For those who bought vehicles without financing.. Question

[nvbirdman]

I ordered my '18 and the dealer called me on a Friday afternoon and said it was in. By the time I got down to look at it, it was after 6:00pm. The dealer just told me to take it home and bring us your personal check tomorrow.

 

[ran]

I also wrote a personal check for a 2007 SE new.

 

[IanB]

When we bought the wife's 5th gen 4R, it was a used vehicle, and we actually did go with financing to secure a better price, waited the 3 payments the dealership needed to collect their kickback (as discussed with them), and then paid off the rest of the financing.

 

[otto.t4r]

haha yes. my first 4runner I bought from a national dealership (AutoNation) and despite handing them a check, I spent at least 3 hours waiting. waiting for what, i’ll never know.

I just bought my second 4runner from a small local dealership. Test drive the car, drive to the bank for the cashiers check and was on my home within 30 minutes.

I think it just depends on where you’re buying the car from, but it definitely shouldn’t take as long as if you were financing.

 

[mooneydriver]

Generally a used car guy. And I'll usually either show up with green money or do the deal at my bank where the seller is issued a cashier's check.

My first dealer experience was way back as a teenager. I went with my dad to pick up a car that he had ordered. 1985 Z51 corvette. My dad and his "business" are a whole other story. But it was Los Angeles in the '80's, so there it is...

We're leaving the house and he tosses me his work briefcase and tells me to hold onto that. OK. Must be some documents to sign I figured.

So we get there and the old man grabs his case. Opens it up and there is (I remember) the amount 265 hundred dollar bills in there. I felt like I just stepped into an episode of Miami Vice. He tossed them down in nice little piles of ten. That's about 73k in today's money. Nice work dad...

Shook the nice man's hand, and off we went with cool new car. Just another day at the office. Well off he went. I was stuck driving mom's crappy Oldsmobile back home.

My personal experience is no dealer wants cash any more. And get VERY uncomfortable if you try pulling out green money. Too many reporting requirements and drama.

I've done wire transfers, and personal checks for new vehicles. No problem. I guess it's a dealer by dealer and person by person thing. I've know a few of the F&I guys at the local dealerships, and they treat me square.

 

[TK-422]

I bought mine in CA in 2015 with a check.

Do not let them know you plan to do this until after you agree on a final price.

They kept trying to hint to credit scores as we were talking price but I have excellent credit so it wasn't an issue.

Finance guy was a douchebag but I gave my final price and walked out.

Got called back then next day asking for $1500 more but held firm. An hour later I got my price.

I walked in with the check and walked out with my 4Runner.

We had bought vehicles from this dealer before.

 

[Feriner]

My last two purchases were financed in order to get some incentive. I just paid off the balance when I got the first statement. I got a lower price and the dealer got whatever they get for selling a loan. They did a credit check each time though, which I don't have a problem with.

 

[steraser]

I wrote a personal check in Louisville, KY for my '21. Actually, I put the maximum allowed by law on a Credit Card just to get some points (paid it off immediately) and the balance was check.

 

[Nmunoz3]

Yes dealers will do everything for you if you have that cash

 

[Carten]

I've only ever used a bank draft to buy a car, which isn't the same as a cashier's check. I've never been subjected to a credit check for this, and I've never had any problems paying using this method. While I was broke, I used for a down payment. When you write a bank draft, the bank takes cash from your account, puts them away, and writes a draft to the seller. Unless the bank goes insolvent in a relatively short amount of time, bank drafts provide no danger to the seller.

My fellow banker the other day told me that due to the financial crisis in the world people are experiencing huge problems paying off their loans. Be careful with that. This banker was lucky enough to sell the whole debt portfolio via Debexpert.

 

[Hiker12]

I think that will work.