Use Before the Lot with AI assistants
Bring the Before the Lot method into a conversation with Claude, ChatGPT or another assistant, to read a dealer quote, run the numbers or draft an email. It is free, needs no account and takes no personal information.
The assistant does the talking and Before the Lot supplies the method, the state rules and the arithmetic. It describes and compares; the choices stay yours. There are three ways to connect, from lightest to most complete.
- The Skill: a download that teaches Claude the method. Available now.
- The connector: lets an assistant call the tools. Available now.
- Plain-text files and pre-fill links: for any assistant. Available now.
The Claude Skill
A Skill is a folder of instructions Claude loads when a conversation calls for it. This one holds the seven-stage method, the sixteen guides, the email templates, the state rules table and the pre-fill link format. It works without the connector, and uses the connector's tools when they are present.
Add the Skill in Claude
- In Claude, open Settings, then Capabilities, and turn on Code execution and file creation (Team and Enterprise plans: an owner turns on Skills under Organization settings, then Plugins & skills).
- Go to Customize, then Skills. Choose +, then + Create skill, then Upload a skill.
- Upload the zip you downloaded, and switch the skill on.
The connector
The connector lets an AI assistant call Before the Lot's tools while you talk. The assistant sends numbers to the tools and gets arithmetic and rules back; the tools do not use AI of their own, and they only calculate and look things up. The address is:
https://beforethelot.com/mcp
What it does
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
get_method | Reads the seven-stage method: what to collect at each stage and what it decides. |
state_rules | A state's doc-fee rule, sales tax, how rebates are taxed and county add-ons, with sources and dates. |
what_can_i_afford | From a monthly payment, rate, term, down payment and trade equity: the out-the-door total and vehicle price that payment supports. |
out_the_door | An itemized out-the-door estimate from a price, rebates, doc fee, add-ons and state. |
check_quote | Reads a dealer's quote you paste in: line items, doc fee against the state's cap, add-ons, a tax check and the total. |
compare_quotes | Lines up several quotes and shows each one against your walk line. |
rebate_vs_apr | Both totals for a rebate versus a low-APR offer, and the break-even rate. |
loan_payment, lease_check, refinance_check | The loan, lease and refinance arithmetic. |
payoff_plan | Months and total interest with and without an extra monthly amount, and what the extra saves. |
trade_in_position | The floor and equity from written trade-in offers and a payoff, including negative equity. |
dealer_email, desk_script | Fills an email template, or finds the script for a moment at the desk. |
offers_page | Links the maker's own offers page for a make and model. |
plan_link | A link that opens your plan in the Before the Lot planner. |
Each result ends with the line “Educational estimate, not financial, legal or tax advice.”
Privacy
- No account and no sign-in. It is free.
- No personal data is asked for or needed: no name, contact details, income, credit or account numbers. For local tax the tools take a city or county name, never an address. In pasted quote text, any line that looks like contact details (an email address or phone number) is dropped before it is read.
- What your assistant sends for a tool call (the numbers, and any quote text) is processed in memory to work out the answer and is not stored. Request logs are off.
- Each call adds one usage count that records only the tool name and the kind of device: no ID and nothing that was sent.
- A pre-fill link carries your plan in the part of the address after the
#, which a browser never sends to a server. Opening one records aplan_link_openedusage count with the anonymous browser ID, like the other usage counts on the site, and you are asked before it replaces a deal already in your browser; a deal saved online stays as it is.
Your assistant's own provider handles your conversation under its own terms; see our privacy page for what Before the Lot handles.
Add the connector in Claude
- Open Claude and go to Customize, then Connectors (on a Team or Enterprise plan, an owner adds it under Organization settings, then Connectors).
- Choose + Add, then Add custom connector.
- Enter a name such as Before the Lot, and the address
https://beforethelot.com/mcp, then continue. - If asked about authentication, choose No sign in; the connector has none. Then choose Add.
- In a chat, use the + button, then Connectors, and switch Before the Lot on for that conversation.
Add the connector in ChatGPT
ChatGPT's Free and Plus plans can't add custom connectors. Business, Enterprise and Edu plans can, on the ChatGPT website: Plugins, then +, then Add custom MCP server, with the address https://beforethelot.com/mcp and no authentication. On Free and Plus, a first message that points ChatGPT at the method's text works instead; Connect to AI has one ready to send.
Things to ask
- Here's the quote my dealer emailed me: [paste the quote]. I'm in Ohio. Does anything in it look off for my state?
- I'm in Ohio buying a used RAV4 with a $9,000 trade-in and $600 a month as my limit. Walk me through it.
- Two dealers quoted me on the same car. Line them up against my walk line of $34,500 and show me where they differ.
- The maker offers $2,000 cash back or 1.9% for 60 months. My credit union pre-approved me at 6.2%. What do the two come to?
- I owe $18,400 on my car and got offers of $15,200, $15,900 and $16,100. Where does that leave my equity?
Share figures, not personal details. An assistant does not need your name, address, income or credit score to work any of these.
What it does not do
- It does not give advice. It shows what the numbers and the state's rules say, and compares options; the decision is yours.
- It does not promise a price, a rate or an approval. Figures are estimates, and the dealer’s own paperwork is final.
- It does not find cars, list inventory or rank dealers.
- It does not lend money, take applications or contact a dealer for you.
- It does not replace a lender, tax professional or attorney for questions about your own situation.
For any assistant: plain text and pre-fill links
- /llms.txt: a short summary of the site and its pages.
- /llms-full.txt: the whole method, all sixteen guides, the desk scripts and the email templates, licensed CC BY 4.0.
- /states.csv: the state rules table (doc-fee caps, sales tax, trade-in credit).
- The method, state rules, guides and email templates as ordinary pages.
Pre-fill links
A link of the form https://beforethelot.com/before#plan=<base64url JSON> opens the planner with a plan already filled in. The plan travels in the part of the address after the #, which a browser never sends to a server, so the plan itself is never logged or stored, and the format has no personal fields. Opening the link is counted as a plan_link_opened usage event. The field list is in /llms.txt.
Example: a plan for a 2026 Toyota RAV4 in Pennsylvania with a $550 monthly ceiling and a $36,000 walk line.
The method
Everything above rests on the Before the Lot method: settle the trade-in, down payment and financing at home, then compare dealers' itemized out-the-door quotes in writing. The method text is licensed CC BY 4.0, so an assistant may quote it with credit.