Paying cash vs wire transfer
 

Need a little help here in buying from a private seller. What is the easiest way to buy that's beneficial to both parties. I can just walk into the bank and request 40k in cash...however the seller doesn't want a check etc.. what is the best legal way to do this? How do people pay all this gobs of cash?

I have bought and sold several cars with wire transfer. Its safe and easy. I admit to being concerned the first time around, but after talking with my banker I am more comfortable with it. I know people that have bought some big dollar cars the same way too. It seems to be the way to go these days.

Wire
 

Yup .. wire transfer, done it many times
Cheers
Steve

Wire transfer is ok with me but seller wants cash...

You can get that much cash from your bank but typically they need advance warning unless it's a large branch.

What about the CTR and flagging the Feds...tin foil hat off.

As a seller, I requested that we both meet at a local bank and had a teller take cash from buyer and run it through their counting and forgery machine without me ever touching his cash, the complete transaction was done inside the bank and the money was deposited into my account. This made for a very smooth transaction and both parties were comfortable and I traveled with no transaction cash on hand.

Tim john---

Have the seller meet you with the car at your bank and request that your Bank write the seller a certified check. With all the anti-money laundering rules and regs, and risk of handing out large sums of cash you will not find a bank that will hand over anything over $10k typically. Its also a safe place to conduct the transaction b/c you have the seller on the banks cameras if the car ends up having title issues.

Good advice... I vote for this one! Are you both in the same town to do this, (or reasonably close)?

The seller Doesn't want a check...... The seller Doesn't want a check........ :guns:

A stop payment can be issued on a cashiers check by the purchaser of the check.

Last deal I made I went to my bank's branch with the seller in his state. Had the bank issue him a cashiers check with him as the purchaser.

Therefor he owned it and nobody else could stop it as he was the purchaser.

Dealing with over $10K cash at a bank will get reported to the Feds. Whether you are taking it out or putting it in.

Multiple large cash transactions under $10k over a short period of time will also be reported to the Feds.

A wire transfer is just as good as cash, once it shows up in his account, it is his money...no taking it back. No such thing as a stop payment once the transaction has taken place. If you tell your bank your intentions beforehand, the process is pretty quick and shows up within minutes to his account .

A friend of mine did a repair on my MIL's car for $400. She paid with 4 Franklins, which he happily accepted. The next day he deposited the money in the bank and they said one of them was counterfeit - and kept the bill! No receipt of any kind.

He calls me and explained the problem. If he hadn't been a close friend I would've told him to pound sand. My MIL went to her bank where she got the bills and they agreed to replace it, and she had to sign an affidavit.

I've never been persuaded that cash was all that great, and prefer a wire for lots of reasons. My guess is the seller wants to make sure the IRS never gets wind of it.

Not true, I found that out the hard way. Ask your banker, I couldn't believe it could happen and it most definitely did.

This is likely what's going on in this situation. Not sure there's any great way for both parties to be completely assured when this is non-negotiable.

This is the main issue.

$40,000 in cash just doesn't sound like something I'd be comfortable paying with either.

Maybe get a cashier check from your bank in advance, then meet him at the bank and let him get the cash direct from them. You definitely need a receipt for the transaction and acknowledgement he got his money.

That is probably the case but that is on him. If he can't do it legally, I would walk away.

Agreed, i'd be long gone.

Agreed!! Bank wire's cannot be rescinded. Although, I just bought my Whipple supercharger from a company who gave me a steal of a deal if I paid thru bank wire. I guess they didn't won't to pay merchant fees, who knows. I was scared to death. So, I checked with my credit union and they said once ithe money is sent...it's sent. There's no way of getting a refund. So, I asked, "Well how I'm I protected then if I don't get my supercharger?" They told me, if fraud is committed and I don't get my product, then it's covered and I'd get my money back. But otherwise, if I just say I didn't want it and changed my mind mid way thru the transaction, that isn't covered. Don't know if all banks work that way, but that's how mine did. So, after they told me it'll be covered if fraud is committed and they didn't send my supercharger I felt 100% better and went ahead with the the purchase. Needless to say though, even with my bank's assurance and confirmation, before I purchased it, I went online, did a search of reviews and also checked with the BBB on the business and everything was fine. They had a few customer service issues, but that's not uncommon for a business to have an issue here and there from a customer. But, there was nothing I could find about them being crooks. So, I bought it and there were no issues and I got my supercharger. Transaction went great. If anyone is looking for a supercharger I highly recommend PSE Superchargers out of Oklahoma. The owner's name is Ed Martinez, a very knowledgeable guy.

100% agree!!!
Anytime there's a chunk of money at stake a person should do some due diligence!! You don't have to be a web super sleuth, anyone can do a few searches and see if anything odd shows up. Search the business name and see if a related business shows up. Search the owners name and see if he is linked to anything funky. Search the address and see if it was something else before that is related.

Sometimes you can do everything right. Try your best to be careful. Still get taken.

True Jeff and that's why after all of my detective work I was still scared as hell. Until my credit union assured me I'd get my money back if it's fraud, I was going to buy from another business that was about $300 more in price just for peace of mind. I looked at it like I'd rather spend $300 more than to be taken for the several thousand in total money lost if he rips me off.

You can always arrange to have clearing of all the paperwork etc done via an ESCROW AGENCY ----- where you send them the money and they don't release it until whatever stipulations you place on the transaction are met. Such as delivering the signed off title -- and if you want the car delivered to a third party for inspection before he gets the money etc. It costs a tiny bit - but PROTECTS BOTH PARTIES - just like when you buy a house.

Research asset forfeiture cases.....my buddy sold his 69 Camaro to a guy in AZ....on the drive back....he was pulled over for burnt out tail light....they requested to search the vehicle....he stupidly let them....he is not a dope user but, they had a drug dog that allegedly "keyed up" on the envelop with $28K in cash....the cash was seized....he fought for months to get it back...had a notarized statement from the buyer....Email paper trails of the transaction but, because of the distances involved, he had to hire a lawyer....by the time everything was finished he was out between $4-5K in expenses to get HIS MONEY back. I just recently sold a car on Craigslist....met the buyer at a bank...he wrote me a check and said I could cash it right there for cash....I elected to get a bank check instead as I didn't want to do the tax declaration forms when depositing the $$ into my bank. I freaked out a seller once when I met them to buy their 2008 Audi RS4....I had $24K in cash plus my bank check...they didn't want to deal with the cash...had to wait until a local bank that worked with mine opened up to convert the cash into a check for them....Big Brother is WATCHING US!

Is there a divorce involved with this car? I purchased a car where I sent a $35K certified check as a deposit, once the check cleared I went and picked up the car and paid the balance in cash. The seller told his soon to be ex that he sold it for the check amount which she didn't believe and her attorney sent several threatening letters trying to get me report the sale amount, because I was out of state it's not legal for them to do that, but it took a phone call from my attorney to hers to make them go away. Something is fishy with this deal, I would be very cautious.

Seller just wants to keep it out the realm of the IRS, it's that simple.

It's not responsibility to make sure they report the sale on their tax return. I have to register the car with the BMV at which point I will pay the state sales tax based on the bill of sale.

nobody but gas monkey guy carries around 40$k .GYSOT !!!