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Comment by jleyank | Hacker News Reader

Actually, I tried buying one by charge card as it was within the limit (rather than cash). Whole lotta points. Dealer just said no. Took a certified check as I didn’t want to use a Brinks truck.

Also wanted to see if it extended the warranty by a year. And the buyer protection plan.

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You are lucky. My parents went to buy a new car some years ago - with cash (they downsized their house and had the money leftover).

Some dealers refused outright, no matter the payment method. Even if they waited to have the car until the dealer knew the money was there and stuff. No loan = no car. Obviously, they went somewhere else.

Most dealers will not accept large cash payments because of the legal reporting requirements of such payments, not because they'd rather loan you the money. Few dealerships will accept cash in amounts that trigger IRS reporting, for example, because it's a red flag for money laundering and the drug business.

I know that requirement exists, but I'm not convinced that is the reason. They'd be dealing with a bank, after all, who knows the restrictions but more importantly, I'm guessing the cost of the cars is as much and they likely aren't taking a loan for the cars.

There are lots full of cars under that limit that only sold with financing, and the dealers just simply said that they don't take cash. (the limit used to be 10k, and had not been raised to keep up with inflation, but I don't know if it ever became raised)

Additionally: The reporting requirements weren't so bad. Another couple of dealers didn't have an issue with it. Obviously, they bought the car from one of those folks.

Another reason cash isn't accepted is usually the money can come from non auto based loans (student loans, home loans, etc.). Loan service companies can't repo a vehicle in these circumstances because it was never collateral in the first place and if the person taking out the loan signs over the car then it can't be part of assets that can be sold to recoup losses. So dealerships have a good reason to refuse cash when loan service companies are the ones that give them kickbacks.

I'm sorry, but none of that makes sense. No one can repo a vehicle unless he has title and anyone with title can repo a vehicle regardless of where the money came from. No student lender has title to a financed vehicle, even if the student used his loaned cash as part of the downpayment. Title to financed vehicles is held by the lender until the loan is satisfied in full. No buyer can "sign over a car" to someone without that title, for it is the title document itself which must be "signed over" in order to transfer ownership.

And no dealerships receive "kickbacks" of any kind. There are plenty of hidden and confusing ways that car dealers make money, but kickbacks from lenders or anyone else are not part of it.

As a European, I find this highly amusing — I had the same problem when in the US. "What do you mean I can't just wire-transfer the money?"

You can readily wire money with any bank in the US. It exists but people don’t really use it. It just never caught on much as a consumer product because of alternatives like ACH and debit cards that achieve the same thing.

That's mostly because it's slow and most banks charge a fee ($35 or so). The only time I've used it is wiring money to the escrow company when buying a house.

Regular car dealers just aren't set up to receive wire transfers. They wouldn't know what to do with it.

Their banks can receive wire transfers just like any other bank.

It's not a bank issue. The retail F&I staff at most mainstream dealerships aren't accustomed to dealing with wire transfers and literally don't know what buttons to push. You can probably get it done eventually but it will involve some delays and complaints.

Ask them about chip and pin. Unless things changed during covid, I recall chip and signature.

It’s just chip now boss.

Good for them. Haven’t been to the us in years…

Most dealers will not accept large credit card payments because of the fees they must pay to use the credit card network, as with any transaction. Not because they'd rather loan you the money.

A coworker of mine bought his car on his Amex and the dealer was more than happy. I paid for my new truck with a debit card back in 2019 (well $15k of it rest on loan).

The reason dealers don't want to do this is because of chargeback abuse. Now, to counter that argument dealers have gotten "smart" but greedy to the point now where they sneak arbitration agreements into a purchase... so while you may dispute a charge if the dealership lies about price or something, good luck using their chosen arbitration service.

You are also paying like a 2.9% fee to your payment processor (vs $0 for a check). On a 50,000 car, that is $1,450. Not chump change at all, maybe a big chunk of your margin.

On all the cards I've checked, the extended warranty feature excludes motorized vehicles.

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