I had spoken to my banks Visa department to make sure I could do this prior to going. At that time I didn’t have enough credit, so I had deposited the money as a credit on to the card. They listed the expected transaction on my file.
I was not aware of the commission that they have to pay to their service provider when I tried this. I also don’t think I should be inquiring what their Visa costs are or paying their commission. It is a cost of doing business. I don’t inquire what other businesses have to pay their providers when I pay them. I certainly did not spring the surcharge on the dealer. He asked how I wanted to pay for it and I pulled out my Visa. He did note that he should have asked how the transaction would be paid during the negotiation rather than at the end. (I had said that I would be paying for it outright, not financing, and left it at that.)
In fact the merchant agreement I linked to indicates that they are not allowed to charge extra based on the amount that is being purchased.
I think this whole scheme ended up costing me money since Visa charged me a Cash Advance fee when I transferred the credit balance back to my account. I don’t recall all the details as this was 10 years ago.
The credit card fee is a cost of doing business … with customers who pay by credit card! They would have to be pretty simple-minded to negotiate the same price for card-payer as cash-payer.
I used to get discounts at hotels routinely by offering to pay cash. When I asked if this violated their bank contract their reply was the same as street hookers! “Hey, you solicited me; I didn’t solicit you.”
I’ve bought two new cars within the last five years with personal checks. No problem at all. I think the salesman had to call someone to see if my checks should be honored, but it was out of my eyesight so I don’t know for sure. In any case they were accepted.
The last two cars I bought had to be special ordered (in one case there was one available in the whole of Texas, the most recent one was the only one available in the whole US). No problems with writing a check and waiting.
No cite, but for many years, one of the largets Porsche dealership on the east coast was in Lawrence, MA (a city known for drug distribution. According to a guy I knew there, they did make several cash sales.
Our check wasn’t from our bank, it was from our Merrill Lynch account. I guess I could have raised a stink, but we had driven back and forth between a bunch of dealers and got a better price than anyone reported online, so it wasn’t a big deal. And I like the reactions to our credit score. I wish I had thought of paying by Discover card - we’ve got the credit balance, and it would have been a ton of cashback. Next time.
It was a Toyota dealer also - if my old car had waited a few more weeks to die I could have gotten an even better deal.
They’ll do a credit check on you as soon as you agree to purchase the vehicle. If you have a good score and your address is verified, they’ll take your check.
I think the last six cars we’ve owned have all been purchased with personal checks.
No, I’m misremembering, we’ve financed a few due to 0% financing and unable to work a cash price that gives us the same deal, but we’ve definitely bought cars with personal checks.
Yes, there is a call number. Same number they call to see if your VISA has a high enough credit limit. The clown in question was trying to reneg on a deal he had negotiated, because he was expecting a “financed” agreement, instead of cash. He got a “kickback” on “financed”, and wasn’t going to get it in this case. Let the seller beware. Boo Hoo… Pity the poor seller…
I’ve bought 5 cars. Only the second one was “financed”. I got ripped off on the financing. The other 4 were paid for in cash. If you can’t afford it in cash, you don’t need it. Buy whatever you can pay for with cash, and deal with the fact that you bought junk. More often than not, you will have gotten better than you could have gotten with financing.
I like a cashiers check myself. I paid for my last two that way. You have a receipt and he doesn’t have to worry about a check bouncing. Not that yours would but a lot of places don’t take checks personal checks anymore.
The credit card fee is a cost of doing business … with customers who pay by credit card! They would have to be pretty simple-minded to negotiate the same price for card-payer as cash-payer.
“Hey, you solicited me; I didn’t solicit you.”
