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I have been car shopping and planned on paying with a personal check since I don't really want to carry around thousands in cash. I found a car I was interested in and the salesman proceeded to bring me a credit application saying I have to fill it out unless I'm paying in "green cash", meaning physical money. He said something about it being a law since 9/11 that they have to run my credit when paying with a check/money order etc...
Is this guy blowing smoke or is this true? I can see them wanted to collect my info when buying like this but why in the world are they "required by law" to check my credit?
As a dealer I have the right to take certain precautions if you are offering a personal check. I have the right to know your recent history. Did you just move here and settled or is it likely you could pack up and move on with me holding a bad check?
I never heard of any such law, but that doesn't mean anything really. Depending on the size of the check, you wouldn't be getting the car until I could verify the funds in some way.
I did offer to also get a cashiers check or money order from the bank across the street. They said as long as it wasn't "Green cash" they'd have to do the credit check. I've lived at my current address for 3 years and held the same job for 10.
I did offer to also get a cashiers check or money order from the bank across the street. They said as long as it wasn't "Green cash" they'd have to do the credit check. I've lived at my current address for 3 years and held the same job for 10.
I would offer them the check and see if they turned it down. I'm betting they do not.
It might be true. The feds like to know about large transactions, but I would think they would especially be interested if you walked in with a huge wad of cash to buy a new car.
It's hard to keep up with all the new banking regulations.
You could try a different dealer, OP, and see if it is different.
Well it seems unnecessary but if you want to buy the car from them then its really just a formality. I wouldn't let them check my credit unless I found the car i wanted and I was ready to give them the money. I think dealer rules and regs are different from state to state.
I have been car shopping and planned on paying with a personal check since I don't really want to carry around thousands in cash. I found a car I was interested in and the salesman proceeded to bring me a credit application saying I have to fill it out unless I'm paying in "green cash", meaning physical money. He said something about it being a law since 9/11 that they have to run my credit when paying with a check/money order etc...
Is this guy blowing smoke or is this true? I can see them wanted to collect my info when buying like this but why in the world are they "required by law" to check my credit?
LOL. You know a dealer would rather take a certified check before "green cash". There is no need to have your credit run if you don't plan to finance. If a dealer insists on doing that, go elsewhere.
A dealership has a right not to accept personal check but telling your they have to run credit check for 9/11 law? It's BS that the sales person is telling you.
While I'm sure they checked my credit, they also asked for a bunch of information they couldn't possibly verify (my monthly income, how much I paid a month in my mortgage, etc). What's the point of asking for stuff anyone could just make up?
I've purchased a half dozen new cars with bank checks and personal checks. If someone insisted on doing a credit check on me, I'd walk away from the deal. They're not entitled to that information and I'm not signing the release.
On a used car lot that specializes in high margin sub-prime loans and buy here/pay here deals, they don't have many customers paying cash. They want the credit report so they can shop the loan and make the most profit from it. If you're in that lot, you're very likely overpaying for the car since the other piece of the puzzle is that those places overcharge for cars because their customers have no alternative.
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