses you incur.We recommend that as a consumer, you exercise your due diligence and research any and all products and events recommended to you before adopting them for yourself. Gary the Car Nut, Gary Beutler, and other encompassed entities are not responsible for any damages that result from an effort to implement the information provided in this or any other video, article, blog post, social media post, and related publications.Your use and viewing of any materials and videos published by Gary the Car Nut, Gary Beutler and other encompassed entities confirms your acknowledgement and agreement that Ontario, Canada law will apply to any and all disputes related to the aforementioned entities and that Ontario, Canada will serve as the venue for any disputes, claims, and litigious activities related but not limited to the materials produced by Gary the Car Nut, Gary Beutler and other encompassed entities.Gary the Car Nut, Gary Beutler and all other associated persons including but not limited to independent contractors, employees, and affiliates, research and review all content for this site to the best of their abilities but make no guarantees, representations, or warranties as to the complete accuracy and inclusion of all relevant information for each video, including but not limited to all video streams, suggested and provided links and resources.All parties specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any and all purposes.

Transcript

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Next year I saw the new Bugatti Mistral, a Konigseg Jesco Attack, Lamborghini Temerario, McLaren W1, and that incredibly impressive Pagani Utopia. My all-time favorite, the Lamborghini Mura SV. So picture this: you're standing in a space the size of 10 football fields, and around you there's a thousand cars. Everything from a $30,000 SUV to a $5 million hypercar to a 1961 Corvette Mako Shark show car that's worth over $10 million. And you'll probably never get a chance to see those anywhere else. There's 45 car manufacturers, many of those are your favorites, and it's all under one roof. And you're surrounded by 370,000 people, all there for exactly the same reason to check out the car. But here's the question that everyone's asking. In 2026, when you can go online and configure just about any car in any color, in any spec, and watch 4K videos of touring the car inside and outside, does it still make sense to go to these car shows? And these days you can actually get a dealer to bring a car to your home so that you can test drive it in your own neighborhood at your own leisure. So why are hundreds of thousands of people still paying to walk around a convention center to look at cars? And that's exactly why I went to the Canadian International Auto Show a couple days ago to check this out. Welcome to my video podcast. So, like I say, I've just returned from the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. And if you've never been, or you haven't been for a long time, to an international new car auto show, I need to set the scene for you. It's a huge space with lots of cars and lots of people checking things out. And a lot of it can be overwhelming, but in the best possible way. The Canadian International Auto Show has been running since 1974. So over 50 years, this show has been inviting car enthusiasts like you and me, your mom and pop, and so many other folks to come out and check out the newest vehicles. But just so you know, in 2024 they had their record attendance of over 370,000 people attending. That tells you it's definitely not a dying industry. But I came to the show with a mission, and that was to answer a very important question, and that is should car enthusiasts like you and me still be attending these shows? Or are they just relics of days gone by from before the internet? So after spending my day at the show, I'm here to share both sides of the argument. Should you be dropping $30 to walk around a huge convention center to check out the cars, or is it far better to sit at home, check on your computer, sitting in your underwear, and checking out the car configurators and watching all those YouTube reviews? And if you're watching this on YouTube, you'll see pictures of the cool cars that I checked while at the show. And I'll put a link in the show notes so you can check out that video a little bit later. Alright, so let's start with the case against these car shows. So, as already mentioned, everything is online here in 2026. You can go into the car configurators, you can spec a car any way you want, you'll get the full pricing line by line for every option that you're looking at. You can uh change the color of the car to whatever you're looking at, you can spin it around 360 degrees, you can spec out the interior, you can do a 3D view of the interior. I mean, it's all there. There's all kinds of YouTube reviews done by professional reviewers on cars just like the one you're looking at, but also competitive cars. So you can compare. There's a ton of information, there's specifications. I mean, it's all right at your fingertips, right? You want specs, they're online. You want reviews, there's thousands of those. What about comparisons? Again, there's tons of comparisons online by people that you know aren't tied to any one particular brand. So if you ask the brand ambassador boots, booth 701, six hours into his day, some specific questions, he may have the answers, but online, you'll probably get better answers and more accurate. So the argument is simple. Why fight the crowds? Why pay admission and parking when all the answers are available online 24-7? And yep, dealer test drives are definitely better. I mean, at the car show, you you might be able to sit in the car that you're looking at. I mean, some of the performance cars and some of the more interesting cars are obviously locked up or behind those velvet ropes. Um, but a lot of times you can sit in the cars, you can check them out and that kind of thing. And um, especially it shows at the Canadian, like the Canadian International Auto Show in 2026, they've got a huge area where you can do test drives. They're indoors, they're all electric vehicles. Um, but again, you can uh there were several brands uh represented there, everything from Cadillacs, Tokias, and uh and just about everything in between. There was Nissan's, um you name it. It was there and it was already uh and people were lining up to do those test drives. And they've actually in the last couple years added outdoor test drives. So I saw people test driving Teslas outdoors and a number of other cars. Yeah, it's in a very confined area and it's a very restricted area, but hey, there are some test drives available at the show. But keep in mind it is a shorter loop, and you're definitely not getting a real-world driving experience. If you actually want to know how a car drives, you need to go to the dealership, right? And uh and dealerships have, like I say, have gotten really good at this. They'll actually, you can arrange a time, they'll bring the car to you, and uh and you can uh check it out in a more relaxed, uh, in a more relaxed environment. And you know that's more convenient, it's more thorough, and it's absolutely free. But keep in mind that certainly isn't available for most performance cars that you and I would be considering. And let's talk about the actual experience of being at the auto show. It's loud and it's packed. You're walking on hours for on concrete floors. Good luck having a serious conversation with one of those brand ambassadors because they've got people hovering all around trying to ask them questions too, and you know, they're a little worn out during the day as it is. Sure, you want to sit in that hot new performance car that you've heard about, but either you got to stand in line with 50 other people to be able to get a chance to sit in that car, or quite likely it's locked and you can't get access anyway. So for many people, the thought of spending a whole Saturday fighting the crowds at a car show when they could do the research and check everything out at home is absolutely nuts. So that's the case against car shows. And hey, I totally get it. But let me explain to you the case for going to car shows and why I definitely recommend it. Reason number one, absolutely love those exotics and hypercars. I mean, where else are you gonna go where you're gonna be able to see them displayed in all their glory? This year I saw the new Bugatti Mistral W16 La Pearl Rare. Yeah, that was uh super, super impressive. A Konigseg Jesco Attack, Lamborghini Temerario, McLaren W1, and then incredibly impressive Pagani Utopia. And this year I was super excited to see uh some phenomenal older exotic cars, like my all-time favorite, the Lamborghini Mura SV, which for the first time in my life I was able to get up close and personal with and really check it out. I also saw a 1955 Mercedes-Benz SL300 going and that amazing, one-of-a-kind, 1961 Corvette Mac OShark show car that I've heard about for years, but never thought I'd actually see in real life. And as a bonus, I love getting my first peek in real life at both the new Audi and Cadillac Formula One cars. By the way, those Formula One cars have been downsized this year, but is seeing them in real life, they're absolutely huge. And you know what? I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a Maybach Mercedes SL6A. Then there's the scale and comparison shopping. I mean, there's no way you can replicate that online. Think about it at an out of the show. I can check out and sit in a GR Corolla and a Subaru WRX within a few steps of each other, then walk another few feet and sit in a Nissan 370Z. Oh, but wait, just around the corner is an Audi RS3 with that awesome five-cylinder engine. I checked that out too. Same day, same hour. I compared headroom, I compact uh compared backseat leg room in the cars that had back seats, uh, but also uh checked out the the their trunk, uh, walked around the car, checked it out uh underneath. You know, I mean to be able to do that all within an hour for all those different brands, yeah, that's cool. And keep in mind, how long would it take to check out four different dealerships to check out those exact same things? And this isn't just about mainstream vehicles. Where else are you going to be able to go to check out the newest Lamborghini, a couple of Koenigs eggs, and a Mustang GTE, all at the same show? The variety is just incredible. And then there's that whole tactile experience, right? Sure, you can watch a YouTube video review of whatever car you're considering, but to actually feel it, to touch it, to be able to sit in the seats and that kind of thing, well, the only way you can do that is actually being there. Can you open the door and hear that satisfying thunk? Or is it just that horrible little tinny sound when the door closes? And you know this stuff matters. But here's the thing there's zero pressure to buy. No one's expecting you to buy a car off that showroom floor. At a dealership, there's always that subtle expectation that you're there to buy. But at a car show, nobody expects you to be buying anything. And well, you know what? Nobody cares. You can sit in 50 cars, you can take your time, and you know what? Nobody's nobody's following you around asking you if you want to talk numbers. And reason four, the experience is the point. I mean, one of the great things about being a car enthusiast is looking at cars. And that's the great thing about going to the car show. You can just hang around and look at the cars. And believe me, there's lots of car enthusiasts there too. So you can share some stories, you can kind of uh uh share some quips between uh different vehicles that you're looking at and see what other comments people have about that same car. They may mention something you've never even thought of. And you know what? When you look around, you see families making a day of it, you can see couples that are shopping for a car, or you can see a group of buddies just hanging around and checking out what's new. Sure, there's enthusiasts like me drooling over cars that they'll never be able to afford, like a couple of these singers that I saw there. Um, but hey, it's it's just the experience of being there and being near those cars. There's energy here, there's excitement, and there's definitely a sense of community. You can't get that from sitting alone at your computer. And hey, that's not for everyone. I totally get it. But if you love cars, if you really love cars, being in this environment is just so exciting. 371,000 people showed up at this event in 2024. They didn't come because they had to, they come because they wanted to. That tells you something. And reason number five is this is the place to see those hot cars that the dealerships don't stock. Hey, when I bought my GR Corolla, I bought it sight unseen, I bought it, I still have to wait a year to get it. Same thing with my Porsche Spider. I had bought it, I don't know where I could get a test drive in either one of those cars. No way I could even sit in one of those cars. I had to buy it and check it out. But in both of those cars, I did have the opportunity of checking them out at the car show ahead of time. If I was just counting on what I could find from going online, that would have never happened. And you know what? With either one of those cars, if the dealerships had them in stock, there's no way they would have let me test drive them because they would have been wanted to keep the mileage as low as possible for the owner that was going to buy them. Also at the show this year, I was amazed to see they had four Corvettes. Three of them are open that anyone could sit in and check out. My local Chevy dealer, as far as I know, they've never had a Corvette on the lot that people could actually sit in and check out. If you wanted to buy one, you had to order it, wait for it to come in. Then you could sit in it and drive it. So here's my take after spending the whole day at the Canadian International Auto Show 2026. They're absolutely worth it, but not for everyone. You should skip the auto show if you know exactly what you're buying. If you've already made a decision, no use going there and checking it out. Just go to the dealership, make your best deal, order your car. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to order it, and then wait for it to arrive. You've already done your research, no need to go to the show. And absolutely don't go if you hate crowds. I mean, the crowds, if you just hate crowds, the show's just gonna make you miserable, and you really don't need to do that. Fire up the computer, sit there in your underwear, and choose your car. But you should go to the auto show if you're early in the shopping process and you really want to look around. And like I say, you may see vehicles that you've never even thought of considering. This is the most efficient way to compare a ton of vehicles in a very short period of time. Seriously, where else can you compare a dozen performance cars in under an hour? You're a car enthusiast that wants to see what's new and what's coming up? Hey, the concept cars, the exotics, the future tech, you can't experience this stuff anywhere else. This is where the industry shows off. You value the tactile experience. You value actually being there, touching there, sitting in the car, opening and closing the doors, checking under the hood, all of those kinds of things. The auto show gives you some access without any of that sales pressure. Make it a fun outing. You want to bring a couple friends, you want to wander around, sure, it's it's research, but it's also very entertaining. The bottom line, auto shows are evolving, not dying. They're adapting to an industry that's going through change. They're not just showing you cars, they're showing you the future of transportation all under one roof. And yes, the internet has changed the way we research vehicles, but it hasn't changed the fundamental effect and the fundamental good feeling of checking out a car in real life. Seeing it, feeling it, sitting in it, all of those kinds of things you can only do in real life. It hasn't replaced the excitement of being in a room with hundreds of cars and thousands of people who all share the same passion as you do. Is it essential? No. Can you make good buying decisions without spending the 30 bucks to go to the auto show? Absolutely. But is it worth $30 on a Saturday afternoon if you're serious about cars? Definitely. Alright, if I've motivated you to check out a new car show, I'll give you a couple tips to make it worth your time. First, go on a weekday. Weekends are packed. If you go on like a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday or something like that, it'll be a lot slower. The people in the booths will have time for you, and no lineups getting into and out of those cars. And you know what? If you hang around and talk to those brand ambassadors for a while, they may give you a whole lot better access to those cars when there isn't a whole crowd of people around. So that car that was locked and most people weren't allowed to get into, you may very well get into those. When you arrive, grab a show map and then highlight or somehow mark the areas that you're most interested in and head for those first. That way you can maximize your time and cover off the things you absolutely for sure wanted to see. Then later on you can casually stroll around and see what else is available. Focus on your top ten priorities and then do random exploring at the end. Bring your phone and take pictures. Seriously. I mean, after you've looked at a whole bunch of cars, you may not, you may get confused later on of what actually you saw and where you saw it. And you may want to share that with your significant other or your kids. And by having pictures, pictures worth a thousand words, right? And be sure to talk to the brand ambassadors in those booths. No, they're not salespeople, they're brand ambassadors. So they've been trained to have uh uh information available. And uh most of them carry around iPads, so whatever information you're you're looking for, they may not know it offhand, but they can definitely look it up and share it with you. And those brand brand ambassadors, they can get on your side and they can help you get more information, then you probably wouldn't be able, they wouldn't be able to share with you if you go on a Sunday or a super busy time. And as I mentioned, after you speak with those brand ambassadors for a while, they maybe give you a lot more access. That's actually what happened with us. We were talking to uh someone in a roped-off area, and uh after quite a bit of uh back and forth uh discussion in that, and it wasn't all that busy, they invited us into the rope, and I finally got some up and cl up close and personal time with my all-time favorite, that Lamborghini SV. And I guess it should be obvious, but you definitely want to wear comfortable shoes. And finally, you want to manage your expectations. You're not there to buy a car, you're not there to test drive a car, you're there to get more information about either your buying decision or just to enjoy the show and see what's out there. This is about seeing and comparing, not a full test drive experience. If you see a car that makes your short list, yeah, absolutely you're gonna have to head to that dealership. But you're gonna be far better prepared after you've gone to the show, you've done your research online, when you walk into that dealership, you'll know what questions to ask and you'll know what to look for during that test drive. So, what was funny, weird, or silly at the show? Well, there's always the cyber truck, right? So they were there answering the question that absolutely no one was asking. How can you mount a tent on a cyber truck and use that to sleep in? And then of course Hyundai had their terminally ugly Ionic 6N, which I was sure they killed off years ago. Jeep had their indoor off-road track set up, and uh sure people were lined up, I'm sure, at some point for over an hour to take a ride in an electric Jeep up and down and all around. Um, but the people seemed to be happy, so maybe it was worth it. And speaking about lines, there was a huge line to get a free Subaru hat. Then there's Nissan's 370Z, a car that I just absolutely can't figure out. If you know anyone that is the right market for this car or anyone that owns one, I'd definitely love to hear about it in the comments. And that Pink Lego Cadillac, last seen at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, was definitely cool to see. You know, without Terry Cruz. But cutest of all was the microcar display. Never have so many cars been displayed in such a small area at a car show. Just love seeing them. So are auto shows still relevant in 2026? Yes. Are they essential? Absolutely not. But if you're a car enthusiast or seriously shopping for a vehicle, they give you an experience that you cannot get online, and that is that actual hands-on real-world experience. You get the ability to experience dozens of vehicles in one place at one time with zero sales pressure. The Canadian International Auto Show 2026 proved that to me again this year. If you enjoyed this video podcast, hit that like button, and if you're watching on YouTube, please subscribe. Click here for my honest owner performance car review video playlist, and I'll see you there. Any questions or comments, add them down below. I answer every single one of them. If you've been to a new car show recently, drop a comment below and let us know if it was worth it for you.