CarMax - HP if I buy 100% Cash?

[Lin55]

Newb here - I was thinking of buying a cheap car 100% cash, will they perform a credit check? Does this go for all car sales lots?

[ori68]

no they wont. the only time anyone will check your credit is when they are giving you a loan, or for some jobs. if your paying off the car, they have no reason to check your credit.

[IWOL]

They may still have to run  your credit for identity purposes. I recently went with my girlfriend to buy a car for cash at KIA and they insisted that they had to pull her credit and that it had to with new laws regarding terrorism since 911. 

They would not not sell us the car without pulling her credit.

[Remember0]

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@IWOL wrote:

They may still have to run  your credit for identity purposes. I recently went with my girlfriend to buy a car for cash at KIA and they insisted that they had to pull her credit and that it had to with new laws regarding terrorism since 911. 

They would not not sell us the car without pulling her credit.

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Yeah this all BS. Please show me where car DEALERS have anything to do with the Patriot Act. It's all regarding financial institutions, and car dealers are NOT a part of it. Pretty easy to say that reason and not be challenged though. :/

I've said it once, I'll say it again. If you are bringing physical cash, no reason for them to pull. If it's a cashiers check or something, there might be a small reason to pull (just offer to not drive the car off till it clears). The real reason they're pulling is to sell you financing (hey, we got you 0%! You still won't finance?!)...they get a commission when you finance.

How do you solve this quandary? Freeze all three bureaus. Let them pull till their faces are blue. And I doubt they'll refuse to sell if frozen...if so go to a better dealership. Freezing + unfreezing (30-60 days AFTER buying) costs at most $60 (depends on state, some are even free!). Consider it the additional price to buying a car (have them take $60 off the car if you want) and it's certainly worth not having 20 inquiries when they send it out to all their financing companies.

[IWOL]

I agree 100% that it is BS.i argued with the dealership manager that there was no reason for them to pull credit if we were paying cash.

He insisted that he is required by law to do that when selling a car , even if your not applying for financing. They claim it has to do with money laundering and they need a way to prove you are who you say you are.

I told them we would go to another dealership and his answer was "that's your choice to do so"

I was ready to walk but my GF did not want to deal with negotiating all over again.

The other caveat was that there was a $1500 rebate on the car but it required that you finance the car as the rebate was from KIA finance. So she financed the car and paid it off in full that week.

[Creditaddict]

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@IWOL wrote:

I agree 100% that it is BS.i argued with the dealership manager that there was no reason for them to pull credit if we were paying cash.

He insisted that he is required by law to do that when selling a car , even if your not applying for financing. They claim it has to do with money laundering and they need a way to prove you are who you say you are.

I told them we would go to another dealership and his answer was "that's your choice to do so"

I was ready to walk but my GF did not want to deal with negotiating all over again.

The other caveat was that there was a $1500 rebate on the car but it required that you finance the car as the rebate was from KIA finance. So she financed the car and paid it off in full that week.

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There is the key to why the manager was being a tool and once again using government as a fall back for something that is completley false... not only did you get $1500 but the dealership probably got a nice bonus for financing with kia... in the end sounds like it worked out but I'm with you and principle I would have wanted to walk out!

[StartingOver10]

Hopefully the GF did pay it off right away - that way she got the $1500 rebate and any other benefits the dealer got from the lender would be removed (per the thread by Remember0 here: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Auto-Loans/The-Definitive-Guide-to-Financing-or-Leasing-a-Car/td-p/2... )    Makes me smile when I the car dealership thinks they got a spiff and it is cancelled the next week.