Setting Down Payment and Term Guidelines for a BHPH Lot
How BHPH lots set down payment and term guidelines that the desk will actually use: slots, exception logs, inventory fit, and what never belongs in a Facebook ad.
A Saturday buyer puts $800 on the desk and points at a $9,995 SUV. The rep looks at the manager. The manager looks at the lot. Somebody says "we'll make it work" and stretches the term because the car has been here 40 days. That sentence is not customer service. It is how a BHPH book quietly changes policy one deal at a time until nobody can say what the policy was.
Setting down payment and term guidelines is how a BHPH lot stays a system instead of a mood. The numbers belong on a one-page desk card, with a tight exception process, and they must match the cars you actually buy. They do not belong as promised payments in a Facebook Marketplace listing unless counsel has approved the exact advertising language.
This article is for BHPH owners, GMs, and F&I or desk managers. It is operational. Credit, collections, usury, contract disclosures, and advertising are regulated. This is not legal advice. Confirm guidelines, contracts, and public statements with counsel and your state regulators.
Why Informal Guidelines Rot
Most lots "have guidelines." Few lots can show them.
Verbal rules follow the last deal that felt good
If last week’s exception became this week’s normal, you no longer have a down-payment floor. You have a negotiation. Customers learn it. Reps learn it. Collectors inherit it.
Inventory pressure rewrites term
Aged metal is the enemy of term discipline. A car that does not fit the payment model should have been a pass at the lane, not a longer contract at the desk. Tie guidelines to BHPH inventory buying so the desk is not asked to repair buying errors.
Advertising drifts away from the desk card
If your Marketplace posts say things your contracts do not, you have two businesses. Keep public copy about the vehicle. Keep numbers in the office, unless your compliance process has signed off on specific claims.
Build Down Payment Guidelines From Reality, Not From a Poster
A poster that says a round down payment is marketing. A guideline is what you actually collect on deals you intend to keep.
Start with what cash your customers really bring
Look at a recent set of your own contracts (internally, not as a published benchmark):
- What downs did you actually collect in each price band.
- Which of those deals missed early payments.
- Which exceptions were "manager specials" on aged units.
You are looking for a floor that is high enough to show skin in the game and low enough that you still sell your real buyer. There is no universal right number. There is a number you will defend on a Tuesday when the car has been here too long.
Band the lot, then band the down
Match downs to vehicle slots:
| Slot (your prices) | Down-payment guideline | Notes for the desk |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation / lower | Floor you will not break without a logged exception | Watch for buyers pointing up-slot |
| Volume / middle | Standard range | Most deals should land here |
| Upper | Higher cash in | If they cannot bring it, they are not in this slot |
The table is a template. Fill it with your figures. If a customer wants the upper-slot SUV with a lower-slot down, the answer is a different car, not a creative term.
What down payment is for, operationally
- Reduces your funded amount on a car that will have repair risk.
- Filters tire-kickers who cannot assemble cash.
- Creates a moment of seriousness before you hand over keys.
It is not a punishment and it is not a substitute for mechanical quality. A huge down on a red mechanical car is still a bad note.
Term Guidelines That Survive Contact With the Desk
Term is where lots hide bad buys. Keep the outer limit short enough that the car is still plausible transportation, and long enough that a real payment can be met — as defined by your underwriting, not by this article.
Write outer limits by slot, not by sob story
- Each slot gets a maximum term.
- Mileage, age, and mechanical bucket can shorten that maximum. A high-mile yellow car should not get the same term as a green middle-slot sedan.
- Payment cadence (weekly vs monthly) is part of the structure. Do not mix cadences ad hoc without a written rule.
Do not publish those limits as advertised "as low as" payments. Internally, they exist so a rep cannot invent a something-year note to hit a number the buyer said in the driveway.
Exceptions are a log, not a vibe
When you break a down or term guideline:
- Named approver (GM or owner, not the selling rep).
- Reason code: aged unit, employee, repeat customer with history, documented hardship policy, etc.
- What you changed (down, term, slot).
- Follow-up: that VIN is tagged for extra collection attention.
If the log is empty, you are either perfectly disciplined or you are excepting off-book. If the log is full of "aged unit," your inventory process is the problem.
Do not trade term for missing down
A shorter down and a longer term on the same deal is stacking risk. Pick one lever, rarely, and write why. Stacking is how first-payment delinquency shows up in the weekly book review.
Setting Down Payment and Term Guidelines the Floor Will Use
A policy nobody can find is not a policy.
The one-page desk card
- Slots and price bands.
- Down floors / ranges.
- Term maximums by slot and by mechanical/age notes.
- Who may except, and that exceptions are logged.
- Reminder: no quoting of rates, payments, or "guaranteed approval" on Marketplace or in ads unless the exact language is approved.
Laminate it. Update it when you change buying strategy. Collect the old copies.
Train with scenarios, not slogans
Role-play:
- Buyer with cash for slot A pointing at slot C.
- Aged unit, manager tempted to stretch term.
- Repeat customer with a strong pay history asking for a smaller down.
- Messenger inquiry asking "what’s the payment" — rep directs them in, does not invent a number in chat.
Pay plans should not reward guideline breakage
If a spiff pays on unit count only, you will get creative terms. If you reward exceptions, you will get exceptions. Align the used-car and BHPH desk incentives with contracts that match the card.
What Never Goes in the Listing
Guidelines are internal. Marketplace is public.
- Do not put "everyone approved," specific weekly payments, or rate claims in titles or descriptions unless counsel cleared that copy.
- Do put year, make, model, mileage, honest condition, and the actual cash price in the price field.
- Do invite the buyer to the lot or to your application process.
- Do not collect SSNs, bank logins, or ID photos in Messenger.
For the public-language problem in more depth, use financing language in online listings. Your BHPH Marketplace strategy should assume the desk card exists and the ad does not try to replace it.
Align Guidelines With Buying, Collections, and Exits
Down and term rules fail when they are isolated.
Buying
If the lane keep filling upper-slot SUVs, the desk will beg for exceptions. Buy the slots your guidelines describe.
Collections
Early delinquency on exception deals should be visible in the weekly book review. If exception deals perform worse, tighten. If a certain slot performs worse even on-guideline, change the slot or the mechanical floor.
Exits
A unit that will not sell on-guideline should go cash or wholesale rather than wait for a miraculous down. Aged BHPH inventory is not a reason to rewrite the card for one VIN.
How PostToMarket Automates This
Down payment and term guidelines live in your contracts and your desk card. PostToMarket does not calculate payments or underwrite deals. It keeps the cars in each slot visible, uniquely described, and pulled when they contract, so the desk is not stretching term because a unit was invisible for two weeks.
Show the right slot to the right shopper
- AI-generated titles and descriptions from specs, edited to stay factual about the vehicle — not about a promised payment.
- Unlimited inventory so lower, middle, and upper slots can all be in the system without a spreadsheet side door.
- Facebook photo picker for honest lead photos (odometer, interior wear) that match what the customer will sign for.
Keep contracted units from lingering as "available"
- Mark as sold and archive the day of delivery.
- Statuses (draft, posting, posted, sold, failed) so managers see what is actually live.
- Leads inbox so "what’s the payment" messages get a fast, policy-safe reply instead of a number invented in chat.
Pace the week’s posts so the lot looks like a lot, not a dump
- Chrome extension, one vehicle at a time, human-like delays, server-enforced daily limits. Independent tool, not affiliated with Meta; no guarantee of reach.
- Per-rep queues and manager assignment so associates post the slot the manager chose, not whichever car has a balloon.
- CSV/Excel import with row-level error logs when you restock after a buying trip.
Put the Card on the Desk and Keep It There
Setting down payment and term guidelines for a BHPH lot is a written slot system, a logged exception path, and a hard line between internal numbers and public listings. Informal "we'll make it work" is how books drift. Aged metal is not a policy. Messenger is not F&I.
Write the card. Train the scenarios. Buy cars that fit. Advertise the vehicle, not a payment you have not approved to publish.
PostToMarket helps the inventory side of that discipline: editable listing copy, queues, paced posting, and same-day sold status. Starter is $59 per month for one login. Dealership is $299 per month for up to 13 logins when the owner, desk, and floor share one inventory.
Start your 10-day free trial via secure Stripe checkout. Get every on-guideline unit listed, and archive it when the contract prints. Cancel anytime.