Individual car search
Real terms, not advertised numbers
Tell us the car you want. A licensed California broker runs a reverse auction between dealers, strips the add-ons you do not need and checks the rate. Before you sign, a person from our team checks the contract against what was agreed.
Hunter.Lease is a licensed California auto broker, license #21138.
How it works
- 1
Your request and how you pay
Tell us the car, and the payment and down payment you are comfortable with. Choose how to pay for the search: $149 for the search itself, or a $550 deposit that comes back after delivery.
- 2
The credit application and a realistic range
You fill in a protected application; your SSN is encrypted. We look at your situation and tell you which cars make sense and what terms the bank may offer. The final payment, rate and approval are the bank's call, so we do not promise advertised numbers.
- 3
A reverse auction between dealers
We tell dealers there is a buyer ready to close in the coming days and make their offers compete: availability and nearest deliveries, the biggest discount, no add-ons you did not ask for, no hidden fees.
- 4
We check the numbers, not only the payment
A low payment can hide a big down payment, an expensive rate or extras. We compare bank offers and check the base rate the bank actually approved.
- 5
Final terms and delivery
Before you sign you get the full structure: the car, the price, the discount, the down payment, the rate, the term, the payment, taxes, fees and any products. You decide only then, and before you sign a person from our team checks the contract against the agreed terms, in person at the dealer or online.
What this looks like in real deals
Add-ons we take off the contract
- Nitrogen in the tires$799
- Leather protection against spilled coffee$1,499
- A GPS tracker sold as an "anti-theft system"$1,995
- Tire protectionfrom $1,999
- Lender feefrom $500
Extended warranties and other finance products get the same check.
One buyer, two banks
The same buyer can get 3.9% at one bank and 8.4% at another. On a $40,000 loan over 60 months that is $735 against $819 a month, $5,040 over the term.
Rate markup at the dealer
In California a dealer may add up to 2.5 points to the rate the bank approved and keep the difference. The bank approved 4%, the contract says 6.5%: on a $40,000 loan over 60 months that is $737 against $783 a month, $2,760 over the term.
Monthly amounts in the examples come from the standard loan formula, before taxes and fees.
Two ways to pay
The work is the same. The difference is what happens to the money.
Search fee
$149- Pays for the work itself: the auction, the negotiation, the rate and contract check.
- Not refunded in any case.
- For you if you do not want to set aside a larger amount.
Deposit
$550Comes back after delivery
- It fixes your intent to buy within the next 3 days: for dealers that is a signal the deal is real, so they have more reason to give the best discount and drop the extras.
- Back in full after the car is delivered, and also if the bank declines or no matching car is found.
- If you change your mind, the deposit stays with us.
- If you buy through us, the search costs you nothing.
Both are for buyers ready to buy within 1-3 days: bank, brand and dealer terms change every few days, so a range for next month means little.
- 1. Car/
- 2. Contact/
- 3. Payment