Question about buying a car with cash

[Fishindude77]

I've bought lots of cars with personal checks, no problem.
Could also do a wire transfer real easy.

[disneysteve]

It amazes me how car buying is no longer limited to a few car lots in your immediate area. It can truly be a nation wide process.

I spoke with a guy last year who lives in Georgia, found a car in California. He bought a one way ticket to get there. Took Uber to the saler. Then drove home.

Yep. It really has been a game changer. I've been shopping for a Camry, which is a very popular and common car, but I only want red or blue, which is much less common. Just checking the area dealers, it could have been months before a good one showed up. I set a search on Carmax and Carvana and was getting email notices almost every day when new cars meeting my criteria were added. I just have to pay the $99 shipping fee for the one being sent here from NC.

[Petunia 100]

I'm probably buying a car in the next week or so. I'm going to be paying cash. Will the dealers typically accept a personal check or do they want something like a cashier's check from a bank? It'll be about 30K if that matters.

On my last vehicle purchase, I bought jointly with SO and they let us leave with the vehicle without paying a penny. We bought on a Sunday and did not have the cash on us. So I signed a financing deal for the full price, and had 5 days to come back with a cashier's check at no additional cost. SO took care of it the next day, a Monday.

I once had a car dealer state they would take my personal check if I would log on to my bank account and let them see that I had sufficient funds.

[Petunia 100]

No. I'm getting a Camry. I found one at Carmax that I like. It's currently being shipped to NJ from NC. Assuming I like it once I see it in person and test drive it, I plan to purchase it.

It was Carmax who wanted to see on my bank's website that I had sufficient funds before taking my check. Maybe I looked disreputable.

[disneysteve]

On my last vehicle purchase, I bought jointly with SO and they let us leave with the vehicle without paying a penny. We bought on a Sunday and did not have the cash on us. So I signed a financing deal for the full price, and had 5 days to come back with a cashier's check at no additional cost. SO took care of it the next day, a Monday.

We bought our last van (or maybe the one before that) and drove off with nothing down. They did check our credit and found that we both had 850 FICO scores. They had never seen that before so they figured we were good for it. We were waiting on an insurance check because the previous van had been totaled. They called a couple of times over the next week to check in and as soon as we got the check, I went over and paid.

[disneysteve]

It was Carmax who wanted to see on my bank's website that I had sufficient funds before taking my check. Maybe I looked disreputable.

That's easy enough. I can show them our Ally account and BOA account on my phone with a few clicks. There's enough there to buy 3 cars.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Did you consider getting a model 3? Apparently True Cost to Own shows it's cheaper to buy a TSLA without maintance and gas than a Camry. I'm curious if you ran the numbers and found it to be true. What made you decide on the camry if it costs more to own?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Interesting topic. Once in 2002 I paid for a used 1997 Ranger for $5000 with CC at a used car dealership in Anaheim, CA. For my new 2018 Dodge Journey ($16,399) I financed it in 2018 and paid it off in 2020. For my next new car in maybe 2028 I might try the cash route.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

QMM i have found that as our cars are paid off it's hard to want to have a car payment!

[moneybags]

I always pay with a personal check. First I ask to put the maximum allowed on my credit card .

[disneysteve]

QMM i have found that as our cars are paid off it's hard to want to have a car payment!

I might consider a loan if it was at 0% or 1% but nothing higher than that. And honestly at this point, we are completely debt-free having paid off the house in 2019 so I really have no desire to take on new debt that we really don't need. We have more than enough cash on hand to buy the car outright.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I might consider a loan if it was at 0% or 1% but nothing higher than that. And honestly at this point, we are completely debt-free having paid off the house in 2019 so I really have no desire to take on new debt that we really don't need. We have more than enough cash on hand to buy the car outright.

The dealers raise the price (ie, $35,000) on a 0% or 1% financing. Might be better to get 3% or even 6% with a lower price point ($30,000) and after making 2 or 3 payments pay off the loan in full if they don't include an "early payoff fee." The "cash price" might be $35,000. With the 5% financing the price might be $30,000. At 5% on $30,000 every month the interest only is $150. After 2 months of paying interest only totaling $300, pay off the loan in full. You'd get the car at $30,000 + $300 (interest) = $30,300. Whereas with the cash price you'd pay $35,000. Dealers want you to finance, not pay cash.

[Smilinggirl]

The dealers raise the price (ie, $35,000) on a 0% or 1% financing. Might be better to get 3% or even 6% with a lower price point ($30,000) and after making 2 or 3 payments pay off the loan in full if they don't include an "early payoff fee." The "cash price" might be $35,000. With the 5% financing the price might be $30,000. At 5% on $30,000 every month the interest only is $150. After 2 months of paying interest only totaling $300, pay off the loan in full. You'd get the car at $30,000 + $300 (interest) = $30,300. Whereas with the cash price you'd pay $35,000. Dealers want you to finance, not pay cash.

The last car I got, I happened to be dating a man who bought and sold cars as a hobby (didn’t make sense to me, but whatever). He told me what to say to negotiate the price down a good bit, then at the last minute when they weren’t going to go any lower, he said “say this to them”, so I did and they lowered the price another 1500 and offered me 0% interest for 4 years. I’d been planning to pay cash, but ended up financing. The bad part of the story is that I stopped dating him and can’t remember the magic words for my next purchase.

[bjl584]

So this may have already been said, but more often than not you will get a better deal on the car if you finance it then turn and pay it off in full when you get the first bill.
Dealerships don't really like to do business with cash buyers for multiple reasons.
I wouldn't even mention that you have the cash or want to give them a check.
Just play their game and let them write up a loan.

[disneysteve]

Just to reiterate, I’m buying from Carmax. The price is fixed. It doesn’t matter how I pay. The price isn’t negotiable. Otherwise I agree that you get a better deal when financing normally.