How to Pay for a Vehicle at a Dealer?

Beer Baron wrote: So, if I contact the dealer and tell them, "I'm looking to buy a bike and pay outright. Do you accept personal checks for payment?" That isn't shooting myself in the foot, is it? I'm not 100% sure which exact bike I want. I may just get a brand new 2013 Triumph Street Tripple R, but the dealership currently has a used 2010 non-R version of the bike. About $3k less than new, but no adjustable suspension or any of the latest nifty updates. I may also get on and decide that, for whatever reason, it just isn't the right bike. Otherwise, bank check for... say $6,000, and then the rest debit, credit, or cash. Sounds good.

After talking on the money side of things, if your negotiations stall out, use the "What is your cash price, as in cash here and now" to get them to lower it a bit more. I'd have no quarrel carrying that much in cash here, I've carried far more before....but not living in cali, I have the perk of a loaded firearm.

You should see someone paying for a $176k tractor in all Benjamins.......

I've actually worked at a few dealers, so I can give some insight here. Credit cards are out, the fees are to high on big dollar amounts. Cash is out too, unless you want to wait around while your money gets counted a few times and all the bills checked to be real. All the stores I worked at took personal checks all the time. With all the legal paperwork you do while buying a car or bike there's not a big opportunity for fraud. They will not need to run your credit for a personal check.

You may get an incentive to finance though, as dealers do make most of their money from f&i products and bank kickbacks any more. Usually the loan only needs to live 90 days as mentioned earlier, and could save you hundreds.

skruffy wrote: I've actually worked at a few dealers, so I can give some insight here. Credit cards are out, the fees are to high on big dollar amounts. Cash is out too, unless you want to wait around while your money gets counted a few times and all the bills checked to be real. All the stores I worked at took personal checks all the time. With all the legal paperwork you do while buying a car or bike there's not a big opportunity for fraud. They will not need to run your credit for a personal check. You may get an incentive to finance though, as dealers do make most of their money from f&i products and bank kickbacks any more. Usually the loan only needs to live 90 days as mentioned earlier, and could save you hundreds.

I am not opposed to getting a loan and paying it off 90 days later. Sounds like I can walk into the Triumph dealer without anything special prepared ahead of time and be able to purchase that day if I am so inclined.

I bought my last car for cash...

it was only $2700, though.

(if you pay for it in cash.. get it all in packs of ones, and put it in a briefcase. to look super baller.)

As I understand, saying you are a cash buyer upfront can sometimes take away some wiggle room in price, since they can't get a loan fee kickback. I tend to agree above with the possibility of getting a loan through them, or negotiate price first, then let 'em know you're paying with a bank check you need to go and get.

BTW - Seems like some powersports loans are actually a "Credit card", and you need to close out the account in order to get the title, even after you've payed it down to zero.

I bought a car in 1976 by signing a personal IOU to the sales manager. I showed up every payday for 3 months and handed him some cash.

My friend bought an Evo XIIXVI (whatever it was) several years ago on a promise to send a check the following week! They had him fill out a credit app but didn't run it. Kerbeck did the same thing for him on a Corvette, come to think of it.

Years ago, I bought a '95 E36 M3 in KY while visiting from NJ with a check from my MA-based credit union. They also requested I fill out a credit app to cover them.

I bought my 911 from a dealer with a personal check. They witheld the title until the check cleared but let me take the car.

OTOH, when I bought my beater XJR for $6500 from a local used car place, only cash or a cashier's check would do.

EDIT: remembering the Evo deal a little more. My friend had to get home to catch a flight to London and told the dealer "get me out of here in 45 minutes and I'll buy the car. I'll send you a check next week." Dealer: "I'll just follow you home and you can write me a check." Friend: "I don't have any checks at home. My assistant will send you a cashier's check". Honestly, it sounded like a total scam to ME and I knew it was all the truth. They really wanted to sell that car...

Last new car I bought, I put $300 deposit on a credit card over the phone so they would hold it for me. Went to the dealer & drove it 2 days later & signed a credit application (terms agreed upon, so i'm sure they ran a credit check) once the price was negotiated on Saturday. Drove the car home (out of state) on Saturday. The manager agreed to hold the application until Tuesday morning, but if he didn't hear from my credit union by 10am he would process the loan. First thing Monday morning I called my credit union & had them contact the dealer and transfer the $.

One before that, I got the credit union to provide a bank check that was approved up to max amount (max amount was stamped on the check like a money order). Max amount was the most I was going to spend. Since I had to fill in the amount, I kept it in my pocket util negotiations were complete. Had I been unable to negotiate a lower price, I would have fallen back to the max the check was authorized for as the total out the door price.

Wrote personal checks for the last 3 vehicles we have bought (3K 12K & 22k). All bought at the same dealership and they did run a credit check. In each case I didn't tell them I was writing a check until we had started to do the paper work.

Cashiers check's are king.

Super easy, if I don't have a value I bring a printout of my checking account balance, then run a option contract.

yamaha wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: So, if I contact the dealer and tell them, "I'm looking to buy a bike and pay outright. Do you accept personal checks for payment?" That isn't shooting myself in the foot, is it? I'm not 100% sure which exact bike I want. I may just get a brand new 2013 Triumph Street Tripple R, but the dealership currently has a used 2010 non-R version of the bike. About $3k less than new, but no adjustable suspension or any of the latest nifty updates. I may also get on and decide that, for whatever reason, it just isn't the right bike. Otherwise, bank check for... say $6,000, and then the rest debit, credit, or cash. Sounds good.

After talking on the money side of things, if your negotiations stall out, use the "What is your cash price, as in cash here and now" to get them to lower it a bit more. I'd have no quarrel carrying that much in cash here, I've carried far more before....but not living in cali, I have the perk of a loaded firearm. You should see someone paying for a $176k tractor in all Benjamins.......

The last thing any dealer wants is a cash sale. They make a huge percentage of their revenue on financing.

Here's what I did. Go in, negotiate for car. When you reach an agreement they will try to take you to the finance department. Tell them you already have financing, but will consider there if they knock lots more off the price. Get dealer financing, and as soon as you complete the transaction pay it off.