I live in NY and I am going to the Florida meet, hoping to buy a car. Wanted to know the "procedure" on best way to pay for the car. Besides cash. I know the seller will want a check to clear,I have no problem with that, I would like to have the title after I pay. Just wanted to know how the best way to protect me and the buyer. Thanks, Joe DeLuca Member 37862.
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Re: Paying for a car???
I always do Cashier's Checks. The seller can call it in to verify funds. I like to scan and e-mail the Cashier's Check so the Seller can do this ahead of time. If you decide not to buy the car you can return the check to your bank and they will put the funds in your account. You should insist on the title when you hand over the check. -
Re: Paying for a car???
If you find the car you want. Set up an escrow acct. with both banks. Have your bank officer talk with their bank officer. Agree that both funds a ALL paperwor title, historical docs. etc. Remain in both accts till all funds clear etc. Your both protected. If your bank fails to comply or cooperate. Get a new Banker.Comment
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Re: Paying for a car???
Joe;
I would do a wire transfer... Have the funds sitting in your bank before you go to look at the car and make the purchase.. Once you are satisfied with it you get the seller's bank account information and then call your bank to have them transfer the funds from you account to the seller's account.. The process is fairly quick..maybe an hour. The seller will then call his bank to confirm receipt of the wired funds and then release the car to you.. and you would be on your way.
The only word of caution is that I would visit your bank before you leave and let them know what you are looking to do. They may look for some sort of written authorization up front and may elect to provide you with some sort of identify verification process so that when you do call to transfer the funds, they know it is you on the line. Also, there is typically a charge for this service.. something like $25.
Bank checks (including certified checks) are good too but bank checks can and do get forged or altered...Wire transfers are the most secure and the actual transfer of funds is readily verifiable.
Have fun and good luck!
Joel
(ex-banker!)Comment
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Re: Paying for a car???
In a private transaction you can never underestimate the bargaining power of the...um...er...non recorded transaction involving cold hard cash.
Just remember the line from the movie Scarface: " I don't has the money wit' me know but I has it close by."Comment
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Re: Paying for a car???
a new twist in title problems has arisen in here in AZ, called the child support lien, the title appears fine until you try to transfer it, then you find out that the dead beat dad or mom you bought it from hasn't paid for his or her kids since 1994 and the car you just bought for $40,000 has a $50,000 lien against it, perfectly legal here and a handful of other states, this has happened to a couple of people i know here, one of them a dealer, so along with a trip to the bank, maybe a trip to MVD is also in order, scary times, be careful !Comment
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Re: Paying for a car???
Joe, What year car are you going to buy? There are probably a lot of people here that have some for sale, and could give you you some ideas about them.Comment
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Re: Paying for a car???
Cash is King!Dick WhittingtonComment
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Re: Paying for a car???
As Dick says, cash IS king. I have always found that your ability to get the best deal is ALWAYS done with dead presidents. The next best is the wire transfer, on a business day this can be handled in a couple of hours, and the transaction is NOT reversible for any reason. So if you go that route making sure the title is clear is paramount to a successful transaction. Having a fair amount of cash is also helpful in getting a good relationship started, then the balance can be dealt with with a cashiers check or wire transfer. I myself stay away from accepting ANY type of check when selling. With modern technology there are just to many ways to run a scam.
LynnComment
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Re: Paying for a car???
Guys;
Be careful about dealing in cash... The Feds require reporting on any cash in or out transaction involving a bank or other financial institution.. This is all part of the anti-money laundering program. In other words if you walk into your bank, make a withdrawal in excess of $10,000 (cheap for a Vette, right) the bank will, by law, need to report you to the Treasury. Similarly, if you walk into your bank with a brown bag full of bills, more than $10K, to do anything with, the same thing will happen. Given the focus on anti-terror activities, the detection systems are fairly sophisticated, meaning even if you bring excess cash in or withdraw over multiple days, different branches, etc., chances are you will get caught...
It's hard to drive your new Vette when you are away from home, if you get my drift!! Seriously, the enforcement and penalties got much more severe after 9/11.
JoelComment
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Re: Paying for a car???
Why does this matter if you are a buyer. If the Feds show up and ask you why you needed, say, $50,000 at one time you take them out to the garage. Where is the downside? Once the cash is in the buyers hands it is his issue to deal with. He is the one that may try to skirt the system. He will probably just spend it on groceries and at swap meets until it is gone if he does not take it to the bank. Or he may use it to go negotiate his best deal on another car. Now if the feds show up on his doorstep and ask where the money is, or at least proof he paid any taxes due, he may be in trouble.
However, all bets are off for both buyer and seller if you start putting false numbers on the transfer documents. There is nothing shady about using cash, unless you make it that way.
Comment
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Re: Paying for a car???
always cash i usually walk away with change and i don't mean ObamaComment
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Re: Paying for a car???
Now we are getting somewhat off topic here, but this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. The "feds", are all up in our life way more than they need to be. So instead of taking $10K out of the bank, take $5K today and $5K tomorrow. From the buyers standpoint their is absolutely NOTHING illegal or wrong with this. CASH IS KING. As long as you do not attempt to defraud your state out of their just due when you pay your state taxes on the purchase price of the car this is totally on the up and up. How the seller claims his income is none of your business, and if you try to make it so, some will just have nothing to do with you. And, by the way the wire transfer is NOT a cash transaction and does NOT get reported to the feds regardless of the amount. I am certain all you government workers and law enforcement types that tend to disagree with my perspective, may have a different outlook, but that is why it is at this time still a FREE country. Getting to be less and less so everyday. Heres one most folks do not know about how great our government is and how they do everything to "look out" for us. In regard to the Christmas plane debacle (my wife works for one of the major airlines), did you know that the monitoring of the "no fly" list was taken away from the airlines about two weeks before this incident, and taken over by the TSA. Awful funny to me that it did not take long for the terrorists to figure out who was "watching" with the new rules and all of a sudden the "feds" let this guy get by them. Buying a car has nothing to do with terrorism and anyone who thinks that, has to claim some responsibility for the sorry state of the society we live in.
And as far as what you call getting caught. Getting caught doing what, taking your money out of your bank account. Anyone who thinks this should be against the law, has a very clouded vision.Comment
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Re: Paying for a car???
In my current and former businesses I handle quite a bit of cash at times. I did the required paperwork over twenty years ago and have never had any problems when dealing with over $10k at the bank. It is a myth that you can move $5k today and $5k tomorrow with out getting scrutiny. They have software that flags abnormal transactions and for most accounts doing that would be abnormalDick WhittingtonComment
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