Re: Buying a car with cash - preferred method?

: The last two times, I've taken cash - £8K the last time. Checking : all the notes for forgeries is a PITA.

My last big cash wodge had fewer notes than you might think, because the Clydesdale bank were happy to give me it in five hundred quid notes plus a few hundred quid ones. Of course in a world where many places won't accept fifties for fear of forgeries, five hundreds are, um, rather eyebrow raising.

Ian

They won't. Credit card fees are an exempt supply. However I think you will find that the expenditure on such things is kept to a minimum and pushed across to the taxable part of the business where possible.

Most dealers will charge a 2.5% fee for credit card transactions. Quite a significant amount when spending several thousand pounds.

Either a big wad of £50s (bit of a risk just on the off-chance you get mugged) or debit card are my preferred methods.

"Huge" wrote

Hmmm. Whenever there is someone "selling", there is someone else "buying".

You could just as easily say: "When buying, the only satisfactory method is to wait until the car is released before letting the money clear. The seller might not be very happy about it.".

Five and one hundred pond notes? The most I have ever known of is 50's! Strange...

"Ian Johnston" wrote

A "five-hundred-pound" note? Monopoly money? How is the average man-in-the-street (or second-hand car salesman!) meant to accept that, when they've never seen one before? [No chance of checking for a forgery, as there's no 'image' to compare against...]

And I thought the highest denomination outside of the Bank of England buildings was the humble 50. Silly me.

At the time, it wasn't forged cheques that were doing the rounds, but stolen genuine ones. However, forging a letter with a pukka printed letterhead isn't that easy - except of course for a pro. It would be a well organised forger that could produce any branch's letterhead quickly.

The last time I bought a car I paid by personal cheque. The seller (a garage) let me drive off in the car five minutes later. Considering the quality of the stock of cars there, the prices and the fair way in which he haggled I may well buy th enext one there as well.

Perhaps I called it the wrong thing. A counter cheque? Anyway, it's cheaper.

Evidently either an unawareness of your omniscience or else a degree of clued-up-ness which exceeds yours.

I know which alternative my money's on. :-)

The draft is sort of guaranteed. A bank cheque is like an ordinary cheque except that you wouldn't expect it to bounce through lack of funds, etc.

A simple method which is both safe against being mugged and against forgery (but probably more applicable to a private non-dealer transaction) is for buyer and seller to visit the bank together, and for the buyer to draw out the money in cash but without the notes ever actually crossing the glass wall. The seller then pays the cash straight into his account by BGC.

For the seller there is no danger of any cheque bouncing because he has paid real cash into his account. This would be secure

Scottish bank. Think some still do 1 quid notes.

No, a draft is drawn on the Head Office, whereas a cheque is drawn on the branch.

In message , Drinking Onions writes

Bank of England stop at £50 over the counter, although they do issue £1,000,000 notes to banks.

Clydesdale Bank can issue, and does issue, any denomination it wants. They arent legal tender though.

: In article , : Drinking Onions wrote: : > Five and one hundred pond notes? The most I have ever known of is ?50's! : > Strange... : : Scottish bank. Think some still do 1 quid notes.

The Royal Bank of Scotland does them. Most do 100, 200 and 500, I think.

Ian

In message , Tim writes

He said it was from Clydesdale Bank (who issue their own notes). They DO issue specimen images, I understand.

You can, of course, refuse the Clydesdale Bank notes as they arent legal tender, but if the tenderer is from Glasgow and built like a .........

.... then you might it think more prudent to accept them.

In message , Ronald Raygun writes

No need for this palaver, a cheque could be used, made payable to the vendor, who pays it into his bank at the drawee bank by BGC in the presence of the drawer. Once the cashier stamps it, and if the payee, or his bank, immediately asks if the cheque is paid, and gets an affirmative answer, then the cheque is paid and cant be stopped. The paid cheque is proof of payment and may come in handy later.

In message , Dave Plowman writes

True, but he knows he is definitely going to get it.

Yes, but after doing that and after catching a taxi to the dealer you find the dealer's buggered off, or the car is useless, etc., etc.,c its too late!!