Accepting cash for car sale

mrtexas

mrtexas

Well-known member
Had a very interesting experience tonight Friday night at 8pm trying selling an expensive car, not a Ford v8 BTW but still a collector's car. A guy drove 300 miles to my house and we agreed on a sales price of $87,500, about 20% more than I paid a year ago. He then wanted to hand me cash and take the title and the car right on the spot.

I told him I wasn't comfortable taking $87,500 cash (at night from someone I don't know). I said I'd gladly accept cash delivered to my credit union(counted and verified by them) during business hours.

I said I'd take a wire, or cash at the bank, or a certified check issued to me in person at his bank.

The guy brought an experienced mechanic with him and he inspected the car up on my lift and I learned a few things about the car I didn't know.

When I bought the car I wired 20% to the guy's bank account in Canada and 80% was transferred by escrow.com with each of us paying half the 1% fee. Fidelity was hesitant to wire 100% to a Canadian bank.

He called an hour later and said he'd try to organize a bank wire.

I like cash but how was I to verify the $87,500 cash was real on a Friday night at 8pm? I offered to drive the car the 300 miles and fly back.

I've never met someone who would carry that much cash about and banks report that large of a cash transaction to the IRS.

Didn't want to post somewhere the guy would see the discussion as the car is a 2002 Acura NSX. Got another guy looking tomorrow.

I don't know what to think about where all that cash came from.

What do you think?
 
This is only part of your question but any bank transaction over $10,000 is reported to the IRS.

I think you were right to be nervous about taking $87,500 in cash from someone you don't know at night. I think a wire transfer is the way to go, but I am no expert in high dollar financial transactions of this type.
 
While I have never done a deal that big, I always use cash. I have some friends who are big dealers in antiques of many variety's, some times buy out whole collections, with cash. why do you think joe wants to see all bank transactions over 600 bucks?
 
"the car is a 2002 Acura NSX"
cura_nsx_std_coupe-pic-8824617882638147506-640x480.jpg
 
The IRS bank reporting thing isn't as big of a deal as would you think. Another thing to consider, wire bank to bank transfer is the only safe way to transfer large amounts of cash. Cashier's check is no where as safe or secure as people think they are.

That said, I've know people who have overnighted a shoebox of cash to a seller in order to secure a car.

I think your hesitation is reasonable and most banks are open on Saturday. Finding out if the cash is legit or not shouldn't be too hard to do tomorrow.

Drive to the seller's home with the car & title. Go to his bank and ask them to verify if the cash is legit or not.

You can be like The Wolf in the movie Reservoir Dogs and drive your NSX to his house in 1/2 the time it would normally take.
 
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It's a lot of cabbage, but it really isn't that much money anymore. It's a car. A nice car, sure. Prices going up, up, up, starts to add up after a while.

I vaguely remember as a toddler my mom grocery shopping for the family and seems to me $20 would fill several grocery sacks. Today? A $100 bill gets nuked at the grocery store real quick. Every once in a while some tool on the TV will talk about banning "high denomination" notes. $100 is the highest denomination currently issued.
 
I believe you made the right decision. That amount of cash would raise my eyebrows under those circumstances. If the guy is legit he will arrange the transaction per your terms. After all, it's your property and you can sell it under your terms. I can imagine a scenario where the buyer hands you that much cash, you sign the title over and he disappears with both car and title only to have an "associate" pay you a visit in the middle of the night. Very concerning to me. Please report back on the outcome.
 
mhsprecher said:
This is only part of your question but any bank transaction over $10,000 in cash is reported to the IRS.
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It's actually a lot less than that and has been for some time. Even $2000 or $3000. When the law was passed, probably 1969, $10k was a lot of money. So it's actually gotten more intrusive.

They are looking for suspicious activity though, and are also required to file a "SAR" if they believe something is hinky. Buying or selling a car or a combine however, is not suspicious. Making large deposits out of the blue ... that's probably gonna get on somebody's radar. It's part of the "Know Your Customer" policy. Some people deal with lots of cash regularly.
 
cash yes, any kind of check, hell no! In lieu of cash, my bank said bank to bank transfer is the safest
 
Once when i sold a car to Europe the bank did not even want to do a wire transfer as they said if the bank on the other end thought any fraud was involved, they could take the money back for x amount of time...I forget. So, they had me open a new account, accept the money, then close the account, money is now mine
 
petehoovie said:
"the car is a 2002 Acura NSX"
cura_nsx_std_coupe-pic-8824617882638147506-640x480.jpg
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Buyer will hand over the cash to bank and mortgage on my house principal paid. Car will do 180+mph although I've only had mine up to 120mph in between traffic. Stomp on it at 100mph and it takes off!

" Cashier's check is no where as safe or secure as people think they are." But check will be handed to me by the bank itself, not the seller.
 

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mrtexas said:
Seller will hand over the cash to bank and get a cashier's check. Car will do 180+mph although I've only had mine up to 120mph in between traffic. Stomp on it at 100mph and it takes off!

" Cashier's check is no where as safe or secure as people think they are." But check will be handed to me by the bank itself, not the seller.
Click to expand...

Maybe I don't get it but shouldn't that read "buyer", in lieu of "seller'?
 
A friend who has been in the vintage car & parts business for since 1970 told me about a guy knew who sold a vintage Ford for cash. Took the money to the bank to deposit it, it was bogus. He was out the car and something like $50,000. So that was wise move not accepting the cash in that case.
 
My finance guy says cash is still king. i know someone who sold a motor home and the guy paid him 65,000 cash. People keep it in their safe because they do not completely trust the banks and there is always a certain amount of unreported earnings.
5 years ago I knew someone buying a house and cash would not be accepted unless they knew where it came from. I had to write a letter saying it was a gift with proof of a bank transaction.
I do not blame you for not accepting that much cash on a Friday night. Both buyer and sellers have been robbed with these transactions.
 
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