Pilots can buy a new car through SnagMyCar without spending days off at a dealership. You give us the exact car, we collect written, itemized out the door quotes from franchised dealers by email, and you review them between legs or on a layover. You visit the dealer once, to sign, or not at all with delivery.
Why the usual way of buying a car fights a trip schedule
Traditional car shopping assumes you can spend a Saturday at a dealership, come back Tuesday to finish the deal, and answer your phone when the salesperson calls with a manager's counteroffer. A line pilot with a four-day trip, a reserve block or a commute to base cannot do that. Neither can a corporate pilot who is on call and might be wheels up for a week with three hours' notice.
The phone is the bigger problem. Dealers work by calling back, and the calls land while you are in the flight deck, in crew rest, or asleep in a hotel three time zones away. Miss two calls and the deal stalls. We take the phone out of it. Dealers deal with us by email until you choose one, and you see their offers in writing, on your schedule, from any time zone.
How a search fits into one trip
Our process takes about 3 to 4 days from signup to quotes ready. That lines up neatly with a typical trip:
- Before you leave for the airport. Start your search with the make, model, trim, colors you would accept, must-have options, your search radius and whether you want pickup or delivery.
- Day 1 and 2 of the trip. Round 1 runs for about 36 hours. We email every franchised dealer within your radius that has a matching car and ask for a written, itemized out the door price. You fly.
- Day 2 and 3. Round 2 runs for about 24 hours. We send the best written number to the other dealers and ask them to beat it. You fly.
- Day 3. The final call runs for about 12 hours. The top two dealers get one last chance.
- Layover or the day you get home. You open a side by side list of every quote, with an estimated pickup or delivery cost on each, and pick one.
The details of each round are on our how it works page. Once you pick, we tell the winning dealer, the dealer sends a buyer's order at that exact number, and we check that it matches before you sign anything.
Commuting pilots: which home is the search built around
If you commute to your base, you have two cities in your life, and only one of them matters for the car. Set the search radius around where the car will live, which for most commuters is home. The dealer titles the car where you live, and that is where you will take it for service.
We serve buyers in eight states: Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Delaware, Vermont, Wyoming and Idaho. If your home is in one of those states and your base is somewhere else, that is fine. The car gets bought where you live. If your home is outside those eight states, we cannot help yet, because many states regulate or ban car buying agents. You can join the waitlist when you sign up.
Flying in to pick up the car
Pilots have an option most buyers do not use: flying to the dealer and driving the car home. That changes the math on search radius. A buyer who has to drive to the dealer usually keeps the radius tight. If you can get to a city two states over at low cost, a wider radius brings more dealers into the bidding, and more dealers means more competition on the same car.
Two cautions. First, every dealer in the search has to be within the radius you set, and you are buying under the rules of the dealer's state and your home state. Our guide to buying a car out of state explains how tax, title and registration usually work when the dealer and buyer are in different places. We do not give tax or legal advice, so confirm specifics with the dealer and your state. Second, build the pickup around a firm appointment. Tell the dealer your arrival time, ask for the car to be prepped and the paperwork ready, and plan your drive home with rest in mind if it is long.
Delivery instead of pickup
If flying in is not appealing after a trip, delivery to your home or office can be arranged with the dealer. When you sign up, you tell us whether you lean toward pickup or delivery, and we compare the cost of each so you see a total to your driveway. A dealer that is cheapest on the car but far away can lose to a closer dealer once delivery is counted. A table makes that comparison obvious:
| Line on the quote | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Selling price | What the dealer is charging for the car itself, relative to sticker |
| Add-ons and fees | Each one on its own line, so you can reject anything you did not ask for |
| Tax, title and registration | The government charges, which depend largely on where you live |
| Out the door total | What you would pay the dealer |
| Pickup or delivery estimate | Your cost to get the car home, so the totals compare fairly |
For more on reading that number, see our guide to the out the door price.
Vehicles pilots ask about
Your car is your call, but some needs are specific to the job:
- Long-term parking. A car that sits in an employee lot for four days needs a battery that tolerates it. If you are considering an electric vehicle, think about whether it will sit unplugged in that lot while you are away.
- The commute itself. Some pilots drive several hours to base. Driver assistance features and seat comfort matter more than they would for a short commute.
- A crew bag and a roller. Measure the cargo area if you will be throwing bags in the back every week.
- Weather at home. If home is Idaho, Wyoming or Vermont, think about all-wheel drive and how the car handles snow when you land after midnight.
Corporate and charter pilots often have clear opinions about specific builds and brands. If the car you want has to be built, we handle factory orders too: you send your configurator build code and we get written quotes on that exact build from the brand's dealers in your radius. We also work with luxury and exotic brands sold through US dealers. On allocation-limited models, the goal is often a removed market adjustment and a firm delivery slot rather than a discount.
We cannot help with brands that sell direct at one set price, such as Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and Polestar, because there are no competing dealers. We also handle new cars only for now.
Money, financing and the fee
We do not arrange loans and take no money from lenders or dealers. If you belong to a credit union, get a pre-approval before the search and make the dealer beat it. Our fee is a flat $499: a $99 deposit at signup and $400 charged only after the dealer's buyer's order matches the price you picked. If we don't beat the best written out the door quote you already have, the $99 is refunded and you pay nothing. The pricing page has the full terms.
Other pages in this series cover groups with similarly unpredictable hours, including doctors, nurses and military members. If your next trip starts tomorrow, you can start your search tonight and have quotes waiting when you land.
Questions
Can I start a search right before a trip?
Yes. That is the easiest way to use us. You fill out one form with the exact car, then our three email rounds run for about 3 to 4 days while you fly. Nothing in the rounds needs you. When you get to a layover or home, the quotes are waiting side by side, and you pick one when you have time.
I commute to base. Which city should the search use?
Use the place where the car will live, which for most commuters is home. The dealer titles the car where you live and that is where you will get it serviced. Your home must be in one of our eight states: Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Delaware, Vermont, Wyoming or Idaho. Your base can be anywhere.
Can I widen the radius and fly in to pick up the car?
Yes. If you can reach a farther dealer easily, a wider radius brings more dealers into the bidding on the same car. Each quote includes an estimated pickup cost so the totals compare fairly. Tax, title and registration work differently when the dealer is in another state, so confirm the details with the dealer and your state. We do not give tax advice.
Do you handle factory orders and luxury brands?
Yes. For a factory order, you send your configurator build code and we get written quotes on that exact build from the brand's dealers in your radius, including any market adjustment, deposit terms and estimated delivery. We also work with luxury and exotic brands sold through US dealers. We cannot help with Tesla, Rivian, Lucid or Polestar, which sell direct.
Will dealers call me while I am on a trip?
No. Dealers deal with us by email until you choose one, and they do not get your number during the bidding. You hear from a dealer directly only after you pick it, to finish the paperwork. If you choose delivery, that can be the only contact you have with the dealer before the car arrives.