Paying up front for a car from a dealer?

[richardsfavorit]

Hi all,

 

I've just been having a look on the net, I agreed to buy a second hand fabia from a Skoda dealer (who I haven't dealt with before), yesterday. I paid my £500 deposit though the salesman was pushing me for the full amount. I simply said I didn't have enough funds on the cards to pay at the time. I also said I usually pay the balance on the collection of the car and drop off of mine as a trade in, when I have dealt with other dealers.

He has given me the BACS details and is expecting payment within June (I imagine to hit his targets etc)

 

What do you all think? Should I hold fire until the weekend when I pick it up to pay the balance? There are a few articles on the net which say its a bit of a dodgy practice....

 

Thanks in advance.

[Ootohere]

Do not pay anyone before taking ownership and collecting.

You have no guarantees of anything until you have title & the vehicle, even then you can not be sure you are safe.

 

They will say cash can not be taken because of Money Laundering Regulations etc.

But there are amounts that that involves, and funnily many have no issues with cash money.

 

I arrange with my bank to have money in an account to pay with a Debit Card, that is done at the hand over.

If it is not a Cash Payment.

Edited 29 June, 2015 by goneoffSKi

[richardsfavorit]

Many thanks for your thoughts on this - I will hold off paying

[philbes]

When I purchased a used Octavia from a Skoda main dealer I used a £100 credit card payment as the deposit and paid the balance of £13,400 with my debit card when collecting the car and delivering my part-exchange. 

[GeoffH]

I basically did the same as philbes. It might be worth contacting the bank to advise them you are going to use your debit card, giving them the amount and payee. This might save having to mess about ringing them on the day if the card is declined. I have bought two cars this year and on the advice of my bank, let them know in advance.

I must add my considerable weight (approx 17 stone!) to the advice never to pay in advance.... You might arrive on collection day to find the showroom empty and realise the company has gone down the tubes!

[mac11irl]

Ive bought my last 2cars for straight from dealers. Both times - debit card deposit over the phone followed by a bank draft and last bit in cash - always still time for a last minute haggle... in my last cars case it was them having replacedd 2 of the tyres before i colected and given it a service even though it was only mid way on interval. Plus i dont know a business who doesnt like having some real paper cash coming in...

[LeeHarrison]

Pay for it upon collection! If the car has an imperfection, ding etc, you're half way to being bu66ered in trying to get a refund etc as the car will have been invoiced and more than likely taxed, V5 sent, new keeper details updated on Skoda system - all in all a PITA.

[andy3270]

Must agree you would never pay a builder up front the whole amount for an extension before it was done maybe money for materials but you need to see the finished artical. You may find defects with the car or inperfections and if you hold the cash you are in control once they have all the money its just lip service and warranty yada yada.

[giandougl]

Back-in 2005 I ordered a new Fabia VRS and didn't pay anything to the Skoda dealer, until the day I picked the new car-up, and left my old Ford Ghia Orion + £12,500 cash by bankers order.

[fabiamk2SE]

Im with everyone else. Dont pay until you collect it.

Whilst youve got the cash, youre in control.

Edited 30 June, 2015 by fabiamk2SE

[kevberlin]

Im with everyone else. Dont pay until you collect it.

Whilst youve got the cash, youre in control.

As above............so very definitely.

[GeoffH]

Ive bought my last 2cars for straight from dealers. Both times - debit card deposit over the phone followed by a bank draft and last bit in cash - always still time for a last minute haggle... in my last cars case it was them having replacedd 2 of the tyres before i colected and given it a service even though it was only mid way on interval. Plus i dont know a business who doesnt like having some real paper cash coming in...

Re the above post... Check whether the dealer will take a bank draft / building society cheque. I was caught at a Robins & Day garage ( they are owned by Peugeot group) when I bought a Pug 2008 for SWMBO. I told them I had drawn a b/soc cheque and they said they didn't take bank drafts or b/ s of cheques anymore unless they had it for 5 days to clear. I told them to express it but they said head office wouldn't let them!... They had obviously been caught out with a forgery.

[Aspman]

When I purchased a used Octavia from a Skoda main dealer I used a £100 credit card payment as the deposit and paid the balance of £13,400 with my debit card when collecting the car and delivering my part-exchange. 

 

Ditto for all my cars.

 

Small amount to secure, usually £100 then balance when the paperwork is completed and keys exchanged.

[FlyingGecko]

Just some professional clarification, a bank draft and a building society cheque are entirely different.

 

A bank draft is as good as cash - it cannot be "stopped" like you can stop a cheque. It is the bank's money that's being used, not yours. Your money goes into the bank's account when the draft is issued. Your protection is only that the draft must go through the account of the payee, the person named on it. If the banks in the chain do otherwise then they ARE at risk. This is why drafts can't be transferred/made over to a third party, but is also your and the bank's protection if the draft is stolen. The issuing of the draft and back office procedures are the reason the banks charge a fee.

 

A building society cheque is an instruction to pay YOUR money not the building society's and is just the same in law as a personal cheque. They stem from the days when building societies exclusively used passbooks and not cheque books and offered a safer way of paying over large amounts. A building society cheque can be "stopped".

 

These days most building societies ARE banks but they don't offer  - in my experience of several of them - bank drafts. Their standard procedure is to issue a cheque.

 

The law is more nuanced than this, but in essence that's the way it works.

 

A retired bank manager, I have experience of this. I had a customer running a large motorbike franchise. One day he sold a jetski for around £8000, taking a building society cheque. The cheque had been stolen, then endorsed (signed on the back) by the thief pretending to be the payee, then used to buy the jetski. My customer regarded the cheque as good, the thief took the jetski away. A few days later, the cheque bounced, the original account holder of the building society had reported the theft. The result - my customer lost an £8k jetski, because he thought a building society cheque was the same as a bank draft.

 

 

 

 

[MickA]

Never hand over the balance until you are satisfied with said purchase.

I nearly got caught out twice with the saleman trying this on, they nearly always say, let's do the payment then we will look over the car. I say let's look over the car then I will pay, some seem to not like doing this way, tough. You have the upper hand if the car is not quite as you expected upon collection.

Edited 30 June, 2015 by MickA

[Ad Lav]

Never paid for a car upfront, always a deposit then final bits sorted in collection.

Part ex values are normally worked out when you strike the deal and in the order form?

[richardsfavorit]

Thank you all for your comments

 

Don't worry, I will pay on collection only having read this.

 

I will name and shame once the process is complete. It seems odd for them to ask for it in advance. :(

[giandougl]

Thank you all for your comments

 

Don't worry, I will pay on collection only having read this.

 

I will name and shame once the process is complete. It seems odd for them to ask for it in advance. :(

Might be a cash-flow problem with company ??

[Ootohere]

It is a simple case of if you do not ask you do not get.

 

Many Salespeople ask, maybe they were trained to ask, tie them in,

and many or just some customers pay up early.  

You do not need to pay before you buy, and you can tell them to take a flying buck.

[Soot1e]

I wouldn't even pay a deposit without seeing the car in the flesh.   There has been some dealers that won't even refund the deposit if the cars not up to it.

[Ootohere]

There are some that object if you tell them you will take goods to the value of the deposit then, like the 4 winter tyres at the door in the display. Obviously they can call the police, most go and get the financial director or receptionist to transfer the money back on your card.

Edited 1 July, 2015 by goneoffSKi

[richardsfavorit]

Thanks for everyones comments on this.

It was Johnsons Skoda in Birmingham. I wouldn't recommend them.

[B33fy]

I'd have told them to tale a run and jump, and gone elsewhere, absolutely detest pushy salesman pulling a fast one. I'd let the dealer principal know as well. A while ago I was messed about buying a new car, then had problems on delivery, told the salesman I'd had enough and was going to let the dealer principal know. Suddenly nothing was too much trouble and all sorted along with free privacy glass.

[lfc958]

GIven you have named, I take it you have the car ?

 

One question i have that no one seemed to say - have you got all paperwork with it ?

 

Also, if you have the car, it might be worth a whisper to the dealer principal - As he said above