# Before the Lot

> A free, private car-buying planner. Lock your trade-in, down payment and financing at home, make dealers bid on the out-the-door price, and walk in with a one-page deal sheet.

Before the Lot (https://beforethelot.com) is a free car-buying planner for US car buyers, made by Volocent Labs LLC.
No account is needed (an optional Google sign-in keeps deals across devices), and it never asks
for a name, income or credit. It is an educational tool, not financial, legal or tax advice.

## The problem: the four-square

Most dealers work your deal on a single sheet split into four squares: your trade-in, the price, your down payment and your monthly payment. It's often called a four-square. Every square can move. Give a little in one, take a little more in another, and by the end it's hard to see where the money went.

- **Trade-in:** What the dealer pays for the car you have now. The dealer: An appraisal at the desk. It can come in under your written offers, or high with the difference made up in the price. The buyer: Lock it to written offers. The best one is your floor.
- **Price:** What you pay for the new car, out the door. The dealer: A first number with room in it; the out-the-door total is what to compare. The buyer: Leave it open. Get three dealers to bid on the out-the-door total.
- **Down payment:** The cash you put in on the day. The dealer: Often asked early, because it shapes the loan and the payment. The buyer: Choose it at home and lock it. It doesn't move at the desk.
- **Monthly payment:** What you pay each month for the loan. The dealer: "What payment works for you?" Then the term quietly stretches. The buyer: It's math on the other three, at your own pre-approved rate.

Before the Lot flips it. You fill in three of the squares at home, with numbers you can back up. Price is the only one left to negotiate, and you make dealers compete for it.

## Three steps from your couch

1. **Lock three squares at home.** Get written offers for your trade-in, choose your down payment, then a pre-approval from your own lender for the rest. Each locks its square.
2. **Find a fair price, then make dealers compete.** Look up what the car usually sells for, set the most you will pay, and email three dealers for itemized out-the-door quotes.
3. **Walk in with a one-page deal sheet.** Your numbers, your walk line and what to say, on your phone or on paper. Price is the only thing left to talk about.

## Pages

- [Home](https://beforethelot.com/): A free, private car-buying planner. Lock your trade-in, down payment and financing at home, make dealers bid on the out-the-door price, and walk in with a one-page deal sheet.
- [Before the Lot](https://beforethelot.com/before): Set a budget, find a fair price for the car, lock your trade-in, down payment and pre-approved loan, then email dealers for itemized out-the-door quotes and rank them.
- [At the Lot](https://beforethelot.com/at): Your one-page deal sheet for the dealership: the out-the-door price, your walk-away line, the numbers you've locked and what to say at the desk. Works offline.
- [After the Lot](https://beforethelot.com/after): A car-loan payoff planner: see what an extra payment each month saves in interest and months, with room for tight months.
- [About](https://beforethelot.com/about): who makes it (Volocent Labs LLC, Pennsylvania), how it makes money (licensing to credit unions and banks; no ads, no dealer leads, no data sales) and what happens if it stops.
- [For credit unions](https://beforethelot.com/for-credit-unions): the white-label version a credit union offers its members under its own brand, with its own pre-approval first.
- [For community banks](https://beforethelot.com/for-community-banks): the same for a community bank and its customers, with the bank's auto loan first.
- [Privacy Policy](https://beforethelot.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://beforethelot.com/terms)

## The Before the Lot method

The Before the Lot method is a sequence for buying a car in which most of the deal is settled at home, in writing, before any dealer speaks. A dealer's worksheet has four squares: trade-in, price, down payment and monthly payment. The method locks three of them at home, each to a document: the trade-in to written offers, the down payment to an amount chosen from the buyer's own budget, and the financing to a pre-approval. That leaves one open number, the price, and only as an out-the-door total. Before the first quote arrives the buyer sets four numbers: a budget ceiling, a fair price, an opening offer and a walk line. Dealers then quote itemized out-the-door totals by email, compared line by line. At the desk the trade-in comes up last, the payment is the arithmetic that follows, and the walk line decides. After the purchase, a payoff plan shows what extra payments do to the months and the interest.

Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); credit: The Before the Lot method, Volocent Labs LLC, beforethelot.com. Full text of the method, every guide, the desk scripts and the email templates: [llms-full.txt](https://beforethelot.com/llms-full.txt).

- [Stage 1: See the four-square for what it is](https://beforethelot.com/method#see-the-four-square): A plan with a place for each square: trade-in, down payment and financing marked to be locked at home, and price marked as the one open number.
- [Stage 2: Lock three squares at home, in order](https://beforethelot.com/method#lock-three-squares): Three locked squares: a trade-in floor and equity, a fixed down payment, and a pre-approved APR and term.
- [Stage 3: Leave one square open: price, as an out-the-door total](https://beforethelot.com/method#price-as-out-the-door): The open square defined as an itemized out-the-door total, an estimate of that total for the car, and the cash-back and promotional-APR choices compared by total cost.
- [Stage 4: Set the numbers before any dealer speaks](https://beforethelot.com/method#set-your-numbers): Four written numbers: budget ceiling, fair price, opening offer and walk line, all as out-the-door totals.
- [Stage 5: Make dealers compete in writing](https://beforethelot.com/method#dealers-compete): Quotes ranked by out-the-door total, each marked over or under the walk line, with doc fees checked against the state's rule and add-ons separated; and one quote confirmed in writing, or none yet.
- [Stage 6: At the desk](https://beforethelot.com/method#at-the-desk): A final contract whose lines match the written out-the-door total, the locked squares and any products chosen at their total prices; or a decision to leave.
- [Stage 7: After the lot: a payoff plan](https://beforethelot.com/method#after-the-lot): A payoff date and total interest with and without the extra amount, and a refinance offer compared by total cost where there is one.
- [The method](https://beforethelot.com/method): all seven stages on one page
- [How the four-square works against you](https://beforethelot.com/method/four-square): The dealer's worksheet has four squares so the deal can move between them. Lock three before you go.
- [The walk-around appraisal](https://beforethelot.com/method/silent-devaluation): The walk-around that finds every scuff is building a case for a low trade number.
- [Get three written offers](https://beforethelot.com/method/three-offers): A real, written offer for your car beats any estimate. Get two or three before you talk to a dealer.
- [Disclose the trade last](https://beforethelot.com/method/trade-last): Settle the price as if you have no trade. Bring it up after, so neither number can hide in the other.
- [The first pencil](https://beforethelot.com/method/numbers-meant-to-offend): The first numbers on the sheet are often set high on purpose, so beating them down feels like a win.
- [Out-the-door is the only number](https://beforethelot.com/method/out-the-door): Price, fees, add-ons, tax and title, all in. Dealer quotes only compare fairly as out-the-door totals.
- [The walk line](https://beforethelot.com/method/walk-line): Decide at home the out-the-door number above which you leave, then let that number decide for you.
- [Why they go to down payment first](https://beforethelot.com/method/down-payment-first): Asking about your down payment early finds the cash you have and steers the talk toward a monthly payment.
- [Loan-to-value and being underwater](https://beforethelot.com/method/underwater): If you owe more than the car is worth, you're underwater. Your down payment and term decide for how long.
- [Payment is an output](https://beforethelot.com/method/payment-output): Your monthly payment is math on price, APR and term. Settle those three and the payment follows.
- [A few dollars a month adds up](https://beforethelot.com/method/fourteen-dollars): A few dollars a month sounds small. Over a long loan, it adds up to more than a thousand dollars.
- [Bring your own financing](https://beforethelot.com/method/own-financing): A pre-approval from your bank or credit union sets the rate a dealer has to beat to earn your loan.
- [Rebate or low APR?](https://beforethelot.com/method/rebate-vs-apr): Manufacturers often offer cash back or a low promotional rate, not both. Run the numbers before you choose.
- [Hold off on initialing the worksheet](https://beforethelot.com/method/initial-trick): Being asked to initial the worksheet is a small yes that makes the bigger yes feel already decided.
- [The F&I office](https://beforethelot.com/method/fi-office): After you agree on a price, a finance manager offers optional products. Some can make sense, at the right price.
- [Paying extra](https://beforethelot.com/method/paying-extra): Extra payments go straight to the balance, so a little more each month can cut months and interest from a loan.

## State rules

- [Rules by state](https://beforethelot.com/states): doc-fee rules, sales tax, trade-in credit and a worked out-the-door example for every state and DC
- [states.csv](https://beforethelot.com/states.csv): the same table as CSV, licensed CC BY 4.0 (credit: Before the Lot state rules data, Volocent Labs LLC, beforethelot.com/states).

## Guides

- [How to read an out-the-door quote, line by line](https://beforethelot.com/guides/out-the-door-quote): What each line of a dealer quote is (vehicle price, doc fee, add-ons, tax, title and registration), why only the total compares dealers fairly, and what can and cannot move.
- [Cash back or a low APR: how to compare the two offers](https://beforethelot.com/guides/cash-back-or-low-apr): How to compare a manufacturer's cash rebate with its low promotional rate: two full loans over the same term, with a worked example and what changes the answer.
- [Finance-office products and what they typically cost](https://beforethelot.com/guides/finance-office-products): The optional products offered in a dealership finance office (service contracts, GAP, VIN etching and more): what each is, when it can make sense, and typical prices with their sources.
- [Lease basics: the numbers on a lease quote](https://beforethelot.com/guides/lease-basics): What a lease quote is made of (capitalized cost, residual, money factor, fees, tax) and the formula that turns them into a monthly payment, with a worked example and how it compares with buying.
- [The trade-in: offers, equity, and the order of the talk](https://beforethelot.com/guides/trade-in): How a written offer differs from an estimate, how equity and negative equity work, how a dealer trade can lower sales tax, and why the trade-in and the price are kept as separate numbers.
- [Before a deposit on a used car: history, inspection and what to get in writing](https://beforethelot.com/guides/used-car-inspection): What a vehicle history report shows and what an independent inspection checks that it cannot, the two things to have in writing before paying a deposit, and how certified pre-owned compares.

## Email templates

- [Ask for an itemized out-the-door quote](https://beforethelot.com/emails/request-quote): The first message to each dealer. It asks for an itemized out-the-door quote on a specific car, quoted as a purchase on its own, with no trade-in and no monthly payment figure, so the quotes line up.
- [Invite a dealer to beat a better quote](https://beforethelot.com/emails/competing-quote): After a dealer's quote arrives and another dealer has a lower written, itemized out-the-door total. It states that total without naming the other dealer and asks for a revised quote by a date.
- [Make an out-the-door offer](https://beforethelot.com/emails/make-offer): When a buyer is ready to buy a car in stock at a number. It offers an out-the-door total with no dealer add-ons and asks for an itemized buyer's order at that total.
- [Confirm the deal in writing before you go](https://beforethelot.com/emails/confirm-deal): After a dealer has agreed to a number and before the buyer drives in. It asks the dealer to confirm the car, the out-the-door price and that no add-ons are included, in writing, and to have the paperwork prepared to match.
- [Email your lender about the car and the numbers](https://beforethelot.com/emails/lender-deal): To the buyer's lender once a car is found, with the pre-approval terms and the deal's numbers, asking what is needed to finalize the loan and by when the funds can be ready.
- [Politely say no thanks](https://beforethelot.com/emails/decline): To close out a dealer whose quote won't be taken up. It thanks them and asks to be taken off follow-up for that car.

## Use with AI assistants

- [Connect to your AI assistant](https://beforethelot.com/connect): how to add the connector (https://beforethelot.com/mcp) in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and others, and what each plan allows
- [For AI assistants and developers](https://beforethelot.com/ai): the connector's tools, the Claude Skill, the plain-text files and the pre-fill link format

## Pre-fill links

Send a person straight into their plan on Before the Lot. Build a link whose URL fragment carries the plan; opening it loads the plan into their browser. The fragment is never sent to any server, so nothing is logged or stored, and the format has no personal fields.

Format: `https://beforethelot.com/before#plan=<base64url of UTF-8 JSON>` (URL-safe base64, no padding). The JSON is `{ "v": 1, ... }` plus any of these parts, each optional; unknown keys make the whole link invalid.
- `car`: year, make, model, trim, condition ("new" or "used"), targetPrice
- `budget`: maxPayment, termMonths
- `trade`: hasTrade, estimate, payoff, offers [{source, amount, expires "YYYY-MM-DD"}]
- `down`: amount
- `financing`: lender (a short label, not a person's name), aprPercent, maxAmount, termMonths
- `price`: state (two letters), taxRate (0.0575 = 5.75%), county (Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin only: a county name from the state's list, which sets the combined rate; a name only, never an address or ZIP; a name not on the list makes the link invalid), city (a city or county in the state's rate table, in the 23 states that have one, like "Pittsburgh", "Allegheny County" or "Chicago, Cook County" where a city is in several counties: the planner looks it up when the link opens and uses its combined rate; letters only, never an address or ZIP; a name that isn't one place keeps taxRate and the person picks the city in the planner), fairPrice, walkLine, docFeeEstimate (a doc fee the person gave; leave out to use the state's cap, or $450 where there is none), titleRegEstimate (title and registration; leave out for $250), quotes [{dealer, vehiclePrice, rebates, docFee, addOns [{name, amount}], salesTax, titleReg, otherFees, receivedOn}]
- `incentives`: offers [{kind, label, amount, aprPercent, termMonths, withSpecialApr, qualifies, expires}]

Amounts are dollars (0 to 10,000,000); rates are percents (0 to 99); terms are months (1 to 120); text is at most 60 characters, and text that looks like an email address or phone number is refused. Typical plans are 500 to 2,000 characters; over 8 KB is refused.

Example JSON: `{"v":1,"car":{"year":2026,"make":"Toyota","model":"RAV4","condition":"new"},"budget":{"maxPayment":550,"termMonths":60},"price":{"state":"PA","walkLine":36000}}`, encoded as base64url after `#plan=`.

If the person already has a deal in that browser, the page asks before replacing it; an unreadable link shows a short message and changes nothing.

## Privacy

Your deal is saved in this browser, and online only if you make a share link or private link, or sign in. We never ask for your name, email, income history, account numbers or credit, and an optional local-tax address lookup keeps nothing. Share links and private links hold deal numbers, with nothing that identifies you.

## Contact

contact@beforethelot.com