i got about 2000 dollars of msrp

 

that statement makes my head hurt

 

Was this a car on the lot or a special order -

 

I have seen discounts on cars sitting on the lot. The Fireballed special limited editions, that were so jacked up in price that South Bay had to lower the price to get them off the lot.

 

he works for the dealership :impatient

 

I love it when people come in and say, whats the Cash price.

Honestly, i tell me now that the cash price is higher than a financed price. We make money off of finance even if we beat the rates and are the lowest. We still get money from those banks. Its the price of doing business with hundreds of banks, we get good deals.

If you finance and possible buy some warranty and things like that, most places are more inclined to give you accesory credits and such. Mainly you win as a consumer too. We get you the lowest rate, you get a warranty and you spend just a little over what you would have paid for the car by itself. The dealership has good numbers to show there bosses and Mini USA and you got a good deal. Honestly, people that pay cash are also shooting themselves in the foot. Keep your 20K and put it in a CD or something, instead of putting it in a depreciating asset.

cash used to be great before the electronic age came along. small dealers get charged Fees for financeing because they don't have the ability to do it themselves, thats why Cash is "King" there. Big dealerships, dorget it, Finance, save your self the hassle. Sometimes the dealer gets beat but not that often.


Scott

 

Not to sound silly or anything, but how does one go about purchasing a car in cash?

Do I bring a check, a debit card, or literally $xx,000 in Benjamins? I wonder where I can find some moneybags...

 

Spoken like a true dealer looking for some naive sucker who failed finance/economics 101! Explain how paying interest on a depreciating asset is good for the consumer? I can see it's good for you! Oh, and I'll pass on the lo-jack and paint protection

 

If I put my cash in a cd or online savings (4.5%) I am assuming MINI is above the 4.5% rate??? If so, That will cost me - so, even if I get "back" something - I pay for it???? Now, if you can show me how to get rates below 4.5% then I will listen

 

Just talked to my Mini Dealer - they are offering in the 7% range - I am currently earning 4.5% on my $$$.. So, if I leave it there and take what Mini is offering, I am paying in the area of 3%??????? any "perks" they were to give me - I would be paying for..... or am I missing something here ?

 

Cashiers check or Benjamins.

 

It's all about the Washingtons.

 

A check is better than cash. For cash purchases over $10,000 there is an additional govt. form to be filed.

 

If you have a credit card that can provide you points or miles, ask the salesman what the maximum amount is you can put on a CC. At that time ask them if they want a cashier's check or if they will accept a personal check.

When I purchased my last couple of cars locally I just paid with a personal check. When I purchased my MINI I purchased it out of state and they wanted a cashier's check due to me being from out of state. The salesman also told me the max for CC was $2,000. I used my CC for the deposit and for $2000 more at the purchase.

When I sold my car to a private party I accepted one check from the buyer's finance company and a second cashier's check for the part they weren't financing. The finance company check had the safety features, and the cashier's check was drawn on my bank and I know what their checks look like since I had just used one. Whenever you accept checks, even cashier's checks, you have to be very careful. Laser printers make it much too easy to forge documents.

Yes, for some transactions cash can mean just cash. When I sold my first car for $1,900 the buyer used cash. It was quite a pile. I don't know if I would want cash now. Even the banks and stores check currency for validity with a pen or other detection method. There must be a lot of counterfeiting in Europe. Last month when I was using bills as small as 20 euro they would sometimes get checked. I also saw signs that bills from 2000 and older were not accepted.

 

Financing a car even when you're able to pay cash for it made a little more sense a few years ago when many of the automakers were offering interest rates in the 0-2.9% range, and when it wasn't hard to have an investment account earning a consistent 12-18%.

Now that the interest rates for car loans are generally higher, and returns on investment accounts are lower, it's harder to "shoot the gap" and come out ahead by financing a car, but it can still be done. Probably not with a CD/online savings/money market account as the investment vehicle, though.

 

I do agree, my local bank offer like 1% or less - www.hsbc.com offers 4.5% to anyone - min balance is $1 and is completly liquid - I can transfere $$ to and from my local bank for free.. This % just dropped from 5.05% -

One thing a person has to determine when paying Cash - will the buyer need that capitol in the near future for anything else??? Using it all for the MINI does use it up in a hurry... I really hate car payments - My wife has taught me over the years to save for that next car - My last new car was 1986 and hers 1996 - I am getting my MINI on Sunday/Monday and she is getting her Toyota sometime after Thanks Giving - At that time we will also look at What Toyota has to offer and make and make our decissions then...

BTW - My El Camino had 250K and the wife's current Toyota has 280K =

 

When i said you would be wasting money by putting it into a car i wasn't meaning if you kept it for 10 years.

here is the thing, if you keep the car for over 4 years than yes, pay cash, and yes we have had people bring in actual cash before. I'm speaking for most of the BMW/MINI brand owners, mostly BMW. A lot of BMW customers buy cars in cash and then a year later or less, trade it in. Thats so much cash they just wasted in depreciation when they could have paid a small amount of interest and kept the rest. Sure if you keep the car until the wheels fall off, then you save money in the long run by paying cash. Most people now-a-days do not keep there car more than 2 to 3 years.

I know a whole bunch of people say "I do" and so on. Fine, Pay cash, be happy. Most people can't afford it and most people that can afford to pay cash don't care enough.

I'm just saying if i had a million dollars, i would still be leasing, because i like new cars and I would hope i would be more responsible with my money instead throwing it around.

 

I don't know where you're getting your financial information from (salesman school, packet of cornflakes?) but if one buys a car for $20K and a year later you trade it in for $10K, the following has occurred:

1) It's cost you $10K to drive the car for 12 months regardless if you paid cash or financed. If you financed, you also need to come up with the difference between the trade in value and and the loan balance (which the finance guys love to roll into your new loan).

Any sane minded individual will pay cash (if they have it) unless they're offered a loan at really low rate. Bottom line, dealers don't like cash buyers as they don't get to make money on the back-end.

 

 

I paid for my MINI 'in cash' using a personal check. I was quite surprised they didn't ask for a cashiers check or at least call my bank to verify the funds. Although they did 'cash' the check first thing Monday morning after my purchasing the MINI Saturday afternoon. I put the $1000 deposit on my debit card but my dealer doesn't allow it for the actual car purchase. Didn't ask about cash...

 

I purchased an 03 Acura, used and it ran around $19K. With my trade in the drive it off the lot came to around $11.5K. The dealership allowed me to use a CC. This was a 0% for 12 months with a $12K limit. I paid the car off in a year.

I purchased my Mini for $23.5K drive it off the lot. I put $10K down and financed the rest. I have another 0% card with a $5K limit for 12 months. I transfered $5K to the credit card, continued paying the financed portion, pay down the $5K over 5 months. Then transfer another $5k. This will still give me 2 months to pay off the balance of the Financed portion, all the while, basically paying 0% for the car, except for making the minimum payment required on the financed portion.

This way, I don't have to take a chunk out of savings to pay "in cash". You can keep your money in an interest bearing account and withdrawl monthly and still earn interest on the remaining part of the "bulk cash" portion you were planning to plunk down to "pay in cash".

Does this make any sense to any of you? 0% cards are still available. Google it and see what you can qualify for, just be sure to read the fine print and make sure you make the minimum payment, ON TIME. This is the best of both worlds. You pay no/minimal finance charges, you pay 0% on your credit card, you keep your cash payment longer earning interest and you pay your car off quicker!

If you are careful and plan ahead, even if you can't afford bigger monthly payments, you can keep looking for new 0% cards to transfer balances to, until you pay your car off. I've done it over and over again and still preserved my cash.

TurboBlu, I'm in no mood for getting in a pissing war with you, but you've drunk too much of the Kool-Aid dude. Granted, most purchase more vehicle/consumables than they can afford, but how can you justify advising them to borrow money on a depreciating asset that they can't afford in the first place? I have 6 drivers in my family and 6 vehicles. We have almost 500,000 miles on these cars, all except my Mini, paid for. We keep our cars for a long time and I personally can't justify financing and buying more than I can afford.

 

I can promise you that you and your family are not the average car buyer. You may not agree with TurboBlu, but he was only giving an honest answer from a dealer perspective. Despite what some of you apparently think, there are dealers who try to make a car purchase a mutually beneficial experience. Obviously, people have different goals & uses in mind for their car purchase.

BTW, not all dealers will take credit cards and most limit their usage.

 

Fireman,

You're probably right about not being the average car buyer, but this system can work. If you have to borrow money for 7 years to buy "your dream car" NOW, then listen to what the sales person has to say. This idea that the car dealer is on your side, has never proven true for me, and I've purchased a ton of vehicles over my 35 years of car buying.

If they are so interested in you as a customer, why do they go out of their way to gouge you on your trade-in value? I have never seen a dealer willing to give you above the "Wholesale" value on a car. They then go and jack the price up to the retail value and make upwards of $2-3K on your trade in.

The last car I purchased, I told the finance manager that if they attempted in any way to sell me an extended warrantee for any part of that vehicle, that I would get up and walk out. It's like going into a dungeon to sign the paperwork.

In the end, IMHO, if you purchase a car that you can't come close to paying off in a year, you've purchased too much vehicle. I think they call it living beyond your means.

 

As you said, yes, it can work this way. But also as you agreed, you are not the average car buyer. The vast majority of car buyers cannot afford to pay off a new vehicle in a year, even if they purchased the least expensive new vehicle on the market.

I'm glad you can enjoy your financial freedom .

I wouldn't say I live beyond my means (I have a nice house and enjoy many toys and amenities with no credit card debt) , but according to your definition, I fall into that category with probably 95% of everyone else that lives in the US.

 

You seem to see it as choosing "sides". I say the sale can work for and benefit both consumer & car dealer without feeling like somebody "lost". A car dealer is a business and has expenses to cover. IMO, the sooner you acknowledge the realities in any given sale (REAL trade value, vehicle price, etc...), the easier it will be for both parties.

You seem to assume it's always "gouging". IMO, wholesale value or something close to it, is all you should go into a dealer expecting to get. If you want more for a trade then sell it via private party sale or take it to CarMax. Don't complicate the vehicle sale with the trade, since the dealer is going to look at it as one large transaction in the big picture. Frankly, if a dealer gives you more than wholesale for your trade, they are likely getting that money back out of you in another part of the sale.

Sounds a little confrontational to me. I prefer to politely decline and ask them to move on. To each his own.

And we return to my earlier point. Most folks just aren't following your sound advice. Look at all the home foreclosures from sub-prime lending practices as excellent examples of over-extended borrowing.

I'm not saying that some dealers don't try to make a fast buck, but entering a dealership with the attitude that it's a contest doesn't help anybody, IMO. I suggest finding a dealer that will work with you honestly, be an informed consumer, know what you can afford and be realistic in your assessments of all of the above. That's the best route to favorable car buying experience IMO.