Car Dealer F&I Menu Software

What to check before you buy

A menu is built from three inputs. One is the deal structure: amount financed, term, rate and any manufacturer program.

Another is the product catalog with each product's coverage terms. The third is a set of disclosure rules that decide what must be shown and in what form.

Regulators treat the menu as a disclosure document, so the questions that matter in a demo are practical ones. Does every customer see the same options in the same order?

Do the product name, coverage description, term and limitation print on the customer copy? Can the store show which rate sheet was active on the date of the deal?

Mixing a rate sheet from one date with a deal from another is a common Regulation Z and dealer-participation violation. When a buyer declines a product, is the decline recorded on the deal jacket?

The rate disclosure is where menus differ most. A dealer that marks up a lender's buy rate must be able to explain the difference between the approved rate and the contract rate.

The menu should keep both numbers tied to the deal, so the finance manager does not retype them. Get an answer on how the tool handles a rate that changes after a lender re-approval, and whether the menu re-prices every product payment when the term moves.

Questions to put to every car dealer F&I menu software vendor

• What is the initial and renewal term?
• What are implementation and offboarding fees?
• What data, hardware or OEM dependencies apply?

Other categories dealers compare alongside F&I menu & presentation: F&I products & administration, Credit, identity & compliance, and Digital contracting & titling.