Have someone on your side before you sign anything.

The finance manager is good at their job, and their job is to close the deal for the store; that is the role, not a criticism. Nobody in that building is paid to tell you which line to push back on. $249 buys the one person in the deal whose only client is you, and it is a one-time fee on a purchase that runs five or six figures. A $1,200 service contract marked up at the desk, or two points of rate on a 72-month loan, each cost more than the review.

Good; that is the deal we want to see. Most of the money in a car deal is not in the price, it is in the structure: the trade allowance, the rate, the term, the fees and the products that show up after the handshake. A great price with a marked-up rate is still an expensive deal. We confirm the whole contract matches what you agreed to. Typical case: $1,500 negotiated off sticker, then $900 of add-ons and a two-point rate markup in the contract. The price was great; the deal was not finished.

Not a good one. A prepared buyer with specific, reasonable asks is the easiest customer in the store, and the dealer still sells the car. We never contact the dealer, you never have to mention us, and what we hand you is polite, exact language, not a script for a fight. “Please remove the etch and the tire package, and show me the buy rate” is a five-minute fix for a finance manager, not an argument.

You should, and bring it. Those tools price the car. They do not read your buyer’s order: the doc fee against your state’s norm, trade allowance versus actual cash value, buy rate versus the rate you were offered, or how the term and the products moved the payment. We read the paper, not the market. Example: KBB said the price was fair. The contract carried a $3,000 negative-equity rollover nobody had mentioned out loud.

That is exactly when it is worth it. Upload photos of the worksheet from the dealership; we turn reviews around within one business day and usually much faster during business hours. A fair deal does not expire when you leave to think it over, and most stores will hold the numbers 24 hours if you ask. Say: “I’ll take the numbers home tonight and sign tomorrow if they hold.” A good store says yes.

Then we tell you to sign, in writing, and that is a good outcome. You walk into the finance office knowing the deal is clean instead of hoping it is. The fee pays for the verdict, not for finding problems. Typical finds are $800–$3,000; typical, not guaranteed, because some deals are simply clean. A clean verdict reads: “Sign it. Decline the add-ons as presented; everything else is fair.” Clients tell us that one line was worth the fee.

It is a real fee, so weigh it against what it covers: research, dealer outreach for real out-the-door numbers, quote comparison, the Deal Review and delivery support, on a $25,000–$60,000 purchase. One avoided market adjustment, one point of rate, or a trade done right covers it several times over. If all you need is the paper read, the $249 Deal Review is the right buy and we will tell you so on the discovery call. On a $40,000 car, $499 is about 1.2% of the purchase. A two-point rate markup over 72 months costs roughly $2,800.

A broker can, and some are very good. The difference is who pays them. Most brokers are paid by the dealer when the sale closes, which means they need the deal to close, at a particular store. FMYCAR is paid only by you, does not sell cars, and is fine with you walking away. Ask any broker: “Do you receive anything from the dealer when I buy?” Our answer is no, in writing.

No. No referral fee, no spiff, no share of the finance office. Dealers on cars.fmycar.com publish their inventory through software our founder built; they pay for that software, not for shoppers, and we never steer you to a store because of it. The fee you pay up front is our only revenue from your deal. You can buy from any dealership in the country and our advice does not change.

Then you don’t buy. Sometimes the honest answer is keep the car, wait a model year, or fix the credit first, and we have told clients exactly that. The discovery call tells us whether we can help; if we can’t, we say so and refund you. If you finish the process and decide to wait, you keep the research, the numbers and the plan for when you are ready. Example: a client’s trade was $4,000 upside down. The recommendation was to keep paying it down for eight months, not roll it into a new loan.

Read them; we publish plenty free ourselves. Most free car-buying content is written to rank in search, by people who have never sat on the dealership side of the desk. The Hub is the working playbook: checklists, the exact words to use, and worked examples with real numbers, organized by your situation instead of by keyword. A free article says “negotiate the out-the-door price.” The Hub shows you the worksheet, which lines move, and the email that gets the number in writing.

As long as it is useful, and you cancel in one click. Most people need one or two months: the month they are shopping and the month they are signing. Join, follow the reading path for your situation, buy the car, cancel. Policy: Hub members get $49 off a Deal Review in their first 60 days, so a month of Hub plus a review costs the same as the review alone.

Both, and those are the two groups we wrote dedicated reading paths for. First-time buyers get budget, pre-approval, the first dealership visit step by step, and co-signers done safely. Seniors and the families helping a parent get the features that matter, trading a long-owned car, titles and power of attorney, and how to slow a store down politely. Plain language throughout. The “Helping a parent” path is three guides and a checklist a daughter can send her father the night before the visit.

No. FMYCAR is an advice-only service. We do not sell vehicles, negotiate on your behalf or handle deposits. You always buy directly from the dealer or lender; we help you understand the numbers and trade-offs.

No one can guarantee a specific price. What we can do is show you exactly how the deal is built, what’s fair for your situation and how to say yes or no with confidence.

Our loyalty is to the driver, not the store. We can help you think through options at any franchised or independent dealership, using your real offers and paperwork. The cars on cars.fmycar.com are published by dealerships on CarSales AI; you can bring any of them to a session.

A human FMYCAR advisor. Our AI assistants (you’ll meet them on the team page) help with research, scanning inventory and organizing your numbers; a person reviews everything before it reaches you.

At booking or in a follow-up confirmation. It covers your advisor’s prep, the session and the written follow-up summarizing your plan.