Before the Lot

Works out the budget ceiling from a monthly payment: the most that can be financed, the highest out-the-door price after the trade-in tax credit, that ceiling as dealers quote it (before the trade-in credit), and the vehicle price it leaves after the state's tax and typical fees. With a fair price from research, it also gives an opening offer and a walk line. Numbers only; nothing is stored.

Itemizes an out-the-door estimate for a vehicle price: rebates, doc fee, add-ons, the state's sales tax (with its rules on rebates and caps), title and registration. Optionally adds a trade-in (and the tax it saves where the state credits it), a down payment and a loan for the payment. Compares the doc fee with the state's cap and the total with a walk line.

Reads a dealer's out-the-door quote, pasted as text (up to 8 KB) or given as line items, and checks it line by line: the out-the-door total, the doc fee against the state's cap (and capped service fees such as Ohio's $50 convenience fee), the tax line against the state's rate, finance-office add-ons with typical prices, the trade allowance against written trade-in offers, the trade equity and amount financed, and the walk line. Lines with an email address or phone number are removed before reading and never returned. Nothing is stored.

Ranks two to ten itemized dealer quotes by out-the-door price, with each one's gap to the lowest and to the walk line, and (with a state) each doc fee against the state's cap.

Compares a maker's cash rebate taken with the person's own loan against the maker's special APR (with any cash that combines with it): each side's payment, interest and total, the difference, the own-loan rate where the two cost the same, and the sales tax a rebate saves in states that tax the price after it. Give the amount financed before the rebate, or a vehicle price to work it out.

The monthly payment, total interest and total paid on a car loan, with what a term over 60 months adds in interest compared with 60.

Works a lease quote from MSRP, selling price, residual and money factor (or the lease's APR): the depreciation and rent charges, the payment with tax (and a state lease tax on top where there is one, such as Pennsylvania's 3%; Alabama's 1.5% and West Virginia's 5% lease-payment rates in place of their sales rates; in states that tax a lease once at the start, such as Texas and Ohio, the payment carries no tax and the result says so), the money factor as an APR, and the total cost. With a loan APR and term, it also compares leasing with buying the same car over the lease's months (on a labelled depreciation assumption).

Compares a car loan as it stands with a new loan at a quoted rate, by default over the same months left so a lower payment cannot hide a longer loan, with any fees counted: the new payment, the monthly difference and the total interest saved or added.

From written trade-in offers and the payoff: the best offer still open (the floor a dealer's trade number is compared with), the equity or negative equity, and, with a state and vehicle price, the sales tax the trade saves where the state credits it.

A payoff plan for a car loan, for paying it off early with an extra payment each month: the months and total interest at the regular payment, and with an extra amount toward principal each month (optionally for only the first so many months, or skipping some), with the months and interest the extra saves and the payoff month each way. Give the balance, the APR, and the months left or the regular payment. Lenders differ in how they apply extra payments, and some charge a prepayment penalty.

The Before the Lot method: an overview and its seven stages (what to collect, what each produces, which guides, tools and email templates apply, and when the stage is done). Pass a stage id for one stage.

A state's rules on dealer doc fees, sales tax (state rate, local add-on range, cap), trade-in tax credit, how a maker's rebate is taxed, and cancellation rights where on file, each with its source, as-of date and confidence, plus the link to the state's page.

Fills one of the six Before the Lot email templates (request a quote, make an offer, a competing quote, confirm the deal, decline, tell a lender) with the details given and returns the subject and body. Details are numbers and short labels; contact details are refused.

Where a maker lists its own current offers (and a model's own page where one can be built), with whether the maker lists national offers at all.

The Before the Lot line for a moment at the desk. Pass a script id (monthly-payment, trade-first, down-payment, credit-check, numbers-changed, preinstalled-add-ons, initial-worksheet, decide-today, beat-my-rate, fi-product, only-a-month, paint-or-markup, below-invoice, trade-below-offer, leaving) or a short description of the situation.

Builds a Before the Lot planner link that opens with the numbers given already filled in. The plan travels in the link itself, so nothing is stored. Numbers and short labels only; names, phone numbers and emails are refused.