Know the Numbers Live
Nobody taught us the numbers.
A free 75-minute workshop on buying or selling a car in Massachusetts, where every moment is hands-on. You bring the room. We bring the night.
Now bookingNovember–December 2026
Lights down · the cold open
Every night starts where it started for him.
- 2005
Jean Paul buys his first car, as an immigrant.
- 2024
His 2020 SUV has 139,000 miles on it when the engine fails, and no warranty covers it. The loan's interest is high, the repair is out of reach, and when he can't keep up with the payments, the account goes to collections.
Nobody ever taught him the numbers.
Tonight, we learn them together.
Read our story
2005
2024The night, moment by moment
Every phone in the room does something.
The big screen shows a sample car. Everyone works along, and their own car's numbers stay on their own phone. Try each moment here.
The 75 minutes
75 min- 0:00Lights downThe founder's story, and why the night exists.6 min
- 0:06The guess, then the revealA sample car's fair price, and how long it has been for sale. Selling? See a range first, then get written offers.9 min
- 0:15Fair or not?Three stickers for one car, and the questions a range gives you.12 min
- 0:27Out the doorMassachusetts' 6.25% sales tax, the fees to ask about, and how a trade-in can lower the sales tax, and when it doesn't.8 min
- 0:35Your rate and your cover, in dollarsYour own loan pre-approval against the dealer's rate, in dollars, and the cover a lender asks for.12 min
- 0:47Check the paperA sample paper, line by line: checking the paperwork before you sign.10 min
- 0:57One question, and yoursThe one question to ask at the desk, your questions, and your own car's numbers on your own phone, if you'd like.18 min
Short on time? A 50-minute version leaves out Moment 2.
−30:00Doors
Bring a VIN.
The invitation asks for one thing: the VIN of your car, or of the car you're shopping. At the door, our team helps people open VINMaven and scan it on their own phone.
- Your own phone
- Nobody touches a document
0:06Moment 1
The guess, then the reveal.
Everyone guesses a sample car's value with a show of hands. Then the question mark on the big screen becomes its fair range. Selling? Your own car's range comes first, then written offers.
Your guess
0:15Moment 2
Fair or not?
One car, three stickers. Everyone calls each one below, fair or above, and it lands on the fair range. Below the range is a question to ask, not a steal.
- $16,900
- $18,900
- $21,400
0:27Moment 3
Sticker to out the door.
The sticker says $18,900. What do you actually pay? Everyone guesses, then the tax and each fee land one by one. A trade-in can lower the taxable price when the dealer takes it in the same deal.
Your guess, out the door
0:35Moment 4
The lower payment, your rate, your cover.
Same car, same 8.49%: which costs less? Then your own rate in dollars, and what cover a lender asks you to carry, with no company named. When a credit union co-hosts, its own staff present its own loans here, in a segment that is clearly theirs.
Which costs less?
0:47Moment 5
Spot the line.
A sample paper goes on the big screen, and everyone picks the line they'd ask about first. On the day, the app checks their own paper against the price they agreed, privately, on their own phone.
Which line would you ask about first?
0:57Moment 6
One question, in six languages.
Led by our facilitator, the room says the one question to ask at the desk, together, and the big screen shows it in all six of the app's languages. Then everyone's own questions, and their own car's numbers on their own phone.
Say it in
What's the out-the-door price, in writing?
1:15After the lights
Five numbers to take home.
Everyone leaves with a one-page sheet. Anyone holding a paper they were handed can stay fifteen minutes and check it against the price they agreed, on their own phone, privately. Our team explains the words and never touches the paper.
Five numbers before you sign
- The fair range.
- The out-the-door total, in writing.
- Every fee, and what it covers.
- Your rate in dollars, against your own pre-approval.
- Your cover: what the lender requires.
The workshop
Know the Numbers Live: buying or selling a car in Massachusetts
- Length
- 75 minutes
- Cost
- Free for hosts and for everyone who comes
- Languages
- English, with Spanish and Portuguese help at every table
- Where
- Your own room, in Worcester County
What hosts get
- A facilitatorSomeone from VINMaven runs the 75 minutes, start to finish.
- The materialThe slides, and a one-page sheet to take home in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
- Help at every tableIn Spanish and Portuguese, from VINMaven's paid community team.
- InvitationsA flyer and QR cards for your group, with your date on them.
What everyone leaves with
- How to see a car's fair number on their own phone.
- The out-the-door math, and the fees to ask about.
- How to put their own loan rate beside the dealer's, in dollars.
- How to check the paperwork before they sign.
- A one-page sheet to take home: five numbers before you sign.
Where it works
- Community groupsAn evening or a Saturday in your own room, for your members and their families.
- CongregationsAfter a service or on a weeknight, for the families you serve.
- Credit unionsAt a branch. Your own staff may present your own loans, in a segment of their own.
- Parent nightsAt a school or a driving school, for parents about to add a car or a driver.
- WorkplacesA lunch session for your team, through HR or your credit union.
In the room
- No dealership presents.No store is in the room, and no one is pointed to one.
- Nothing is sold.It's free for everyone who comes, and there's nothing to buy.
- Nobody's documents.We never ask for a license, an insurance card or loan papers. People use their own phone, or a sample car.
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
Now booking
Next workshops
Dates go up here once a host confirms. Want one where you are?
What happens next
- We write back by email.
- We plan a date and the room with you.
- We bring the workshop.
The community team
Join the VINMaven community team (paid, part-time)
We're hiring a few bilingual people in Worcester, students welcome, to help run workshops and to help people at our partner stores on Saturdays. Paid hourly.
Paid by the hour, never per scan, sign-up or sale.
What a team member does:
- helps people open VINMaven on their own phone and see a car's numbers;
- explains the numbers in Spanish or Portuguese;
- helps run workshops and store Saturdays;
- tells us what their community needs.
What a team member never does:
- handles anyone's documents;
- negotiates or signs for anyone;
- recommends a dealer, lender or insurer;
- texts or calls people for us.
And they always say they work for VINMaven.
Partners
One ask for each of you.
- Credit unions
Co-host a workshop at a branch.
Your own staff may present your own loans in a segment of their own. We take no money for the event, and no fee per attendee or per loan.
Co-host a workshop - Community groups
Lend us a room and an evening.
For your members and their families. We bring the facilitator, the material, and help in Spanish and Portuguese.
Host a workshop - Schools
Add it to a parent night.
For parents about to add a car or a driver, at a school or a driving school.
Plan a parent night