What Is Out-the-Door (OTD) Price?

What OTD includes on a purchase

Purchase OTD = selling price + sales tax + title + registration + documentation fee + other mandatory dealer fees. Optional add-ons are only in OTD if you accept them. If they appear without consent, they are not part of a fair OTD — strike them.

Example: $24,500 selling price + 7% tax ($1,715) + $499 doc + $325 title/reg ≈ $27,039 OTD. The $24,500 card was never the bill.

Some states cap doc fees. Some do not. A $999 doc fee can erase a $700 vehicle discount. Rank stores on OTD, not on who advertised the lower hood price.

What OTD means on a lease

Lease OTD is usually due at signing: first payment, fees, cap-cost reduction, and tax on the items your state taxes up front. It is not the sum of all monthly payments. People confuse “drive-off” with “total lease cost.” You need both numbers.

A lease can have $1,800 OTD (drive-off) and $14,000 total cost. Another can have $4,500 OTD and $13,200 total cost. Cash-poor shoppers care about OTD; five-year planners care about total cost. Compute both.

See the total-lease-cost guide for the full-term formula. OTD answers “what do I pay Saturday?”

How to request OTD without a visit

Email or web-form: stock number, your ZIP, and “please send an itemized out-the-door purchase quote with no add-ons” or “itemized lease DAS with tax for my ZIP.” You do not need to give a Social Security number to get a ballpark OTD. Credit apps come later.

If they say they cannot quote tax without you in the box, they can still quote selling price + doc + fees, and you can add tax yourself using your state rate as an estimate.

Get the quote as a PDF or email thread. Verbal OTD evaporates at the desk.

Add-ons that sneak into OTD

Nitrogen, VIN etch, paint, fabric, GPS, and “theft recovery” stickers are optional in almost every state. Dealer-arranged GAP and warranties are optional too. Mandatory government fees are not. Draw the line on the worksheet. Always confirm every advertised number on the dealer source page before you travel.

If add-ons are pre-installed and the dealer will not remove them, treat them as part of selling price and decide if the car is still the winner versus a clean unit elsewhere.

Never finance $3,000 of extras at 9% to protect a $22,000 car. The math is usually terrible.

Trade-ins and OTD

Trade equity changes cash due, not the car’s OTD. Ask for OTD on the car you are buying with $0 trade, then a second sheet with the trade. Mixing them lets a desk hide a weak purchase discount in a strong trade number, or the reverse.

Know your trade’s wholesale-ish value from two sources before you hear their number. If they are $1,500 low on the trade, that is $1,500 more OTD in disguise.

Payoff on a loan affects your pocket but not the advertised price of the new car. Keep payoff paperwork separate.

How our site relates to OTD

We show advertised selling prices and lease payments, not your taxed OTD. Use cards to shortlist, then demand OTD from the dealer linked on the card. The out-the-door number is local by design. Always confirm every advertised number on the dealer source page before you travel.

Two listings $400 apart on our site can reverse after doc fees. That is why the second quote is mandatory.

Our compare table is for advertised fields. Put OTD in your own notes next to each dealer.

Ask for two sheets: car only, then trade

Request OTD with $0 trade first so you can see the car’s price. Then a second sheet with the trade. Mixing them hides a weak discount inside a strong trade, or the reverse. Keep payoff paperwork separate from the advertised price of the car you are buying or leasing.

Lease OTD is drive-off cash, not total lease cost. You still need payment × months + DAS + fees for the five-year view. Purchase OTD is closer to the full cash number, plus loan interest if you finance. Do not compare a lease drive-off to a purchase OTD and call them equal.

When two emailed OTD numbers differ by more than $400 on the same VIN, one of them included a product or a fee the other omitted. Ask both stores to resend with optional products at $0 and the same ZIP. The reprint is the comparison. If a store will only quote a payment, you still do not have OTD.

Optional add-ons do not belong in a fair OTD unless you accept them. Strike nitrogen, etch, and paint packages on the worksheet. If they are pre-installed and non-removable, treat them as part of selling price and decide whether another VIN without them wins. Email the itemized sheet; verbal OTD evaporates at the desk.

Doc fees, government fees, and the verbal OTD lie

OTD is selling price plus required dealer fees plus tax, title, and registration for your ZIP. A number quoted in the cubicle without those lines is a payment target, not OTD. Ask for the itemized buyer’s order or lease worksheet emailed as a PDF. If they will not email it, you do not have OTD yet.

Doc fees are dealer-set in most states and can differ by $500 between rooftops a mile apart. They are often non-negotiable at that store and fully negotiable by choosing another store. Government fees should match your ZIP, not the dealer’s. If two OTD quotes use different tax rates, one of them is wrong or one assumed a different garage address.

Lease drive-off is first month, acquisition, tax on DAS or payments, doc, and any capitalized extras. Purchase OTD is tax on selling price plus fees. Comparing $2,800 drive-off to $4,100 purchase OTD without the rest of the five-year math is how people “save cash today” and spend more by month 36. Use the compare-page calculator for leases and a simple price-plus-tax table for purchases.

When a desk says OTD is $X but the printed sheet is $X plus $900 of add-ons, the printed sheet is OTD. Cross off products you refuse and ask them to reprint. If the VIN already has non-removable accessories, another car is the negotiation. Our listings show advertised prices and source URLs, not taxed OTD — get OTD from the dealer, then rank.

A clean OTD email has selling price, doc fee, title, registration estimate, tax rate for your ZIP, and optional products set to $0 unless you asked for them. If freight, advertising, or market adjustment appears, it is part of selling price — decide whether another VIN without it wins. For leases, ask whether DAS includes the first month and acquisition. For used cars, ask whether certification or reconditioning is required. Bring the same ZIP to every store so tax is comparable. Fix the ZIP, reprint, then rank. That is the entire OTD method.

Common questions

Is internet price the same as OTD?

Rarely. Internet price is the vehicle line before tax, title, license, and dealer fees. OTD is what you pay to drive off.

Can OTD be lower than internet price?

Only if the dealer drops the selling price more than fees and tax add. Ask. Do not assume discounts cancel fees.