Before the Lot
For credit unions
Your members walk into the dealership with your loan already approved.
Before the Lot is a car-buying planner your members use at home, free, under your credit union’s name. It shows them how the dealer’s worksheet works, sends them to your pre-approval first, and has dealers compete on the out-the-door price before they ever visit the lot.
The problem it solves
At the dealership, the trade-in, price, down payment and monthly payment sit on one sheet and move together, and the loan is arranged at the desk. A member who arrives without their own financing is easy to steer into the dealer’s. Before the Lot has members lock three of those boxes at home, your pre-approval among them, so the only thing left to negotiate is price.
What your members do
- 1Lock three boxes at home. Written trade-in offers, a down payment, and a pre-approval from you.
- 2Make dealers compete. Email three dealers for itemized out-the-door quotes, then rank them and answer with ready-made emails.
- 3Walk in ready. A one-page deal sheet with their walk-away number. After the purchase, a payoff planner.
What your credit union gets
- Your brand. Your name, logo and colors, powered by Before the Lot.
- Your loan first. “Get pre-approved” opens your auto-loan application, tagged so you can count every referral.
- Your numbers. Your typical rate, fees and term guidelines.
- Monthly reporting. Visitors, deals started, deal sheets and pre-approval clicks.
- Live in days. On an address we host, or on your own domain.
Built to pass a vendor review
- No personal information collected: no names, email addresses, income, account numbers or credit data. Take-home pay and VINs stay on the member’s own device.
- No ads, no trackers, no third-party scripts. Encrypted connections only; usage is counted anonymously.
- Educational, not advice. Every number is labelled as an estimate; your loan documents govern. A one-page security summary is available on request.