♠ Paid by you. Only.♥ $0 from dealers, ever♦ New cars only♣ Washington
Act I · ♦ The game
The sheet always grows.
Their favorite trick: pad the deal on the way to the desk. Watch the out-the-door number.
♦ Buyer's order · New carThe desk
✓MSRP · Retail price$40,000
Market adjustmentjunk fee+ $1,995
✓Doc fee (required)+ $200
Protection package you never asked forextra BS+ $1,400
Nitrogen tires · VIN etch · sealanta fancy dinner for the sales manager+ $400
✓Sales tax (required)+ $4,040
Desk fees that appear at hour threemore BS+ $385
Out-the-door$44,240
Don't get played.
Junk fees don't survive. If it isn't in the out-the-door number, it doesn't exist.
Act II · ♣ Case 001
Why this exists.
One bad deal changed which side of the table I sit on.
♥ The Bad Beat
A good dad bought his daughter a used car. Overcharged from the start.
The Carfax said stolen. The dealer said nothing. The engine lasted a month: $10,000 to fix.
All in, he could have bought her a brand-new car.
Asa, founder
My girlfriend's dad bought her a used car from a dealership. A good man doing a good thing, something dependable for his daughter to drive through college. He was overcharged from the minute he shook hands, and nobody in that building was going to tell him.
The Carfax literally showed the car had been stolen before. The dealer never brought it up. A month later the engine died, and the quote to fix it was ten thousand dollars. Add it all up and he could have put her in a brand-new car instead.
None of those games are a mystery to me. I worked at a dealership. The advertised price built on discounts you will never qualify for, the add-ons nobody asked for, the fees that appear at the desk. I saw it every day. This exists so it never happens to you.
Act III · ♠ House rules
Three rules.
New cars only.
New is the game I can win for you. Used hides too much.
Paid by you. Only.
No kickbacks, no spiffs. The house doesn't deal me in.
The number is final.
Locked in writing before you walk in. It doesn't move at the desk.
Act IV · ♥ On the house
Your first card is free.
The Field Guide. The printable companion to the Playbook: checklists and exact scripts. Free. No email, no catch.
Teaches you the entire new-car buying game, from picking the right car to driving it home. Written by someone who worked the other side of the desk, it walks you through every play dealers run and hands you the exact scripts, templates, and moves to counter them.
New cars only. Free updates for life. You do the deal yourself, but you walk in knowing the whole game.
Start to finish: picking the right car, the search, the phones, the finance office, the drive home. If they make you sign in person, I sit at that desk with you. One person does this.