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Car-buying math and state rules: out-the-door prices, quote checks, leases and trade-ins
Remote server: your requests and data go to beforethelot.com. Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http before-the-lot https://beforethelot.com/mcp · Claude app: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.
The tools this server listed when we connected to it, in its own words.
what_can_i_afford — Works out a car budget from the monthly payment someone is comfortable with: the most that can be financed, the highest out-the-door price aout_the_door — Itemizes the out-the-door price of a car from its selling price: rebates, doc fee, add-ons, sales tax with the state's rules and, given a cicheck_quote — 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,compare_quotes — Ranks two to ten itemized dealer quotes for the same car by out-the-door total, with each one's gap to the lowest and to the walk line, and rebate_vs_apr — 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 loan_payment — The monthly payment, total interest and total paid on a car loan from the amount financed, APR and term, with what a term over 60 months addlease_check — Works a lease quote from the MSRP, selling price, residual and money factor (or the lease's APR): the depreciation and rent charges, the monrefinance_check — 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 lontrade_in_position — Sizes up a trade-in from written offers (CarMax, Carvana, dealers) and what's still owed: the best offer still open, which is the floor a depayoff_plan — 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 paymentget_method — The Before the Lot method for buying a car: an overview and its seven stages, from setting the budget at home to signing. Each stage says whstate_rules — A state's car-buying rules: the dealer doc-fee cap or rule, sales tax (state rate, local add-on range, any cap), whether a trade-in lowers tdealer_email — Drafts an email to a dealer or lender from one of six Before the Lot templates: request an itemized out-the-door quote, make an offer, shareoffers_page — The address of a car maker's own page of current offers (rebates, special APRs, lease deals), and of a model's page where one can be built, desk_script — A short line a buyer can say at a moment in the dealership's sales or finance office, such as being asked for a monthly payment, a credit chplan_link — Builds a link to the free Before the Lot planner that opens with the numbers given already filled in, so the person can carry on in the web Not tested by KitScout yet. When our harness runs it, pros, cons and the tasks we tried appear here, with the date and evidence.