Dumb car buying question

[skimomma]

We are getting ready to buy a new-to-us used car.  There are a few we are going to look at over the next week, all are at dealers that require 2+ hours of driving to get to.  We plan to pay cash.  How do we arrange the money?  I assume personal check is out of the question.  Do we really bring $12K in cash?  Or is there some sort of bank transfer we can do?  Do I need to talk to my credit union?  We have always done a cashiers check before but those cars were local so we could just go to our credit union and have one cut the same day.  I do not want to have to drive back and forth twice if we happen to find the car we want.  I do plan to call my CU but don't want to sound dumb if there is just a way this "is done" that I am unaware of.

[LuvToRead]

 We bought a car last year and they accepted our personal check.   This probably depends on the individual dealership, but it was no problem for us, and it was more than $12K.

Edited July 18, 2016 by LuvToRead

[Tap]

Does your credit union do shared branching with any of the CU in that area? Maybe you can go to one of those locations and have the check drawn up.  I would call first to make sure the amount of the check won't be a problem.  I have only been to my credit union a couple of times in 20 years.  I have always gone to a local CU that does shared branching (my CU is connected to my employer, and is in the next city over)

[JFSinIL]

I have only used cashier's check - our local car dealership where we buy our used cars knows us and on a Saturday (when our credit union is closed) they will take and hold a personal check and let us drive off with the "new" used car, trusting me to show up sometime Monday morning with a cashiers check. Then they return my personal check. I do not know how else to do it.

[gardenmom5]

I'd have it arranged with your bank/credit-union ahead of time for how to withdraw it.  if you know the exact amount, you can do a cashiers check - but that disallows negotiation.

you could do a 'loan' through your CU, which would allow you to draw out how much you need and be able to negotiate a lower price with the dealer - then pay it off after you have possession of the car.

[gardenmom5]

 We bought a car last year and they accepted our personal check.   This probably depends on the individual dealership, but it was no problem for us, and it was more than $12K.

 

they can also run your credit score.

[J-rap]

I would probably get a Cashier's Check at your bank.

[magnificent_baby]

I would not walk around with that much money. And I would never pay with actual cash. What I would do is write a check, use a cashier's check OR better yet charge it on a credit card with rewards and pay it all off at once (assuming they let you charge that much). We have paid cash for vehicles more than once and a check has never been a problem. It just takes a few more days of waiting til it's processed.

 

I disagree with previous posters that state a cashier's check does not allow you to negotiate. If anything, we have had more negotiating power from paying with cash (which includes all the above mentioned routes). 

 

 

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

A bank check.  You hand over the cash to the bank and they write you a check.  It basically is a check that is guaranteed to be backed by the money.

 

They charge a fee, but it's usually not too bad.

 

 

[Miss Marple]

We have always written a personal check.

[redsquirrel]

I've only had sellers accept a bank check, not a personal check. 

[skimomma]

The problem is that we do not know the amount so cannot have a bank check with us.  Nor do we know who to make a check out to since we are looking at more than one dealer.  We are looking at several cars at different list prices, not to mention negotiating.  None of our credit cards have a high enough limit.  And we would like to be able to drive away with the car that day if we find one since one of the dealers we are going to is 4 hours away.  We really don't want to have to make the trip twice.  Anyone have a dealer NOT accept a personal check?  It would be a weekday so they could call our credit union and make sure it is good.

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

The problem is that we do not know the amount so cannot have a bank check with us.  Nor do we know who to make a check out to since we are looking at more than one dealer.  We are looking at several cars at different list prices, not to mention negotiating.  None of our credit cards have a high enough limit.  And we would like to be able to drive away with the car that day if we find one since one of the dealers we are going to is 4 hours away.  We really don't want to have to make the trip twice.  Anyone have a dealer NOT accept a personal check?  It would be a weekday so they could call our credit union and make sure it is good.

 

Yes then you will need to probably make a separate trip.  It's a pain, but losing that kind of cash would be a much bigger pain. Plus the checks are made out to the specific business. 

 

I am very surprised any dealer would take a personal check.  Do you have a debit card type credit card?  You should call the bank beforehand to tell them about a large purchase, but that would work too.

[JFSinIL]

Our dealers won't accept putting any amount on a credit card, the fees they pay cut into profits too much.

[Catalytic]

I paid cash (about $27k) by doing a wire transfer to their bank.  The finance lady assisted with that after the salesman had done his part.  Didn't take long.

[skimomma]

I paid cash (about $27k) by doing a wire transfer to their bank.  The finance lady assisted with that after the salesman had done his part.  Didn't take long.

 

Did this have to be during weekday business hours?  We are now seriously considering a car that is 7 hours away and the only way we can get there is to do the transaction on a Sunday.  The dealer is willing to have someone come in for this.  Sometimes I hate living in the middle of nowhere......

[gardenmom5]

it would be possible to do multiple cashiers checks for different amounts.  one large one that will get you close to how much you want to pay, then smaller ones for "fine-tuning".  though that still wouldn't tell you to whom to make-out the check.

[Catalytic]

Did this have to be during weekday business hours?  We are now seriously considering a car that is 7 hours away and the only way we can get there is to do the transaction on a Sunday.  The dealer is willing to have someone come in for this.  Sometimes I hate living in the middle of nowhere......

 

That would depend on your bank.  My bank is open 24/7, so I guess I could probably do it on a weekend?  I did it on a Friday, though.

[JFSinIL]

Oh, and if you plan to pay cash, do not let them know this upfront. May affect the price you pay. Dealers figure on making money off lending you money - if they know you are not in need of a car loan, then they need to make more $ upfront on the price you pay for the car. Our last used/new to us car we had cash thanks to my Dad, but did not let the car dude know this. Just didn't say anything when he'd mention financing, not our fault he assumed we'd need a loan. At the very end, after we all agreed on a price, we let him know we were paying in full. Obviously we won't get away with this a second time :-)

Edited July 19, 2016 by JFSinIL

[JFSinIL]

it would be possible to do multiple cashiers checks for different amounts.  one large one that will get you close to how much you want to pay, then smaller ones for "fine-tuning".  though that still wouldn't tell you to whom to make-out the check.

You can have them made out to the place you think you will be buying from, if the bank/credit union will let you return the checks unused to cancel them if you don't need them.

[gardenmom5]

You can have them made out to the place you think you will be buying from, if the bank/credit union will let you return the checks unused to cancel them if you don't need them.

 

she's going to multiple dealers and hasn't decided from which she will purchase a car.

[TranquilMind]

Oh, and if you plan to pay cash, do not let them know this upfront. May affect the price you pay. Dealers figure on making money off lending you money - if they know you are not in need of a car loan, then they need to make more $ upfront on the price you pay for the car. Our last used/new to us car we had cash thanks to my Dad, but did not let the car dude know this. Just didn't say anything when he'd mention financing, not our fault he assumed we'd need a loan. At the very end, after we all agreed on a price, we let him know we were paying in full. Obviously we won't get away with this a second time :-)

 

THIS!  Keep your mouth SHUT about paying cash.

 

Dealer:  Will you be financing with us?  You:  You know, I can really only focus on getting the right price first, and then other things. So let's discuss any other issues until after we strike a deal.

 

Dealer:  Do you have a trade-in?  You:  I haven't decided whether to trade in or keep the vehicle.  I'm giving that some consideration.  I really need to focus on the price of the car only, first.  Only when that deal is solid, can I move on to other topics.

 

Something like that.  A befuddled air helps - you know, Columbo?  Just keep redirecting to get your price and have someone initial it in writing. Only then can you talk about the rest. 

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by TranquilMind

[skimomma]

THIS!  Keep your mouth SHUT about paying cash.

 

Dealer:  Will you be financing with us?  You:  You know, I can really only focus on getting the right price first, and then other things. So let's discuss any other issues until after we strike a deal.

 

Dealer:  Do you have a trade-in?  You:  I haven't decided whether to trade in or keep the vehicle.  I'm giving that some consideration.  I really need to focus on the price of the car only, first.  Only when that deal is solid, can I move on to other topics.

 

Something like that.  A befuddled air helps - you know, Columbo?  Just keep redirecting to get your price and have someone initial it in writing. Only then can you talk about the rest. 

 

 

Good tips!

 

We had planned to keep the cash issue to ourselves until after settling on a price but I was not sure what we were going to say when it was asked.  This is partly why I cannot just call the dealers to ask what they accept (check, cc, etc....).  My guess is that they will assume we plan to finance since the cars we are looking at are typically targeted to lower-income people and the car we will be driving in also screams these-people-will-need-a-loan.

 

On the trade-in one, can I ask why?  Won't they give us a better trade-in deal if they know we are going to buy from them?  We are replacing a older car which we think we might be able to get around $4000 for with a private sale but would take as little as $2500 in trade-in just to not have the hassle.  We took it to a couple of local dealers (which we knew we would not buy from) and they gave us $2800-$3000 trade-in value so we think we are being realistic.  We even got it in writing so we can use that as a bargaining tool.

 

I am going to see if our credit union will cut cashier checks to the three places we are going for an amount significantly less than we expect to spend then allow us to cancel whichever ones we don't use.  Then bring a couple thousand in cash to make up the difference.  We have some major house renovations happening later this summer which we have saved cash for so we have enough in the bank to cover up to three checks.  

 

Another option is to just go ahead and finance but pay the balance immediately.  Any flaws with that idea?  We would of course inspect the terms carefully to make sure there is no penalty for paying off early.

 

A final option is to "finance" through our CU then pay off right away but that is significantly more complicated since we will be in another state and may not be dealing on a day that our CU is open so I'm hoping to avoid that.

[Jenny in Florida]

Traveler's checks?

 

You could get the total amount you're willing to pay in denominations of, say, $100, then just sign and hand over enough to cover whatever price you finally agree on at the dealership. Anything left-over could be re-deposited into your account later.

[skimomma]

Traveler's checks?

 

You could get the total amount you're willing to pay in denominations of, say, $100, then just sign and hand over enough to cover whatever price you finally agree on at the dealership. Anything left-over could be re-deposited into your account later.

 

Interesting.  I forgot those even existed!  I'll look into it.  Thanks!

[abacus2]

I had an out of area bank. They accommodated my need for cash to buy a car from an individual by temporarily raising the limit on my debit card so that I could go to any bank and do a cash withdrawal via my debit card. The last time I bought from a dealer, they took a personal check.

[gardenmom5]

 

 

Something like that.  A befuddled air helps - you know, Columbo?  Just keep redirecting to get your price and have someone initial it in writing. Only then can you talk about the rest. 

 

 

never underestimate columbo!  dh can do a very good columbo routine.  he had it down so good - a SVP at a bank hung themselves out to dry.  just kept siging all these innocuous report papers admitting "yeah, I did that" that on their own didn't seem like much.  (documentation of what was done was included in the reports), but together added up to gross misconduct that cost the bank a lot of money.  when he turned around and sued for wrongful dismissal - it was laughed out of court.

[Mom22ns]

I once bought a minivan and paid cash - like actual cash. The dealership was freaked out. They asked if I could write a personal check instead. However, the cash did work well in the bargaining process. I didn't mention it until we were almost in agreement, then said, I only have $X (laying it on the desk) and you'll have to come down to that or I walk. He went and got approval for the deal. Then in doing paperwork he came back with, there is this fee... and I simply said, the cash is there, take it or leave it. There is no more. They included all fees  :lol: . It was honestly the best deal I've ever gotten on a vehicle.

[TranquilMind]

I once bought a minivan and paid cash - like actual cash. The dealership was freaked out. They asked if I could write a personal check instead. However, the cash did work well in the bargaining process. I didn't mention it until we were almost in agreement, then said, I only have $X (laying it on the desk) and you'll have to come down to that or I walk. He went and got approval for the deal. Then in doing paperwork he came back with, there is this fee... and I simply said, the cash is there, take it or leave it. There is no more. They included all fees :lol: . It was honestly the best deal I've ever gotten on a vehicle.

There is this tactic which is great if you are relatively close anyway. Glad it worked for you!

 

I got the impression this buyer didn't want to carry the cash though.