# How do you pay for a car with "cash" when you have a savings account? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072 "2017-08-30T02:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/41 "2017-08-31T04:09:48Z")
Personal check, cashier’s check, big fat envelope or, if both parties live in the 21st century, electronic transfer. > [@DrDeth](#): > > The Patriot Act in no way requires a credit check for a personal check for a purchase… That doesn’t mean people won’t use it as an excuse. I’ve seen people use SOx as an excuse to make workers clock in for their coffee breaks and GxP to refuse letting the warehouse guys have red ballpoint pens. Any legislation that sounds scary or esoteric enough can and will eventually be used in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/42 "2017-08-31T11:39:52Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > As far as I know, the reporting rules do not make it illegal to withdraw over $10,000 in cash. Yeah, exactly. So a report goes to the IRS. It’s no big deal, unless you’re using unreported money. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/43 "2017-08-31T12:59:28Z")
Are Mazdas and Ford sedans actually as reliable as Hondas and Toyotas, or would the OP just be setting himself/herself up for expensive problems down the road by taking the cheap way out now? Most of the rankings I’ve seen show Mazda and Ford as just average, with Chrysler at the bottom (My father had the misfortune of owning a Neon and myself a Grand Cherokee). ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/44 "2017-08-31T13:28:50Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Yeah - as a practical matter, it might be advantageous to finance and pay off at the first payment. Often financing will trigger incentives, or will allow additional negotiation on price. Will involve some minimal hassle, but might save a few hundred $. Yeah, check this out. We got some $X,000 dollar reduction in the purchase price (don’t remember what X was) for financing through Kia finance. Sent in a check for the purchase price for the first payment, and then whatever minimal interest had accrued for the second and closed the loan. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/45 "2017-08-31T15:34:56Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > Are Mazdas and Ford sedans actually as reliable as Hondas and Toyotas, or would the OP just be setting himself/herself up for expensive problems down the road by taking the cheap way out now? Most of the rankings I’ve seen show Mazda and Ford as just average, with Chrysler at the bottom (My father had the misfortune of owning a Neon and myself a Grand Cherokee). I’m guessing you’re responding to the wrong thread, since your own thread about “Most accurate car reliability ratings” is over [thisaway](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=835085). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/46 "2017-08-31T18:26:17Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > As far as I know, the reporting rules do not make it illegal to withdraw over $10,000 in cash. It’s not illegal. The Bank will just file a CTR, no big deal. The Dealership must file a _Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business._ A bit bigger deal. If you try the old $9999 get around, both/either will file a SAR- which\* is\* a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/47 "2017-08-31T18:27:08Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > Are Mazdas and Ford sedans actually as reliable as Hondas and Toyotas, or would the OP just be setting himself/herself up for expensive problems down the road by taking the cheap way out now? Most of the rankings I’ve seen show Mazda and Ford as just average, with Chrysler at the bottom (My father had the misfortune of owning a Neon and myself a Grand Cherokee). I think, with any used car, it depends on how it was used and maintained. I’d take a fifteen-year-old Dodge Neon with 150,000 miles that spent it’s whole life being driven by a grandma who was meticulous about maintenance before I’d take a five year old Honda Civic with 50,000 miles that spent its whole life being driven by a teenager who _maybe_ changed the oil a couple of times and revved it to the red-line all the time before changing gears. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/48 "2017-08-31T18:34:20Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > I have paid for new cars at the dealership using a personal check. You can usually transfer the money from your savings to checking via your home computer. As **Alley Dweller** said, getting a cashiers check is also very easy. This is what we did. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/49 "2017-08-31T21:33:18Z")
For my last purchase, we made the deal over email and put down a credit card deposit ($5K). They delivered the car, took my personal check for the remainder (~$13K) and drove off with the trade-in. I never went to the dealership and I don’t know that they had a way to verify anything from my house! ---
**Author:** ![vtxrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d26b3c/32.png) [@vtxrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vtxrider)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072/50 "2017-09-01T16:34:22Z")
Now, we did not pay the entire price this way, but the last two times we have bought at a dealership (CarMax), we have used our Visa Debit card. Admittedly, we did have to call and verify that it was us and was a legit purchase, but we transferred the money from savings to checking on our phone (it is instantaneous if you have the accounts with the same bank and linked) and then paid the $8,000 down with the card. Had we intended to pay it all, I do not see any reason why we could not have done so the same way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pay-for-a-car-with-cash-when-you-have-a-savings-account/795072.md?page=2)