# Before the Lot Muse connector

From musedirectory.ai, the independent directory of Meta Muse connectors. Not affiliated with Meta.

## Before the Lot

Calculate car prices, compare dealer quotes, and understand state tax rules for buying or leasing.

- Record: https://musedirectory.ai/connector/before-the-lot
- Category: Shopping & Commerce
- Developer: Before the Lot (https://beforethelot.com)
- Muse status: Extra setup. Not in Muse's Connectors list yet. Muse can still use it: its page gives you a request to paste into Muse.
- Health: Working, 366ms, checked 2026-10-30T04:21:28Z
- Endpoint: https://beforethelot.com/mcp
- Auth: No account needed; Pricing: unknown
- Screening: Screened, no issues found (2026-10-30T04:21:28Z)
- Source: Found in the official MCP Registry (com.beforethelot/before-the-lot) https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=com.beforethelot%2Fbefore-the-lot

Calculates out-the-door car prices with state taxes and fees, checks dealer quotes for accuracy, compares multiple quotes, analyzes lease vs. buy decisions, and provides state-specific rules on doc fees, trade-in credits and rebate taxation.

Example request: "Check if a dealer's quote is fair by comparing it against my budget and other quotes I've received."

How to connect: Not in Muse's Connectors list yet, but Muse can still use it. Paste this into Muse: "Use Before the Lot to help me. It is a free service with an MCP server at https://beforethelot.com/mcp. It does not need an API key. Ask me before you share anything with it." Muse asks before it shares anything with the app's site. Meta does not review apps used this way, so only use ones you trust. We tested this in the Muse app on September 24, 2026: Muse used an app's link directly this way and returned a live answer.

Tools:
- what_can_i_afford: Works out the budget ceiling from a monthly payment: the most that can be financed, the highest out-the-door price after the trade-in tax credit, that ceiling as dealers quote it (before the trade-in credit), and the vehicle price it leaves after the state's tax and typical fees.
- out_the_door: Itemizes an out-the-door estimate for a vehicle price: rebates, doc fee, add-ons, the state's sales tax (with its rules on rebates and caps), title and registration. Optionally adds a trade-in (and the tax it saves where the state credits it), a down payment and a loan for the pa
- check_quote: Reads a dealer's out-the-door quote, pasted as text (up to 8 KB) or given as line items, and checks it line by line: the out-the-door total, the doc fee against the state's cap (and capped service fees such as Ohio's $50 convenience fee), the tax line against the state's rate, fi
- compare_quotes: Ranks two to ten itemized dealer quotes by out-the-door price, with each one's gap to the lowest and to the walk line, and (with a state) each doc fee against the state's cap.
- rebate_vs_apr: Compares a maker's cash rebate taken with the person's own loan against the maker's special APR (with any cash that combines with it): each side's payment, interest and total, the difference, the own-loan rate where the two cost the same, and the sales tax a rebate saves in state
- loan_payment: The monthly payment, total interest and total paid on a car loan, with what a term over 60 months adds in interest compared with 60.
- lease_check: Works a lease quote from MSRP, selling price, residual and money factor (or the lease's APR): the depreciation and rent charges, the payment with tax (and a state lease tax on top where there is one, such as Pennsylvania's 3%; Alabama's 1.5% and West Virginia's 5% lease-payment r
- refinance_check: Compares a car loan as it stands with a new loan at a quoted rate, by default over the same months left so a lower payment cannot hide a longer loan, with any fees counted: the new payment, the monthly difference and the total interest saved or added.
- trade_in_position: From written trade-in offers and the payoff: the best offer still open (the floor a dealer's trade number is compared with), the equity or negative equity, and, with a state and vehicle price, the sales tax the trade saves where the state credits it.
- payoff_plan: A payoff plan for a car loan, for paying it off early with an extra payment each month: the months and total interest at the regular payment, and with an extra amount toward principal each month (optionally for only the first so many months, or skipping some), with the months and
- get_method: The Before the Lot method: an overview and its seven stages (what to collect, what each produces, which guides, tools and email templates apply, and when the stage is done). Pass a stage id for one stage.
- state_rules: A state's rules on dealer doc fees, sales tax (state rate, local add-on range, cap), trade-in tax credit, how a maker's rebate is taxed, and cancellation rights where on file, each with its source, as-of date and confidence, plus the link to the state's page.
- dealer_email: Fills one of the six Before the Lot email templates (request a quote, make an offer, a competing quote, confirm the deal, decline, tell a lender) with the details given and returns the subject and body. Details are numbers and short labels; contact details are refused.
- offers_page: Where a maker lists its own current offers (and a model's own page where one can be built), with whether the maker lists national offers at all.
- desk_script: The Before the Lot line for a moment at the desk. Pass a script id (monthly-payment, trade-first, down-payment, credit-check, numbers-changed, preinstalled-add-ons, initial-worksheet, decide-today, beat-my-rate, fi-product, only-a-month, paint-or-markup, below-invoice, trade-belo
- plan_link: Builds a Before the Lot planner link that opens with the numbers given already filled in. The plan travels in the link itself, so nothing is stored. Numbers and short labels only; names, phone numbers and emails are refused.

Screening checks:
- MCP handshake: pass (Answered in 366ms)
- Domain against threat feeds (Cloudflare security DNS): pass (beforethelot.com not flagged)
- Published packages against the OSV malicious-package database: n/a (No npm or PyPI package published)
- Hidden instructions or invisible characters in tool text: pass (16 tools read, nothing found)
- Inputs asking for passwords, card numbers or seed phrases: pass (None found)
- Domain and redirects: pass (Domain registered 14 days ago)
- AI review of purpose and tool behavior: pass (No concerns)