Buying a second hand car for cash - how does it work

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biggerry

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I'm in the process of selling my Space Wagon privately. I expect to get around €10K for it. I'm going to spend another €3-4K on a "smaller" car e.g. Primera; Avensis.

Can anybody explain how buying for cash works? If I see a car that I like and the garage is looking for €15K, do I just go to the salesman and offer him €14K?? If he accepts my offer, do I give him the €14K in cash or a bank draft? Sorry if this is a stupid question!
 
biggerry said:
Can anybody explain how buying for cash works? If I see a car that I like and the garage is looking for €15K, do I just go to the salesman and offer him €14K?? If he accepts my offer, do I give him the €14K in cash or a bank draft? Sorry if this is a stupid question!
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Yep, it's a simple as that. Building Society or credit union cheque would generally be as acceptable as a bank draft. I'd hope that the garage would raise their eyebrows at €14k in cash, but who knows.

Don't forget that it won't be easy to manage the synchronise the timing of the selling & buying to ensure that you aren't left stranded for a few days/weeks.
 
the garage would raise their eyebrows at €14k in cash
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If you're walking in their door with that kind of cash — and not looking for a trade-in on your old car — I'd suggest offering them €13.5K for whatever's sitting on their forecourt with a €15K price tag on it.

They'll say no, of course, and feed you a load of 'blah'. I'm not knocking the trade - that's what salespersons are paid to do. Shrug and walk away. Once they know you're serious, I'd be surprised if you get past the door. And if you do, you can always walk back in a day later and offer €13.6K...

Just make sure you get a proper receipt, whether paying by draft or cash.

(But I thought you said you were going to spend another €3-4K on a "smaller" car e.g. Primera; Avensis..?)
 
Thanks RainyDay & Dr M.

I should have made it clear that I hope to spend an extra €3-4K along with the €10K from the Space Wagon.

We have a second car, so timing of purchase etc shouldn't be an issue.
 
Sorry, biggerry, my fault - you did indeed say 'another €3-4K', I just didn't read it carefully enough.
If the changeover timing isn't critical, you should definitely hang tough with the dealers. Resale values on your average mid-size saloon have been dropping through the floor in recent times.

Looking forward to 'down-sizing' myself, some day..!
 
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