Skip to content
Outsmart the Lot

Tools for checking a car deal

Put the written numbers in order, compare your options, and identify what still needs an answer.

Your written out-the-door price is the vehicle transaction total before financing costs, your down payment, and trade/payoff.

Start with your written quote

Keep the itemization, check missing charges and credits, copy the questions to ask, and compare a revised offer with the original.

Free. No account. Your entries stay in this browser, with copy, print, and export options.

Check and compare quotes
Just need a quick arithmetic check?

Quote Check

Copy the dollar amounts from a written quote. This check adds charges, subtracts separately listed credits, and compares the optional written total; it does not estimate market value or judge the purchase.

Copy credits subtracted on this quote, including conditional ones; eligibility still needs confirmation. Enter 0 if none are separate. Do not subtract a discount already included in the vehicle price, your own down payment, or your trade equity.

Use the total before your down payment and trade/payoff, not the amount financed. Leave blank if the quote does not provide that total.

Arithmetic check only. The entered amounts may still be incomplete or inaccurate; verify the buyer's order before signing.

Financing and trade

Unclear or incomplete math can hide costs. Start with current written offers and payoff statements; check the assumptions beside each result.

Loan Term Comparison

Compare fixed monthly-payment estimates, total interest, and total paid at the same entered principal and annual contract interest rate. No term is selected for you.

APR is for comparing offers and may include mandatory fees this payment estimate does not model. Enter the annual contract interest rate; zero is supported.

Payoff / Vehicle Value Check

Compare a current lender payoff with an entered vehicle-value estimate. Payoff minus vehicle value is the negative-equity calculation.

Use a current payoff statement, not only the last account balance.

Use a dated offer or estimate that reflects mileage and condition.

Values can change with payoff timing, mileage, condition, and the specific offer. Recheck both numbers for the transaction date.

Trade-In vs. Private Sale

Compare the entered trade and private-sale amounts before lender payoff. Supply any verified trade tax credit as a dollar amount and include the costs you expect for a private sale.

Enter 0 if you have confirmed there is no trade tax credit or no private-sale cost. This tool does not infer eligibility or an amount from your state.

This comparison does not subtract a lender payoff. For the same vehicle, the same payoff applies to either path, so it does not change the displayed difference; subtract it from either amount to estimate cash remaining.

Purchase and lease planning

Make the written arithmetic and assumptions visible before you sign. These checks use your supplied numbers; they do not set local tax rules or decide which car to buy.

Out-the-Door Line-Item Check

Add the dollar amounts from a written buyer's order. Enter the quoted tax amount directly; this tool does not assume a taxable base or state rule.

Selling price shown before the other listed amounts.

Products or services listed by the dealer; enter 0 if none.

Dealer or processing fees shown on the order.

Use the tax dollars on the written quote—not an estimated rate.

Combine the government fees shown on the order.

Dollar credits subtracted on the order; enter 0 if none.

The written trade allowance applied after the out-the-door total; enter 0 if none.

The written payoff on the trade added after its allowance; enter 0 if none.

Lease-Maturity Lease / Buy Comparison

Compare entered lease and purchase net costs at the same scheduled lease-maturity point.

Both scenarios end here at lease maturity. Use a schedule with one equal payment per month. Unequal, deferred, balloon, and single-pay leases need a separate comparison using the disclosed totals.

Lease inputs

Include taxes and other charges collected in each equal monthly payment.

Copy the full disclosed amount before its funding breakdown: include the first payment, deposit, upfront fees, and any amount funded by a rebate or your net trade equity. This can be more than the cash you bring.

Enter only rebate or dealer-credit money shown as paying that total. Confirm eligibility. Do not include your own cash or net trade equity, or subtract a price discount again. Enter 0 if none.

Usually 1 when the first full monthly payment is included above; enter 0 if none. Count it even when a rebate pays it. It will not be added a second time.

Enter the refundable security deposit included above and paid from your funds. Enter 0 if none. This comparison assumes it is returned in full; include expected deductions in lease-end costs.

Include disposition, excess-mileage, or wear charges you reasonably expect at the scheduled lease end.

Buy inputs

Count scheduled purchase payments made by lease maturity; this cannot exceed the comparison point.

Include your cash, net trade equity, and upfront fees. Exclude loan payments counted above and manufacturer/dealer credits; do not count the same contribution twice.

Estimate the loan balance at the scheduled lease-maturity comparison point.

Estimate the purchased vehicle's value at that same comparison point.

Enter 0 only when a required amount or payment count is confirmed to be none. If the signing funding or payment schedule is unclear, get the itemized disclosure before comparing. How lease signing amounts are disclosed.

Work through the complete buying decision

Check the vehicle as well as the price

Start with the seller's documents and any history report already provided. Use separate recall and condition checks; a clean report does not establish that a car is safe.

Free checks and official guidance

Use the VIN lookup for unrepaired safety recalls. Some very recent recalls, recalls more than 15 years old, and notices from certain small manufacturers may not appear; ask the manufacturer or dealer about remedy details and parts availability.

NICB checks participating insurers' theft and salvage records. It is not a comprehensive vehicle history.

Get an independent inspection

Ask a qualified mechanic to inspect the car and give you written findings and repair estimates. A vehicle-history report, safety rating, or basic safety inspection is not a complete mechanical inspection.

Open the used-car buying guide

For model-level crash-test research:

NHTSA safety ratingsIIHS crash tests

Optional paid history reports

If you need another history report, compare the approved providers and what each report covers. VINsmart is currently listed by the U.S. Department of Justice as an approved public NMVTIS data provider. It is one option, and you may already have a useful report from the seller.

Five NMVTIS indicators

  • Title state and last title date
  • Brand history
  • Latest reported odometer reading
  • Total-loss history
  • Salvage history

Coverage depends on what participating sources have reported. NMVTIS does not replace the separate NHTSA recall lookup or an independent inspection.

Official NMVTIS sources

Check VIN with VINsmart

Affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you use this link, at no extra cost to you.

Find the numbers and documents you need

Pricing research

Compare price estimates and market ranges across multiple sources. Match the vehicle, condition, mileage, and location.

Trade-in offers

Get dated written offers, then compare them with the current lender payoff and any verified tax effect.

Financing research

If you plan to finance, compare a written outside preapproval with the dealer's final offer. A quoted rate is not final approval.

Ownership costs

Include insurance, fuel, maintenance, and repairs. A purchase price or monthly payment is only part of the budget.

Reviews and complaints

Reviews can suggest questions to investigate; they do not verify a particular deal. An FTC fraud report helps enforcement and is not a promise of individual recovery.

DealerRaterBBB searchFTC Report Fraud

Take the next step

Keep a written quoteFollow the buying checklistGet help at the dealershipFind words to say

Share these tools