Rookie Q--How to pay?

[therov]

Forgive this question from a first-time-ever car buyer:

We're planning to buy a Mazda5 this weekend (yay!), and I've done all the research to give us a fighting chance at a decent deal. But, being new car buyers (the others have been hand-me-downs), we don't understand how we're supposed to pay for the car. We will have the full sum available for the purchase, but obviously we won't be strolling the streets with that kind of cash in small, unmarked bills. How does one go about paying for the car without financing, bearing in mind that our bank may not be open at the moment we settle the price?

Thanks, and I hope to post my results next week!

 

[x10dude]

Forgive this question from a first-time-ever car buyer:

We're planning to buy a Mazda5 this weekend (yay!), and I've done all the research to give us a fighting chance at a decent deal. But, being new car buyers (the others have been hand-me-downs), we don't understand how we're supposed to pay for the car. We will have the full sum available for the purchase, but obviously we won't be strolling the streets with that kind of cash in small, unmarked bills. How does one go about paying for the car without financing, bearing in mind that our bank may not be open at the moment we settle the price?

Thanks, and I hope to post my results next week!

Write a check.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

A car dealership is most likely not going to accept a personal check...they will most likely need a cashiers check from your bank.

You might have to agree upon a price then bring the check from the bank when they are open...but i could be wrong lol

Write a check.

 

[njaremka]

i think they would accept a personal check, but it might be better to call first

 

[x10dude]

i think they would accept a personal check, but it might be better to call first

If you have a very good credit score, they'll bend over backwards to sell you a car. For a check, the might require a credit card or a trade-in as a down payment.

Of course you could always finance it and then pay it off right away.

 

[Ogre]

Go to your bank/credit union and have them set you up with a bank note for the total amount you have/or willing to spend.

This is basically a like a check, but with a not to exceed amount on it.
You can write it out for what ever amount you finally negotiate on.

I bought my last truck this way and the dealer excepted this with no problems.

 

[mazdadude]

You could bring in a wheelbarrow full of pennies and they would take it.

Use a personal check, they can call to verify funds. Or if you like, a combo of cash, check, credit card, whatever. Remember, they are there to take your money, so they will get it any way they can.(kissass)

There might be a chance you could get car cheaper if you finance at the dealer, and repay the lender yourself. This is because the dealers get kickbacks from financing companies, or manufacturers for financing, and this can help you to lower the OTD price.

Or take the cash that you are going to pay for the car, say $20k, and put it in a 1-3yr CD, or stock market to make some money, and take the 0% financing on the car for 1-3 yrs. Then repay the finance company.

 

[x10dude]

You could bring in a wheelbarrow full of pennies and they would take it.

Use a personal check, they can call to verify funds. Or if you like, a combo of cash, check, credit card, whatever. Remember, they are there to take your money, so they will get it any way they can.(kissass)

There might be a chance you could get car cheaper if you finance at the dealer, and repay the lender yourself. This is because the dealers get kickbacks from financing companies, or manufacturers for financing, and this can help you to lower the OTD price.

Or take the cash that you are going to pay for the car, say $20k, and put it in a 1-3yr CD, or stock market to make some money, and take the 0% financing on the car for 1-3 yrs. Then repay the finance company.

All good options but I believe the 0% financing for 36 months for the 2008s Mazda5 is over. At least in California it is currently 3.9% financing.

but yeah, 0% financing is a NO-BRAINER. I did that and stuck the $20K in a 3% savings account and then electronically have the Mazda payments paid automatically from that account. Figure that will save me another $1000 off the price off the original price of the car.

 

[coolmazda5]

Personal check will do, but first they'll check for your credit score, they'll take your trade-in (if any) will make you sign 2326 papers and off you go. If there is something that cannot be verified on Sat they'll may hold the car to "get" it ready until the week after (to ensure they can cash the check).

Funny thing for my 2nd MZ5 purchase I actually had to call them to ask to see if everything was OK because it took them like 2 weeks to cash the check after I bought it and drove it home, LOL

 

[Rocket]

Personal check is just fine. There is some merit to allowing them to finance the deal and then paying off the loan ASAP. But do the math between the cash price and the cost of interest on the loan. If you make it to the bank on Monday with the check then fine, but if you wait a month for the coupon book to show up then the one month interest might wash the cash deal.

Good luck!

 

[protojason]

I think a Kudos is in order for saving up and being able to purchase a car outright.

I just paid off my p5 a while back, and have been making my 'car payments' into a savings account now. Hopefully I'll have a decent down payment or be able to pay cash like you sometime for a future vehicle.

Good on ya.

-Jason

 

[opus]

Here in NW Ohio and SE Michigan they will not take credit cards as payment for vehicles, trust me, I tried!! They prefer Cashiers Checks but will take a personal check if they are backed against the wall.

 

[flamtap]

The first car I bought "by myself" I had financed from a credit union.

The dealer took a personal check on Saturday and let me drive the car out, then when I returned with the bank's check on Monday they gave me back the personal check.

If you can show them a bank statement or something they would probably just take your check or hold a check until you return with a cashier's check and let you drive away.

 

[doctorz]

The last two cars I bought, I settled the price over the phone and brought the exact amount by cashier's check.

 

[remarquian]

When I bought my 5, we put the max we could down on a credit card (like $2000) for points, and paid the rest with a personal check.

They'll do a verification of funds on your checking account, and also a credit check. I've never had an issue with the dealer not taking a personal check.

They try to make paying as easy as possible, it's everything up to that point that is hard.

 

[x10dude]

They try to make paying as easy as possible, it's everything up to that point that is hard.

Isn't that the truth!

 

[rweatherford]

Be sure to look over the final deal and look for items on the bill that you might not want to pay for. Don't be afriad to ask questions and say "I won't pay for that." If it is something silly and they know you are serious they will remove it from the bill. Some dealerships will try to stick in all kinds of stuff.

Do you listen to Dave Ramsey? Pretty impressive to walk in with enough cash to buy a newer car. Mine is paid for too. Congrats!

 

[therov]

Thanks!

Thanks for the responses! I was dubious about whether a dealership would accept a personal check for $20K, but it sounds like that might work. I'll also look into the bank note since it may be the most straightforward option that doesn't require a return trip to the dealer. Thanks for helping out this newbie!

 

[GhettoBSD]

my gf bought a scion xb (i know i know i took her to see the 5 lol) and she paid for it with a check. It was for $15,000, and the rest was financed. There shouldn't be an issue unless your credit score is like 1