| name | Close Day Checklist |
| description | Use when buyer is ready to close (signing today/tomorrow), needs the day-of checklist for cash / financing / trade-in / EV / pickup buyers, F&I add-on refusal script, and timing of cashier's check / lien payoff / plate transfer. Triggers include "ready to close", "close day checklist", "F&I add-on refusal", "lien payoff timing", "提车清单", "准备签约", and Spanish phrases "lista para el dia de firma", "listo para cerrar el trato". |
Close Day Checklist
Caveat: this skill is one author's playbook + 5-scenario stress test. Verify state fees / CPO terms / EV credits / dealer practices against current sources before quoting numbers to a dealer or making financial decisions. Not tax, legal, or financial advice.
last_verified: 2026-05-18
Narrow sub-skill: buyer has a locked OTD in writing and is heading to the dealer to sign. No re-negotiation, no fresh outreach. For the full 9-phase workflow load ../orchestrator/SKILL.md; for upstream counter / follow-up drafting load dealer-reply-drafter.
When To Use
- Buyer is signing today or tomorrow and needs a sub-checklist by buyer type
- Buyer wants the F&I add-on refusal script to read verbatim at the F&I desk
- Buyer has a trade with active lien and needs the payoff workflow
- Buyer is an EV buyer and needs day-of EV mechanics (state rebate paperwork, battery/SoH, charging — NOTE: federal §30D POS credit transfer is TERMINATED 2025-09-30, historical only)
- Buyer is buying a pickup and needs the truck-specific PPI quick checklist
When NOT To Use
- OTD not yet locked in writing (use orchestrator Phase 6 /
dealer-reply-drafter first)
- CARFAX not yet reviewed (use
carfax-pdf-review sub-skill)
- PPI not yet booked (use
../orchestrator/references/ppi_booking.md)
- Buyer wants to renegotiate at the F&I desk (don't - escalate per gotcha P3 F&I hard-no script)
Critical Rules Invoked
- Critical Rule #4: Read the actual CARFAX PDF yourself. Verbal "clean 1-owner" has a real failure rate. See gotcha V2. Re-confirm CARFAX was read end-to-end BEFORE close day.
- Critical Rule #1: Plain ASCII in every outbound email. Close-day GM heads-up email + F&I hard-no email must be ASCII only.
Close-Day Re-Confirmation (do this BEFORE buyer drives to dealer)
Re-read the close-day logistics mini-table from criteria.md and confirm each line:
- Bank cut-off + branch + hours (cashier's check issued same morning?)
- Insurance carrier (for binder + policy number)
- Plate decision (transfer existing vs new plates - saves $25-150 in most states)
- Available time windows on close day
- ID set (driver's license, secondary ID, proof of residence)
- Funding instrument (cash, cashier's check, wire, captive financing, CU financing)
Any change since Phase 1 (carrier switched, branch closed for holiday, plate decision flipped) must be caught NOW, not at the dealer.
Sub-Checklist by Buyer Type
If multiple branches apply (financing + trade + EV), execute all of them. Full detail in ../orchestrator/references/phases.md#phase-9--close.
Cash buyer
Pre-arrival (T-1 day):
On-site (close day):
Post-close (T+1 to T+30):
Financing buyer
Pre-arrival:
On-site:
Post-close:
Trade-in buyer
Pre-arrival (cross-ref ../orchestrator/references/trade_in.md section 4a-4d if active lien):
On-site:
Post-close monitoring (calendar reminders at Day 5 / 10 / 14 / 21): payoff initiated, lien-holder received, release filed at DMV, release confirmation in hand. If not released by Day 30, escalate per ../orchestrator/references/trade_in.md section 5.
EV buyer
⚠️ Federal §30D POS credit transfer is TERMINATED 2025-09-30 (OBBBA / Public Law
119-21). For any 2026 purchase there is NO federal $7,500 §30D credit — no IRS
ECO registration check, no Form 8936, no Time of Sale report, no $7,500 line item to
verify at close. Do NOT expect or insert a federal credit line in the signed agreement.
The §30D items below are retained as HISTORICAL (pre-2025-10-01 acquisitions only).
The only live close-day EV incentive layer is state/local rebates — see the bottom
of this checklist and the CRITICAL banner in ev-buyer-helper.
Pre-arrival (LIVE in 2026, cross-ref ../orchestrator/references/ev_buyer_playbook.md):
Pre-arrival (HISTORICAL — pre-2025-10-01 acquisitions only; §30D terminated 2025-09-30, do NOT use for 2026):
On-site (LIVE in 2026):
On-site (HISTORICAL — pre-2025-10-01 acquisitions only; do NOT apply to a 2026 close):
Post-close:
Pickup-truck buyer
Pre-arrival (cross-ref ../orchestrator/references/vertical_playbooks.md#part-1--pickup-truck-specifics):
On-site:
Quick PPI items (frame / suspension / tow wear): frame (no rust-through, no welds outside factory locations, no bent crossmembers); suspension under-load (no clunk on speed bump, no sag past load index); tow wear (hitch ball threads, 7-pin pin corrosion, wiring harness chafe). Post-close: record door-jamb payload number for future tow planning.
F&I Hard-No Verbatim Script (gotcha P3)
Read verbatim or hand printed copy at the F&I (Finance & Insurance) desk when add-ons are pitched after the OTD is locked in writing. Plain ASCII, NO markdown:
Per my signed agreement dated {DATE} with {GM_OR_SALES_MGR_NAME},
the OTD is locked at ${OTD}. I decline GAP, VSC, tire-and-wheel,
paint protection, key replacement, nitrogen, dent / ding, and any
other add-on not in the original agreement. Please process the
close at the agreed OTD, or I will exit and we will both lose
time. Repeat: NO add-ons. I will sign only the original
agreement.
{BUYER_NAME}
If F&I pushes anyway (reframe)
My agreement is OTD-locked, not monthly-locked. Adding $18/mo for
72 months is $1,296, not a small amount. I decline.
Please show me the line item in my signed agreement that
authorizes this charge. If it's not there, remove it; if you
cannot remove it, I will exit and the deal is dead. Per my OTD
lock at ${OTD}, adding anything constitutes a new deal that I have
not agreed to.
{BUYER_NAME}
Verbatim Refusal Script (buyer-spoken language)
Spoken-only carve-out. The two scripts above are the dealer-facing baseline:
English + ASCII, fine to print and hand across the desk or paste into email. A buyer
who is more fluent in Spanish or Chinese may instead say the refusal out loud in
their own language — spoken words are the agent-to-buyer surface, not a dealer
artifact. The hard rule still holds for everything WRITTEN or EMAILED to the dealer:
English + ASCII only (Critical Rule #1). Do NOT print these translations, do NOT
paste them into a Gmail draft, do NOT hand them to F&I as a document. Read aloud only.
See ../orchestrator/SKILL.md § Language and Audience Separation and
../../data/fragments/es_refusal_scope.md.
Load-bearing F&I terms below were checked against real US-Spanish-market usage, not
literal-translated. Still: have a native speaker or Codex review the phrasing before a
buyer relies on it at the desk.
Translation status: DRAFT — pending Codex / native-speaker review.
Add-on name glossary (US Spanish market, verified usage):
| English (source of truth) | Spanish (spoken) | Note |
|---|
| OTD / out-the-door price | precio final / precio total ("out the door") | keep "OTD" alongside; dealers use the English acronym |
| doc fee | cargo por documentacion | dealer charge, not a government fee |
| trade-in | vehiculo a cuenta / vehiculo de intercambio | "a cuenta" = applied as credit |
| down payment | enganche / pago inicial | "enganche" is the common term |
| cashier's check | cheque de caja (= cheque de gerencia) | both names = one instrument |
| GAP insurance | seguro GAP (Proteccion Garantizada para Auto) | "seguro GAP" is standard in US docs |
| extended warranty / VSC | garantia extendida / contrato de servicio vehicular | |
| tire-and-wheel | proteccion de llantas y rines | |
| paint protection | proteccion de pintura | |
| ceramic coating | recubrimiento ceramico | |
| key replacement | reemplazo de llave | |
| nitrogen (tire fill) | nitrogeno (en las llantas) | |
| dent / ding (PDR) | reparacion de abolladuras sin pintura | |
Regional vocabulary note (say what the buyer says): the word for "car" varies —
carro (Mexico / Central America / Caribbean), coche (Spain / Southern Cone),
auto (neutral, understood everywhere). Mirror the buyer's own word; the scripts
below use the neutral vehiculo to stay region-safe. Technical product names
(seguro GAP, garantia extendida, doc fee, OTD) stay fixed regardless of region.
Spanish (ES) — hard-no, spoken:
Segun mi acuerdo firmado con fecha {DATE} con {GM_OR_SALES_MGR_NAME},
el precio final (OTD) esta fijado en ${OTD}. Rechazo el seguro GAP,
la garantia extendida (contrato de servicio), la proteccion de
llantas y rines, la proteccion de pintura, el recubrimiento
ceramico, el reemplazo de llave, el nitrogeno, la reparacion de
abolladuras, y cualquier otro complemento que no este en el acuerdo
original. Por favor cierre la venta al OTD acordado, o me retiro y
los dos perdemos el tiempo. Repito: ningun complemento. Solo firmo
el acuerdo original.
{BUYER_NAME}
Spanish (ES) — if F&I pushes anyway (reframe), spoken:
Mi acuerdo esta fijado por el OTD, no por el pago mensual. Agregar
$18 al mes por 72 meses son $1,296, no es poca cosa. Lo rechazo.
Por favor muestreme la linea en mi acuerdo firmado que autoriza
este cargo. Si no esta ahi, quitelo; si no puede quitarlo, me retiro
y el trato se cae. Segun mi OTD fijado en ${OTD}, agregar cualquier
cosa es un trato nuevo que yo no he aceptado.
{BUYER_NAME}
Chinese (ZH) — hard-no, spoken:
根据我在 {DATE} 与 {GM_OR_SALES_MGR_NAME} 签署的协议,
落地总价 (OTD) 已锁定为 ${OTD}。我拒绝 GAP 保险、延长保修
(服务合同)、轮胎轮毂保障、车漆保护、陶瓷镀膜、配钥匙、
氮气充气、凹痕修复,以及任何不在原始协议中的附加项目。
请按约定的 OTD 完成成交,否则我会离开,我们都浪费时间。
重申:不要任何附加项目。我只签原始协议。
{BUYER_NAME}
Chinese (ZH) — if F&I pushes anyway (reframe), spoken:
我的协议锁的是 OTD 总价,不是月供。每月加 $18、分 72 期就是
$1,296,不是小数目。我拒绝。
请在我签署的协议里指出哪一行授权了这笔费用。没有就删掉;
删不掉我就离开,这笔交易作废。按我锁定的 OTD ${OTD},
加任何东西都是我没同意过的新交易。
{BUYER_NAME}
Pre-close-day heads-up email (send to GM ~24h before close)
Pre-empts most close-day F&I friction. Full template in ../orchestrator/assets/dealer_reply_template.md section Pre-Close-Day F&I Heads-Up Email. Key elements:
- Confirm locked OTD with agreement date
- Decline list (GAP, VSC, tire-and-wheel, paint, key, nitrogen, dent/ding)
- Close-day logistics: time window, funding instrument, insurance binder, plate decision, ID set
Universal Cross-References
| Need | Open |
|---|
| Full Phase 9 detail (all 5 buyer types) | ../orchestrator/references/phases.md#phase-9--close |
| Lien payoff full workflow | ../orchestrator/references/trade_in.md section 4a-4d |
| EV federal credit status (§30D/§25E/§45W all TERMINATED 2025-09-30 — historical) + live state rebates | ../orchestrator/references/ev_buyer_playbook.md section 1; ev-buyer-helper CRITICAL banner |
| Pickup-specific PPI items | ../orchestrator/references/vertical_playbooks.md#part-1--pickup-truck-specifics section 4 |
| State-fee leak detection ("Does NOT have") | ../orchestrator/references/state_fees.md section Tri-State / New England detail stubs (gotcha D8) |
| F&I hard-no full text + reframe | ../orchestrator/assets/dealer_reply_template.md section Close-Day F&I Hard-No |
| Financing close-day instruments | ../orchestrator/references/payment_methods.md |
| CPO enrollment at close | per-OEM CPO programs in ../orchestrator/references/ (subaru_cpo_program.md, honda_cpo_program.md, etc.) |
| HD pickup / commercial van / luxury close routing | ../orchestrator/references/vertical_playbooks.md#part-2--heavy--commercial--luxury section 6 |
| Lease-end options | ../orchestrator/references/lease_playbook.md section Lease-end options |
Stop Conditions
- All buyer-type-relevant boxes checked + F&I script in hand -> buyer is ready to drive to dealer
- Any pre-arrival item unchecked -> STOP, resolve before close (do NOT proceed without cashier's check ready or insurance binder issued)
- F&I refuses to remove add-ons after hard-no script + reframe -> exit per script; the deal is dead, not negotiable
- Trade lien payoff not confirmed by Day 14 -> escalate per
../orchestrator/references/trade_in.md section 5
