How we make money

Short version: reports are free, and nobody can pay to change them. We're on the buyer's side, so here's exactly how the lights stay on.

Partner links

Some buttons — like insurance quotes, loan rates and vehicle history reports — may be paid partner links. If you use one, the partner may pay us a referral fee. Every paid link is labeled right next to the button, not buried in a footer.

As an Amazon Associate, Throttlebook earns from qualifying purchases.

• Partners never see your report, income or inputs unless you choose to give them information on their own site.
• We don't pass your contact details to anyone without your explicit, per-partner consent.
• Until a partner is approved, those buttons point to free public resources (NAIC, CFPB, NMVTIS) and earn nothing.

Fiscal responsibility first

• If a car doesn't fit your budget, we say “wait and save” — and show how long it takes to get there.
• We only show loan offers when the car passes our affordability check, and we sort lenders by total cost to you, never by what they pay us.
• Our AI is allowed — encouraged — to tell you not to buy.

What money can never buy

• Your Ownership Score, cost-to-own math, recall list or AI answers. Those are computed the same way for every car, whether or not anyone pays us.
• A ranking or a recommendation from the AI. It's instructed never to recommend a specific insurer, lender or dealer.
• Your data. We don't sell personal information. Ever.

Later

We plan to add an optional Pro plan (unlimited chat, alerts) and extra AI renders. Any sponsored content will be clearly labeled “Sponsored” and kept out of reports and scores.

Questions? Use the Feedback button — it goes straight to the team.