buying a car in the UK

xcelti

they won't accept cash .. it could be counterfeit

they won't accept bank draft .. it could be cancelled

I don't want to transfer money over before I see the car and I don't want to have to travel twice or even on a week day ..

Now I have travelled and then seen the car then called my bank to transfer the money electronically. My God that was a nightmare took six hours and the two of us staring at each other .. me so he didn't run away with the car and him thinking I was trying to rob the car.

folks there has to be an easier way .. please somebody!!

prospect

Buy Irish

Bluehair

xcelti wrote:

they won't accept cash .. it could be counterfeit

they won't accept bank draft .. it could be cancelled

I don't want to transfer money over before I see the car and I don't want to have to travel twice or even on a week day ..

Now I have travelled and then seen the car then called my bank to transfer the money electronically. My God that was a nightmare took six hours and the two of us staring at each other .. me so he didn't run away with the car and him thinking I was trying to rob the car.

folks there has to be an easier way .. please somebody!!

Thats plain nuts. Won't accept CASH! Unless this was a hard to get car or something you really couldn't turn down i would have told him to get lost.

I've heard (and understand) people being cautious about drafts, cheques etc but cash? :rolleyes:

IrishRover

I haven't found an easier way, unless they will accept paypal.

xcelti wrote:

Now I have travelled and then seen the car then called my bank to transfer the money electronically. My God that was a nightmare took six hours and the two of us staring at each other .. me so he didn't run away with the car and him thinking I was trying to rob the car.

Can you tell me more about this because when I have done a bank transfer, the (Irish) bank needed IBIN and BIC numbers as well as the regular sort code and a/c number to transfer to and it cost €25 to do the transfer, could not be tracked, and took 4 to 5 working days and there were no guarantees or safeguards.

xcelti

IrishRover wrote:

I haven't found an easier way, unless they will accept paypal.

Paypal before you go over? if not do you find an internet cafe ?? paypal fees would be big I'd imagine for the seller on something more than £5K

IrishRover wrote:

Can you tell me more about this because when I have done a bank transfer, the (Irish) bank needed IBIN and BIC numbers as well as the regular sort code and a/c number to transfer to and it cost €25 to do the transfer, could not be tracked, and took 4 to 5 working days and there were no guarantees or safeguards.

Ulster bank €50 same day transaction - still a nightmare

Talked to Western Union ..you need a UK residential address .. :rolleyes:

jayok

they won't accept cash .. it could be counterfeit

Forget even travelling from Ireland - how is a UK person supposed to pay for it then?

I bought a car in the UK two weeks ago and I brought the cash with me. No problems at all. I think it was mentioned elsewhere but they can buy a special pen to checked the notes for authenticity for about £20. If they are not interesting in do that then tell them to shove it.

IrishRover

Paypal from the computer in the seller's house, but yeah it all depends on how much money you're talking about.

jayok

Just had a thought - bring the cash over with you. If you like what you see then go to a bank with him and buy a draft there. I guarantee you the bank will check every note! I'd also make him pay for the cost of the draft.

xcelti

jayok wrote:

Just had a thought - bring the cash over with you. If you like what you see then go to a bank with him and buy a draft there. I guarantee you the bank will check every note! I'd also make him pay for the cost of the draft.

I'd rather not take a day off work .. is there anywhere you can buy a draft or money order on a saturday?

IrishRover

By the way just in case you didn't know, you can use your ATM and credit cards in the ATMs over in the UK, so you can withdraw money from both and I have noticed that even if there is a limit on the amount you can take out on one transaction with your credit card, I have been able to make subsequent withdrawls/cash advances straight away.

Also, you could walk into the bank with him and withdraw the cash over the counter and give the money to him there and he could deposit it straight away. I think (will have to check) some banks open on Saturdays as well.

xcelti

IrishRover wrote:

Also, you could walk into the bank with him and withdraw the cash over the counter and give the money to him there and he could deposit it straight away. I think (will have to check) some banks open on Saturdays as well.

This is a good idea .. bring cash with me and buy a draft there on Saturdays.. can anyone confirm what banks are open on Saturdays?

Dades

Count yourself lucky - I bought a car in Canada and the vendor's bank took 28 WORKING DAYS to clear a bank draft I Fed Ex'ed him.

Nice guy though - he turned down an offer of $1,000 more for the car while my draft cleared.

G'luck!

Dilly1

Do you have any family living in the UK that you can transfer the money to ?,
then get them to sort out payment on the day.
Its a pain but its worth it, you get so many good deals buying cars from the UK, and because the roads are better and its cheaper to look after a car in the UK than in Ireland (insert anti Gov rant here... ) the cars are in better condition, and of course way WAY cheaper. I bought a car and left it with my brother for six months and then took it over.

xcelti

Dilly1 wrote:

Do you have any family living in the UK that you can transfer the money to ?,
then get them to sort out payment on the day.
Its a pain but its worth it, you get so many good deals buying cars from the UK, and because the roads are better and its cheaper to look after a car in the UK than in Ireland (insert anti Gov rant here... ) the cars are in better condition, and of course way WAY cheaper. I bought a car and left it with my brother for six months and then took it over.

unfortunately not .. think that in this day of electronic everything it would be easier!

Mythago

This is a good idea .. bring cash with me and buy a draft there on Saturdays.. can anyone confirm what banks are open on Saturdays?

Halifax are open until 1pm in most places on a saturday, BUT you can't buy a bankdraft in most UK banks without an account!
Find it really weird that he won't accept cash!? Had problem here before with cheque & drafts when I wanted to buy my car, but the seller was willing to wait 3 days before I got the cash.

BTW... where are you buying the car? If you bank with AIB, find out if there is a UK branch near and it's openning times. Thats what I did... about a million times easier than trying to deal with UK banks!

IrishRover

Yeah it is fecking ridiculous that you can't instantly transfer from one account to another at the touch of a button yet you could take out the cash and put the cash into another account straight away at the same till.

I'm sure it is possible, just the banks don't want it to make it possible. I wonder what exactly happens during the X number of working days while the money is "transferring" or is it just "resting in the bank's account" (a la Father Ted).

BTW, what I was saying was to just present your ATM card in the bank, withdraw the cash, and hand it to the guy in the bank so he can then deposit it into his account there and then if he wants.

useeme

Lodge the money in your credit card account before you travel, the pay the vendor with your credit card.

IrishRover

Not with private sellers though GM, although yeah if you have a positive balance in your CC then you won't get charged interest for the "cash advance" withdrawl.

ambro25

IrishRover wrote:

Paypal from the computer in the seller's house, but yeah it all depends on how much money you're talking about.

Absolutely do not do that!!! You'd have to mess with the innards of his IE setup to make sure it does not record/autoarchive your Paypal email and password, and the seller might not let you, etc, etc.

Tell the seller it's cash or bust, and tell him to go buy that "note-checking pen" (they were something like £12 last time I checked on them, about 6 months ago, and can be bought in any UK Post Office). If he won't spend £12 to conclude a cash transaction in his benefit, there's gotta be something wrong/fishy with that guy.

IrishRover

Well yeah Ambro, I suppose I should have said with the proviso that you can be sure you don't leave your details cached or logged. I'm confident that I can make sure but it's worth making the warning alright.

ciarsd

i was under the impression that a bankers draft is safest option. reason being it debits your account at time of issue, so in effect the draft is a cheque for the amount, but with the safeguard that its been cleared from your account by your bank?

ive used this on a couple of occasions when buying privately from uk residents. granted the largest sum i paid was IR£1000...but isn't the principle the same ?

xcelti

General Motors wrote:

Lodge the money in your credit card account before you travel, the pay the vendor with your credit card.

Private sellers do not have credit cards machines.

Glow pens do not discover ALL methods of counterfeiting cash

Bank Drafts CAN be cancelled (tell em you lost it) and they could also be forged.

jayok

xcelti wrote:

Private sellers do not have credit cards machines.

Glow pens do not discover ALL methods of counterfeiting cash

Bank Drafts CAN be cancelled (tell em you lost it) and they could also be forged.

Ok, so private sellers

1. Don't take credit card - fine
2. Won't take a draft - ok
3. Won't take cash - not sure why but ok

The how the f**k do private sellers sell anything?