I am finally in a position to buy a car in cash rather than financing, but I have no clue how to go about it.
The past few vehicles I've financed i had a method of dropping the price. I would get pre approved for a loan through my bank go in check out the lot even though I had a vehicle in mind "stumble" across the vehicle and then get down to business. When negotiations start they run my credit and we work on lowering the monthly price etc. Once I get to a comfortable number I ask for a buy out sheet showing me all the numbers and then I ask if they'd be willing to honor the price till tomorrow cause im going to think on it. Next day I go in and use my pre approved loan with my lower interest rate and walk away a happy man.
Well since I cant really leverage financing with them against them what steps can I take when buying in cash?
Purchasing a vehicle from dealership in cash
byu/dinkzbl3 inFrugal
Posted by dinkzbl3
19 Comments
Finance it, then use the cash to turn it around and pay it off. Dealers don’t actually prefer cash buyers, they get deals from financed sales so they’re usually better about making you a deal if they can make it up on the back end.
Were you previously getting a loan from the dealer or elsewhere?
I dont have personal experience but a friend of mine tried to buy a truck in cash (like 20k) the dealership turned him down so he walked away. A few days later they called him back asking if he was still interested. He ended up not buying it though.
Use the 90 days same as cash route. I had a hard time with service b/c I couldn’t say I’m not paying until this gets fixed, b/c I paid in cash, and the car had serious problems.
Don’t tell them that your paying cash until you get the the out the door price in a written proposal. Wear your worst clothes and look like a bum scraping by. You’re an actor now.
When they ask you how are you buying. Tell them that you haven’t decided and your credit is dinged and less than perfect.
You are letting them infer they are going to get you on the interest on a loan and that will bring the cars price down. Negotiate a price for the car.
When you are ready to drop the hammer and they decide they don’t want to sell it to you for that —because you’re not financing you have the proposal to take to some other dealer as a negotiating point.
This is how you save $$$$
They don’t like cash deals because of the commission they earn on F & I (Finance & Insurance).
This gives them some latitude to lower the pre-finance cost (because they make it back on the F & I).
As others have said, don’t tell them you you will skip the financing until you get the cash price in writing.
All you gotta do is write a check for it once you have a price you like. That’s it.
You don’t tell them what you’re doing at all, get them to agree on an OTD price then show up with cash. I did it for my last vehicle, they were not happy but fuck them. They tried to make up for it by hard selling me on an extended warranty and wouldn’t give me the keys lol so be prepared for some dumb shit like that and you’ll be fine.
Save the tax on a car purchase and buy it from an individual outright, 9% is a lot.
Dealers do not want to sell you a car for cash . They make very little on the car . They make their big money by setting you up on financing .
Do finance
Do determine/ensure no payoff penalty on said finance
Do not bring or mention a trade in until you absolutely have to
Do not mention a monthly number when asked
Negotiated price then talked financing. Dealership let my husband and I put down a deposit and bring a cashiers check the next day.
I just bought two cars in the past few months. I let them run my credit (800+) but then also told them I just want to negotiate price and then we can figure out financing, money down, etc… Bought the first car with cash, second car I financed about half but then paid it off before the first month was up.
Do not mention how you plan to purchase the car before they give you a firm price in writing.
Just go in an find the car you want and negotiate a price. Get it in writing and you can simply say “I have financing worked out.” I got a cashier’s check from my bank so I could get the title same day and not wait for a check to clear. Drive it home 2 days ago!
I ask for the total price. Including fees, tax and license. As a starting price to go to other dealers. Don’t even discuss monthly payments, though I also don’t say how it will be paid for, just tell them I am looking for the best deal.
I bought a car with cash last Friday. Well, technically, I gave them a personal check and had them put it on hold till I could transfer money from my brokerage account to my checking account.
I was negotiating with the salesperson and I asked him flat out whether I could get a better deal if I financed it through them, or if I paid via cash would it basically be the same thing.
He said that in years past (like 5 years ago), it mattered way more if you were financing through them, but in this deal that we were doing, me paying cash or financing had absolutely no bearing on the deal.
So, we cut to the chase and I just admitted that I was going to pay cash because they weren’t doing any 0% financing deals or anything like that, so I preferred to just get it over with and buy the car outright and not have to worry about cancelling some payment plan early and all that drama.
It was quite a relief. I thought I was going to have to pretend that I was interested in their loan, and then try to change my mind at the very last second, but that tactic was completely unnecessary.
1. Don’t tell them you’ll be paying cash/buying outright.
2. Negotiate the car but instead of focusing on the monthly payment, focus on the final/OTD price. Let them know you’re not worried about monthly cash-flow and just want to focus on the total price.
3. Get them to commit to the price. If they “require” financing to get that price then confirm the financing doesn’t have any added charges or pre-payment penalties.
4. Buy the car.
dealers want the financing, but READ the details….an early payoff may have consequences
Are you talking used dealership or new? With buy here pay here? Not that you’re using it but it does change the environment