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confused with dealerships and buying a car

confused with dealerships and buying a car

Old Apr 16th 2014, 9:12 pm
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Default confused with dealerships and buying a car

Getting really confused about a car now and going around in circles.

Can't get a decent lease deal as I have no credit history, so I thought it would be just simpler to buy outright, not so.

There is a limit on debit card transactions of $3,000 here, back in the UK I bought and paid for a car at $16,000 equivalent with my bank card, as easy as paying for petrol, don't know why I can't do that here. The funds are in the account but can't use my debit car to pay for a car.

A question, does anyone over here just go in and buy a car outright or are they all sold on finance or lease deals? I get some strange reactions when I ask for a discount for full payment on purchase.

It also seems the dealerships don't want cash. I offered t put a $1,000 deposit down and pick the car up a few days later while I sorted insurance and finance and they would not hold it.

Seems the dealers want you to pick and drive off in the same day, so they say they will accept a cashiers cheque, but how do I know how much to make it out for if I don't know the exact deal I am going for?

I just want a car and finding the whole thing a bit of an ordeal!!

I saw a 2008 prius going for $6,900 seems like a nice car and a good deal, thing that puts me off is 159,000 miles on the clock, should taht concern me, I have seen the car fax report all seems ok, it just did 59,000 mile in one year!
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Old Apr 16th 2014, 9:17 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

Originally Posted by dfrbrowne
A question, does anyone over here just go in and buy a car outright or are they all sold on finance or lease deals?
I've seen people pay cash for a car, yes. Instead of using the debit card, just go in person to the bank and withdraw the cash to pay for the car.

I get some strange reactions when I ask for a discount for full payment on purchase.
Although people do it, I'd say it's highly unusual, so yes I can imagine the funny looks. Not sure if "cash discount" is all that well-known when buying a car.

It also seems the dealerships don't want cash. I offered t put a $1,000 deposit down and pick the car up a few days later while I sorted insurance and finance and they would not hold it.
That sounds normal. You can put $1,000 cash down and finance the rest right away, though. Or, you can probably walk in and pay 100% cash and they'd sell it. But a "cash down to hold" sound unusual to me.

Seems the dealers want you to pick and drive off in the same day, so they say they will accept a cashiers cheque, but how do I know how much to make it out for if I don't know the exact deal I am going for?
Bring cash instead of a cashier's check, then you still have room to negotiate a deal.

Rene
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Old Apr 16th 2014, 9:21 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

The $3,000 limit is an limit put on by the banks by default. You can call the bank and ask them to raise the limit. I ran into that about two weeks ago when I wanted to purchase something on my debit card at Costco that was more than $2,500 (my limit) and I called the bank and had them raise the limit to $5,000.

Since debit cards don't have the same protection as credit cards, the bank keeps the limit low for your protection.

Last edited by Michael; Apr 16th 2014 at 9:25 pm.
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Old Apr 16th 2014, 9:49 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

If you're looking in the $7-8K range, cut a cashiers check for $6K and put the balance on your debit card.

Also, you can probably negotiate a sale with the dealer and have them hold the car for an hour. Run to the bank, get a cashiers check, run back and close the deal. It only takes a bank a few minutes to issue a cashiers check, assuming you have the funds available.
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Old Apr 16th 2014, 9:55 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

Dealerships and salespeople get incentives to sell you a loan. You wont get a cash discount, you may actually get charged more if you tell them that up front.
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Old Apr 16th 2014, 9:56 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

I work for a car dealership so may be some help...

1. No credit history will always be a problem until you have been here a while. But even a good credit score of 700+ wont always access the best finance and lease deals.

We send people to the local credit union. Their lending is much more relaxed than the Banks.
Also look out for interest free or zero rate financing on new vehicles.

2. If you are buying a used car. ALWAYS ASK FOR THE CARFAX report. That will tell you everything you need to know about the vehicle. Also dont be bashful. It is much easier to strike a good deal in the US than the UK where haggling can be still frowned on. Ask how much wiggle room is on the price. Ask how much the dealer paid for it and how much they have in it. If they wont tell you, then walk away but leave your phone number...cos they will be back !

3, Most dealerships will hold the car for a deposit while you arrange financing or get a cashiers check. Be suspicious if they wont. Take your time. Right now in this economy you are in the "driving" seat.

4. Cash is a real problem. Anti money laundering laws make it punitive to handle cash above $10k and even below it if you need to bank more than $10k so most dealerships play safe and say financing or cashiers check.

5. People drive much higher mileages here and cars with 200k+ on the clock are not uncommon especially outside cities where distances are measured in hours driving and not miles. But a vehicle with 150k on the clock in Nebraska will be worth more than the same vehicle in Chicago because the owner probably only used the brakes once a week

I travel 78 miles from home to office daily and that journey has 2 stops 1 stop sign at a junction when I leave and 1 traffic light when I exit the freeway by my office !
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Old Apr 16th 2014, 11:18 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

Originally Posted by MidwestBob
I work for a car dealership so may be some help. ....... 4. Cash is a real problem. Anti money laundering laws make it punitive to handle cash above $10k and even below it if you need to bank more than $10k so most dealerships play safe and say financing or cashiers check. .....
It's actually worse than that because the $10k limit is for the dealer, not the customer, so three customers each paying $4k cash on the same day immediately means a $12k headache for the dealer. AND, worse still, the dealer is also likely to irritate the bank if they frequently deposit amounts close to but less than $10k, where "close" might be amounts in the $7k-$8k range, i.e. only TWO customers per day paying $4k cash each. In short, reputable car dealers usually do not like cash sales.

..... 5. People drive much higher mileages here and cars with 200k+ on the clock are not uncommon especially outside cities where distances are measured in hours driving and not miles. But a vehicle with 150k on the clock in Nebraska will be worth more than the same vehicle in Chicago because the owner probably only used the brakes once a week ....
Indeed. I was told my Accord needed brake pads at somewhere around 70,000-80,000 miles, but I'm not sure why because they haven't been done since and it's now about to pass 269,000 miles! The rear brakes are original, as are the clutch, alternator, water pump, fuel pump, muffler (excl the cat), ignition, shocks (despite crossing a rough level crossing on average every 50-60 miles), springs, and radiator. The steering gaiters were replaced at about 240,000 miles. It's on its fourth set of tyres, and third battery.

Last edited by Pulaski; Apr 16th 2014 at 11:23 pm.
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Old Apr 16th 2014, 11:57 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

Originally Posted by dfrbrowne
I saw a 2008 prius going for $6,900 seems like a nice car and a good deal, thing that puts me off is 159,000 miles on the clock, should taht concern me, I have seen the car fax report all seems ok, it just did 59,000 mile in one year!
I'd be wary of having to change the big battery, at least $2k from what I've heard. The big thing that worries me about high mileage hybrids is how have they been driven. Most aren't driven efficiently so the battery may be ok but on the other hand the small gas engine is therefore being thrashed.
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Old Apr 17th 2014, 12:21 am
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

If you have a Honda you should change the timing belt every 100,000 miles. They usually change the water pump at the same time.
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Old Apr 17th 2014, 12:27 am
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

My last two most recent cars I paid cash for at the dealer. The first I got a cashiers check for the exact amount at my bank, the next I simply wrote a regular check from my checkbook for the agreed amount, since the dealership already knew us at this point. This is at a very small town dealer, though.
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Old Apr 17th 2014, 12:33 am
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

The dealers around here always want credit in place even if you pay cash. Hence, if the check bounces, they just turn on the credit agreement.

Their primary goal (by far) is to complete same day transactions and having credit in place is the easiest way for them to accomplish this.
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Old Apr 17th 2014, 12:57 am
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

Originally Posted by MidwestBob
If you have a Honda you should change the timing belt every 100,000 miles. They usually change the water pump at the same time.
My Accord has a timing chain, apparently 2003 was the crossover year from belt to chain. .... Thinking about it, the serpentine belt has been replaced, and I think the water pump was actually replaced at that time.
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Old Apr 17th 2014, 1:07 am
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

When we first got here Mrs L had already decided she wanted a particular Subaru. We went to the local dealer and they had what she wanted in stock so we negotiated a price. When asked how we were going to pay we said check and got our check book out. Mrs L wrote a check for the full price. I expected to come back in a few days when the check cleared, but they got the car ready and we drove it home straight away. Gobsmacked to say the least.
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Old Apr 17th 2014, 2:31 am
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

We bought 2 cars 'cash' well bankers cheque within a month of arriving in 2008. We negotiated till we got a price we were happy with bearing in mind we had no trade in, I do remember we were there for a long time.

After we agreed the price we said we would collect the cars (let's say next Tuesday) they were genuinely surprised that we weren't going to the bank and coming back with the cheque and driving the cars away that afternoon. We explained that we hadn't arranged insurance yet and it might take a couple of days to come through, they said it's fine you just drive on your existing insurance, you have a few days to inform them about the change of vehicle. We then had to explain that we had NO insurance whatsoever.

I seem to remember we signed and initialed 4 inches of paperwork
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Old Apr 17th 2014, 12:53 pm
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Default Re: confused with dealerships and buying a car

We've bought all of our cars with a standard bank check. The first car we bought within a couple of weeks arriving, we just drove away with the car saying we'd be back with the check! Similar to the truck we bought last year. Told the dealer that we had to transfer the money from the UK and he said just write the check and then call him back when he could deposit it! Very laid back here
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