How does Motrix work?

You tell Motrix the car you want. We contact multiple dealers for you — by email, voicemail and web form — strip every junk fee, and negotiate your out-the-door price in writing. You approve the final number and sign. You never sit across from a salesperson.

What does Motrix cost, and when do I pay?

$0 upfront. You only pay when Motrix lands you a deal you actually sign — $399 for the Deal tier (done-for-you), $799 for Pro (a dedicated human on your deal), or $1,499 for founder-led Concierge. If it does not close a deal you sign, you pay nothing.

Do I have to talk to the dealer at all?

Never. Motrix handles all communication. The only thing you sign is the final contract.

How long does it take?

It is dealer-paced. Across Motrix deals to date the median first written quote arrives in about three days, and deals close over the following one to four weeks. Outreach starts right after your brief is filed and every dealer is worked in parallel.

Does this work for used cars too?

Yes. Motrix works for new, used, and CPO vehicles. Used car negotiations use different tactics — we focus on vehicle history, condition-based pricing, and market comparables rather than MSRP.

What if I have a trade-in?

Enter your license plate number in the brief. We automatically pull your vehicle's value from KBB, Carvana, and CarMax. We negotiate your new car price first, then your trade separately.

Is Motrix a car broker?

No. Motrix is a negotiation facilitation service. We're not a licensed dealer or broker — we're an AI agent that negotiates on your behalf. You make every final decision.

What does Motrix actually do?

Motrix is an autonomous AI agent that contacts car dealers on your behalf and negotiates the entire deal. You submit a brief about the vehicle you want, and the agent handles every dealer interaction — emails, SMS, fee disputes, price counter-offers — until it surfaces a final deal for you to review and sign. You never have to talk to a dealer.

Is Motrix a car broker or dealer?

No. Motrix is a negotiation facilitation service. We're not a licensed dealer or broker. We act as an AI agent representing the buyer's interests. The buyer makes every final decision and signs the contract directly with the dealer.

How does $0 until you sign actually work?

On every paid tier (Deal $399, Pro $799, Concierge $1,499), you pay nothing upfront. The fee only applies if you choose to sign the contract Motrix brings back. If we can't find a deal that works, you pay nothing. 30-minute money-back window after purchase for any reason.

Can I use Motrix for used cars?

Yes. Motrix handles new, used, certified pre-owned, and lease deals. The fee structures and negotiation tactics adapt to the vehicle type — the brief flow asks which condition you want.

What's in the Concierge tier?

Concierge is founder-led negotiation. Founder Jimmy Sturdivent personally handles every step from your first inquiry to your signed contract, with AI agents working alongside. Includes trade-in coordination, financing review, insurance shopping, and delivery logistics. 24-hour SLA on every touchpoint. Concierge is $1,499 and is the one tier paid to start, because the founder personally runs it.

← THE DISPATCH

tacticsfinancelegalMAY 16, 2026 · 12 MIN

Spot Delivery: When the Dealer Calls Three Days Later Saying "Financing Fell Through"

You signed the paperwork on a Friday evening. The salesperson handed you keys, the F&I manager congratulated you, and you drove a new car off the lot to show your family. Three days later your phone rings. It is the dealer.

"There is a small issue with the financing. The lender came back with a slightly higher rate. Your payment will be about eighty dollars more than we discussed. Or, if you prefer, we can get the same rate if you bring in another five thousand in cash. Or, you could add a co-signer."

That is spot delivery. Also called yo-yo financing, conditional delivery, or "we owe / you owe" delivery. It is one of the oldest predatory tactics in the auto industry, and in most states it is still legal when the contract is written correctly. The contract you signed Friday almost certainly was.

What spot delivery actually is

Spot delivery is the practice of letting a buyer take possession of a vehicle before the loan financing is finalized. The buyer signs a sales contract and a separate "conditional delivery agreement" (sometimes called a "bailment" or "loaner" agreement), drives the car home, and is led to believe the deal is done.

In reality, the dealer has not yet sold the loan to a lender. They submitted your application to one or more lenders, hoped for the best rate, and let you take the car as a closing move — once the buyer is emotionally attached to the vehicle and has told friends and family about it, walking away becomes psychologically much harder.

If the lender approves the loan at the rate the contract specifies, the deal completes silently. If the lender approves at a worse rate or declines outright, the dealer calls you back to "renegotiate." The buyer is now negotiating from the worst possible position: car already in their driveway, trade-in already sold by the dealer (often at auction within 48 hours), down payment already deposited.

The renegotiation almost always favors the dealer. Higher APR, larger down payment, longer term, or a co-signer requirement — sometimes all four at once.

Why it is sometimes legal

The contract language that makes spot delivery legally enforceable is small and easy to miss. Look for any of these phrases in the sales contract or attached riders:

"This sale is conditional upon lender approval"
"Subject to financing"
"Pending final credit acceptance"
"Bailment for use" or "demonstration use" agreement
"Buyer agrees to return vehicle if financing is not approved at terms herein"

If your signed paperwork contains any of these phrases, you signed a conditional sale. The dealer is legally entitled to unwind the deal if financing does not approve at the stated terms — and most state consumer-protection statutes do not override the express contract language.

A small number of states have explicitly regulated yo-yo financing. Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, and a few others restrict how long a dealer can hold conditional delivery open (typically 4 to 10 days), require specific disclosure language, or treat any delivery as a final sale once the buyer leaves the lot. The rest of the country, including most of the South and Mountain West, defers to the contract.

The Federal Trade Commission has historically declined to issue a national rule on conditional delivery, though the agency's 2024 CARS Rule (vacated by the Fifth Circuit in early 2025) attempted to address the practice. As of 2026 there is no federal prohibition on the tactic itself, only on related misrepresentations.

The three classic versions of the call

When the dealer calls you back, the pitch comes in one of three flavors. Each is engineered to feel like a small concession rather than a fundamental change.

Version 1: "Your rate jumped." The original contract showed 6.9 percent APR. The dealer now says the lender came back at 9.4 percent. They frame it as "the bank decided," not as their action. The new monthly payment is $60 to $120 higher. On a $35,000 loan over 72 months, the rate change costs you roughly $4,200 over the life of the loan. The dealer keeps the extra finance reserve — usually about half the increase — as commission.

Version 2: "We need more money down." Same rate, same monthly payment, but the dealer now needs $3,000 to $5,000 more cash to "make the deal work." The pretext is that the lender's loan-to-value ratio came back tighter than expected. The reality is that more cash down reduces the dealer's floor plan exposure and improves their commission structure. You pay more out of pocket; the dealer's risk shifts onto you.

Version 3: "You need a co-signer." Often a follow-up if the buyer refuses the first two versions. The dealer claims the lender will not approve without a co-signer on the loan. Sometimes true, often theater — adding a co-signer late in the deal lets the dealer re-sell the loan at a better rate, increasing their reserve.

A fourth version is rarer but appears in subprime markets: "We need you to bring the car back." This is the cleanest unwind from the dealer's perspective — they keep your down payment as a "use fee," sell your trade-in at auction, and put the car back on the lot. You leave with no car, no down payment, no trade, and a hard inquiry on your credit.

How to refuse spot delivery cleanly

The defense is simple in principle and uncomfortable in practice: do not take the car home until the loan is funded.

"Approved" is not "funded." A loan is approved when the lender has issued a commitment. A loan is funded when the lender has wired the money to the dealer and the dealer has cashed the check. The gap between approval and funding can be hours or weeks. During the gap, the dealer can unwind the deal.

Three concrete steps to refuse spot delivery without walking away from the car entirely:

Ask explicitly: "Has this loan been funded?" Get the answer in writing — an email from the F&I manager stating "loan funded" with a date and lender name. Reputable dealers will give it without resistance. Predatory dealers will dodge.

Strike the conditional language. If the contract or any rider contains phrases like "subject to financing" or "conditional upon lender approval," cross the language out, initial the strike, and require the dealer to initial as well. If the dealer refuses, the deal is not real.

Leave the car at the dealer overnight if necessary. This feels absurd — you fought for hours to get the price right and you want to drive your car. Leaving it on the lot for 24 to 48 hours while financing funds removes 100 percent of the spot-delivery risk. The dealer will protest, then capitulate, then fund the loan that afternoon when they realize you mean it.

A useful frame: any dealer that pressures you to leave with the car the same evening, before funding confirmation, is signaling that the loan is not yet funded. The pressure is the tell.

What to do if you are already caught

You drove home. The dealer called. The new terms are worse. What now?

Do not return the car until the deal is fully rescinded in writing. A returned vehicle is leverage you have given up. As long as the car is in your driveway, you have negotiating room.

Demand a written rescission letter. It must state: (a) the original contract is fully voided, (b) your down payment will be refunded in full within 10 business days, (c) your trade-in will be returned in equivalent condition or its full Carmax-comparable value paid to you in cash, and (d) you owe nothing for the use of the vehicle. Do not return the car until you have this letter signed by the dealer's general manager.

If the trade-in is gone, demand cash for its full value. Most dealers wholesale trade-ins to auction within 48 hours of taking them, so by the time the spot-delivery call comes, your trade is often physically gone. The dealer owes you the trade's full pre-negotiated value in cash, not a credit toward a renegotiated deal.

File complaints. Loudly. Your state attorney general's office accepts auto consumer complaints online. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accepts complaints about lenders and dealer-arranged financing. Your local Better Business Bureau is the weakest of the three but is publicly visible. Filing all three takes about 45 minutes. The dealer's legal department reviews active complaints weekly and often resolves them faster than litigation would.

If you live in a state with yo-yo financing protections, cite the statute by number in your complaint. Massachusetts G.L. c. 93A, Maine Title 9-A, Pennsylvania UTPCPL — the specific citations matter because they signal to the dealer that you are not just an angry customer but someone who has read the law. Even in states without specific yo-yo protections, the general unfair-trade-practices act usually applies.

Do not re-sign anything until you have an attorney review it. A re-signed contract at worse terms is a new binding agreement and may waive your right to dispute the original. A consumer attorney consult costs $0 to $300 and almost always pays for itself if spot delivery is in play.

When the dealer simply will not budge

Occasionally the dealer holds firm. Your trade is sold, your down payment is "non-refundable," the original loan really did fall through, and the only options on the table are the worse terms or returning the car (and losing the trade plus down payment).

This is the worst-case version, and it is rare but real. The play is to escalate publicly and legally simultaneously. File the AG complaint, file the CFPB complaint, call your state senator's office (most have a constituent-services unit that handles consumer issues), and consult a consumer attorney. Total cost: roughly a weekend of paperwork.

Most dealers fold within 7 to 14 days once the formal complaint pipeline activates, because the cost of resolving the complaint exceeds the cost of giving you the original deal. The ones that do not fold often face state license action eventually — but that does not help your specific case quickly.

The single rule

Do not drive the car home until the loan is funded. Every spot-delivery horror story in 2026 traces back to a buyer who took possession before funding confirmation. Every clean deal stays clean because the buyer waited the extra 24 to 48 hours.

The dealer will pressure you. The car will look incredible in the lot's golden hour. Your spouse will want to see it. None of that matters. Funded, then keys. Always.

§ HAND IT OFF

Stop negotiating. Start winning.

Motrix AI agents fight every fee and get you the lowest price — you never talk to the dealer.

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