About Jarrod

I spent time selling cars at a Hyundai store in Connecticut. My job title was Sales Consultant, which is the industry's way of saying I sold vehicles and learned to keep the real price out of the conversation until the buyer was already emotionally committed.

I wasn't proud of that part.

The whole process is designed to fragment the numbers. Show them the monthly payment, not the total. Save the doc fee for the F&I office. Let the finance manager add GAP insurance when the buyer's guard is down because they just shook hands on a deal. I was trained to do this. I did it.

Then I Needed to Buy a Car Myself

I called six dealerships in three states trying to get an out-the-door number on a specific vehicle before I made the drive. Five refused outright. The sixth gave me a number and added $1,400 in dealer-installed accessories when I got there. I knew every tactic they were running and it still cost me an extra afternoon and a lot of frustration.

That's when I understood the problem wasn't just buyer ignorance. The system is built to prevent transparency even when the buyer knows what's happening. You can't out-negotiate a process specifically designed to obscure the final number.

Why I Built TotalOTD

TotalOTD solves a specific problem: knowing what a vehicle will actually cost before you talk to anyone. Enter a VIN and your ZIP code. Get the full breakdown, sales tax by your actual location, doc fee by state, title, registration, and trade-in tax credit, before you ever set foot in a dealership.

Not a range. Not "taxes and fees may vary." The itemized number you can bring with you and say: this is what I expect to pay.

No dealer partnerships. No lead generation. No reason to shade the numbers. The calculator is free and the math is the same regardless of which dealer you're looking at.

What I've Written

Everything on TotalOTD comes from having worked both sides of the transaction. These are the posts I've published so far:

• How to Get the Out-the-Door Price Before You Walk In
• Why Won't Car Dealers Give You a Price Over the Phone?
• How Dealers Mark Up Your Auto Loan Interest Rate
• How to Calculate Your Out the Door Price
• New vs. Used Car: When the Financing Math Changes Everything
• How to Read a Dealer's Buyer's Order
• Extended Warranty from the Dealer: What They Don't Tell You