The deal
The figures as they appear on the paperwork — price, fees, add-ons, taxes, trade, and the balance.
Content series
Stump the Dealer. ASK RD.
Here is a car deal. What would you question? Each breakdown walks through the numbers on the page and the questions a buyer should ask — using anonymized or clearly hypothetical examples only.
How each breakdown is structured
What the buyer was shown
How the deal was presented: often a monthly payment first, with the components further down the page.
What stands out
The lines that need an explanation, and any figure that does not reconcile with the rest of the page.
Questions to ask
Plain questions a buyer can ask at the desk, attached to the actual numbers in front of them.
What ASK RD would analyze
Which components can be verified from the page, and which categories cannot be evaluated because the figures are not visible.
What the buyer should verify
Anything still outstanding: the APR in writing, a current trade payoff, the final contract terms.
A worked example
Hypothetical deal — illustrative figures only, not a real customer transaction
- Selling price
- $39,450.00
- Protection package
- $2,195.00
- Documentation fee
- $429.00
- Taxes
- $2,610.00
- Government fees
- $196.00
- Trade allowance
- −$16,000.00
- Trade payoff
- $18,750.00
- Balance
- $47,630.00
What would you question?
- The $2,195 protection package: is it optional, what does it cover, and can it come off?
- The trade: the payoff is $2,750 higher than the allowance, so negative equity is being financed.
- No APR or term appears, so the cost of the financing cannot be evaluated from this page.
- The $429 documentation fee and $196 in government fees: which is a dealership charge and which is a pass-through?
None of this says a dealership did anything wrong. It says these lines deserve a clear answer before a buyer signs.
Have a deal in front of you? ASK RD can help you analyze the numbers and identify questions to ask before you sign.
Written by RD Matharu, Founder of ASK RD.