When people say they "pay cash" for a car...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear people say they are paying cash for cars, but it sounds so strange. Does that mean they are walking into the car dealership ship and a box full of money?

Have you not heard of checks?

My Gen Z young adult has probably never seen a check. It feels very insecure — like your account numbers are all there and washing a check is totally a thing.

But bank alerts are so much faster now. They’re going to be found (maybe not) and be charged with check fraud, theft, etc.
The soccer portraits company has my CC numbers or checking numbers every 6 mo, but no one is going to do anything. And my bank will help me if it does.

The last time I had check fraud was 2012 or so. Random person stole an outgoing check from my mailbox. I got the money back after 5 days or so. My rent was due, couldn’t pay. We had a good rep with our landlord, had never missed a payment, so she accepted the one-time delay.

[Anonymous]

A Toyota dealership recently gave us three options to pay in cash:

1. Certified check - take car home same day
2. Personal check w/o credit check - come back and pick up car when check clears
3. Personal check w/ credit check - take car home same day

We chose option 3.

[Anonymous]

Although we can pay cash, we take out the longest loan available, put both our names on the installment contract, put down a large down payment to make the monthly payment roughly $250. With our house paid off, it's nice to keep some type of credit ongoing in our name.

[Anonymous]

I gave them a couple thousand in cash and wired the rest. They wanted the cash in order to let me take the car before my wire cleared.

Don’t come at me- I’m not wealthy or out of touch but I’ve never financed a car. When we couldn’t afford nice cars, we just paid cash for what we could afford. You pay so much more over the life of a car when you finance it. Insurance costs a lot more too. I know neither set of parents financed cars either. IMO house mortgage should be your only debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear people say they are paying cash for cars, but it sounds so strange. Does that mean they are walking into the car dealership ship and a box full of money?

It troubles me, OP, that you are allowed out in public without a minder. And that you can vote.

Not to get political, but this is why we are in the mess we are now - because a lot of people don't have the critical thinking skills God gave a turnip.

Ok, you’re clever and all. But why malign the person just asking a question? Also, it could be that they are much, much younger than you. Checks are NOT a thing for 20-somethings and younger. “Cut a check”? Sounds like ye olden banking to anyone younger than 30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although we can pay cash, we take out the longest loan available, put both our names on the installment contract, put down a large down payment to make the monthly payment roughly $250. With our house paid off, it's nice to keep some type of credit ongoing in our name.

Don’t you have a credit card? That’s enough. Why pay extra on a car when you don’t need to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Toyota dealership recently gave us three options to pay in cash:

1. Certified check - take car home same day
2. Personal check w/o credit check - come back and pick up car when check clears
3. Personal check w/ credit check - take car home same day

We chose option 3.

We bought our car out of state (they had the color we wanted and we live very close) and they wouldn’t take out of state personal checks. We had to finance and then we just paid it all off as soon as we got access.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually certified check from bank.

Why? Why not just cut a regular check? That’s all we’ve had to do to pay for cars that cost between $55k and $75k. Is there something I’m missing?

A personal check could bounce. A certified check carries a guarantee from the bank that the funds are available and set aside to cover this specific transaction.

But they have a lien on the car if the check bounces--they'll just come take it back. It is similar to when you have work done on your home and they send an invoice once the work is complete.

That's a huge hassle. If there is any question about the funds, much easier to get the guarantee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you pay for anything in cash? Check, debit card or bills. What a strange question OP.

Op here - I have always used the term cash to mean actual dollar bills. Apparently others use it in different ways.

It’s a colloquial phrase that’s widely understood. A “car note” is a loan to pay for a car. “Tags” mean license plates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
you write a check


We did this for the first time a couple years ago - I was surprised the dealership let me write a personal check and just drive away. I figured I'd have to wire money or something where they got the money first.

LOL. We did this as well. But we also had the experience where they told us to just drive the car home and try it for a few days (no money exchanged hands) and if we didn't like it just bring it back and try another one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually certified check from bank.

Why? Why not just cut a regular check? That’s all we’ve had to do to pay for cars that cost between $55k and $75k. Is there something I’m missing?

Until about 4-5 years ago, you had to do certified checks. Now dealers have a way to verify the funds so regular checks work. Without verifying, they are not trusting you have $50K+ in funds and giving you the car

I bought a car in 2014 paying with a personal check. That was 11 years ago. Maybe they didn't trust you until 4-5 years ago...

[Anonymous]

I take off my massive diamond earring and intone, “These have always brought me luck…”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
you write a check


We did this for the first time a couple years ago - I was surprised the dealership let me write a personal check and just drive away. I figured I'd have to wire money or something where they got the money first.

LOL. We did this as well. But we also had the experience where they told us to just drive the car home and try it for a few days (no money exchanged hands) and if we didn't like it just bring it back and try another one.

They have in-house debt collection and repo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually certified check from bank.

Why? Why not just cut a regular check? That’s all we’ve had to do to pay for cars that cost between $55k and $75k. Is there something I’m missing?

You just have to wait for it to clear vs a certified check which is essentially cash.
I sold a car and the buyer paid cash - it was about $20k. I went to the bank and wouldn’t sign over the title until the bank verified it and deposited it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually certified check from bank.

Why? Why not just cut a regular check? That’s all we’ve had to do to pay for cars that cost between $55k and $75k. Is there something I’m missing?

A personal check could bounce. A certified check carries a guarantee from the bank that the funds are available and set aside to cover this specific transaction.

But they have a lien on the car if the check bounces--they'll just come take it back. It is similar to when you have work done on your home and they send an invoice once the work is complete.

That's a huge hassle. If there is any question about the funds, much easier to get the guarantee.

Right, but the question was why a dealer would allow it, and this is one of the reasons they have allowed it: the lien.