To pay by bank transfer the day before I collect a car?

[fuckingcovid]

The car I want is 2 hours drive away from me. It looks a legitimate small dealership but they want payment 1 working day before the car is collected by bank transfer. Even if I was happy it wasn't a scam site I would worry they could go bankrupt on the day and I lose everything.

Definitely not. By card when you get there.

NO! I would want to see the car first

I was going to say this was normal, but actually, we bought a car in May , paid a deposit , it was then delivered to us to check out and we made the transfer there & then .
That was a small dealership in Scotland.
Tell them that you will pay when you pick it up.

Be aware that your bank might want to make you jump through security hoops doing a bank transfer - this is probably why the dealership want you to do it the day before.

We did a bank transfer for a private seller for a £5k car and it took about an hour on the phone to the bank to get them to release the money. This was Santander.

Will they let you pay by debit card? I've done that for a car before and it was much easier.

Definitely not. I've just gone through finance for a car and they wouldn't let the money go through until I had seen the car and sent them a picture. If they're a legitimate business they must know sending money the day before isn't normal? When I did see my car, the balance transfer for the deposit took some time going through, so we just went for a coffee while we waited. Surely doing that is safer?

100% no no no no!! Please don't do this, don't pay a deposit don't pay anything until you can physically see the car, drive the car, check the papers and check the engine number and chassis number match the documents.

In fact if a dealer asked me for this I'd walk away from the car all together.

If it's not urgent look for something similar closer to home or wait, it will be a dodgy dealer for sure to even mention this.

You pay and you'll turn up and they either won't be where they send you, check the postcode on google maps. Or they will say they have sold that car and try and palm you off with some other rubbish.

🙈

Do NOT agree at all to do a bank transfer of funds before your due to get the car. Asking for a deposit is fine and is standard, being asked to pay the balance 24 hours in advance NO! I have lots of experience working in this field and would never ask a customer to pay the entire balance before collecting the car, and especially by bank transfer where you have no way of reclaiming the funds should it turn out not to be official or genuine for any reason.

For the upmost protection when purchasing a car I would always advise paying on your credit card, there is a fee for doing this but it offers lots of extra protection which includes being able to get your money back so the fee is well worth it in my opinion.

No way, surely you want to check the car is as described anyway before committing to payment? If they are a legit dealership that will be standard fare for them, absolutely don't pay in advance.

i bought a car a few weeks ago, (private sale) and i did £1 the day before, and the rest the next day by bank transfer - under £2k though

Why can't you go and see the car first? This is the usual thing to do.

@Lillygolightly

Do NOT agree at all to do a bank transfer of funds before your due to get the car. Asking for a deposit is fine and is standard, being asked to pay the balance 24 hours in advance NO! I have lots of experience working in this field and would never ask a customer to pay the entire balance before collecting the car, and especially by bank transfer where you have no way of reclaiming the funds should it turn out not to be official or genuine for any reason.

For the upmost protection when purchasing a car I would always advise paying on your credit card, there is a fee for doing this but it offers lots of extra protection which includes being able to get your money back so the fee is well worth it in my opinion.

With this, you only need to pay some of the amount on credit card to get section 75 protection

The goods or service you bought must have cost over £100 and not more than £30,000.

Section 75 protection also requires your credit card provider and the seller of goods to be different parties. Section 75 will not apply if the lender is also the supplier.

However, to claim under Section 75 you don't have to have paid more than £100 or the full amount on your credit card – the card company is liable even if you made only part of the payment (a deposit, say) on your card.

It's the value of the goods you're buying that is key - not the amount paid on the card.

For example, if you ordered a new sofa from a furniture store and paid a £60 deposit with your credit card and the balance of £600 by cheque, you would be covered for the whole £660 if the dealer went out of business and you didn't get your sofa.

Are they expecting you to pay in advance for a car you haven't even seen never mind driven?

It's s difficult one as both sides want to protect themselves. How much is the car?

No please don't do this. Go look at the car.

How much money are we talking? I bought mine and just did the payment via online banking on my phone and it's immediate landing in their account (says up to 2hrs but I've never had it take more than a couple of minutes)

No.
Don't be lulled in to thinking a dealership will be safer.
Normal sensible rule applies, look at it first.

No way.

I sold a car recently and the purchaser paid a deposit then paid the balance by bank transfer when he came to collect.

Do it on the day after you have seen and driven the car. Even if it means you have to hang around, it's much safer.
Call the bank the day before to let them know you will likely be doing a transfer the next day.

Absolutely not. Dodgy as hell.

No. what happens if you turn up and the car isn't there? Or is damaged, or isn't as described? How will you get your money back? Sure as heck they won't refund you! Do you have a credit card? If so, transfer the money from your bank to the credit card and pay with that when you get there and have checked the car is what you wanted. That way both sides are protected.

I would put the money on credit card if I could.

Otherwise, I wouldn't make the transfer until I was sitting at their desk, transfer papers completed in the desk, with the car in sight and the tested as unlocking the car keys on the table right in front of me and no "receiver" looking people seizing their stock and files.

But yeah, no, I'd put extra money on my credit card and pay that way. The cc fees are effectively insurance against funny business - this has saved me before, when I received "delayed" stock where others didn't on receivership shortly after, as I had the option to reverse payment and was about to.

Right NO to the bank transfer idea.

I spoke to Santander and they advised the same.

The car is nearly £7K.

I lastly spoke to the company and they seem entirely legitimate. The car is a beauty with only 8K miles on the clock.

They offered me a good part exchange price so I paid a deposit to secure it. I'm kicking myself now as I should have put that deposit on a credit card as @MidnightCitrus says, but I think I also have protection under the Debit card scheme? It's just not as well known, but I'll check up on that. Completely forgot I have credit cards.

I'll call the bank for a heads up on a large sum of money going out via direct debit, and may even consider putting £1K of the money on a credit card, if it offers more security.

It's a 4 hour round trip so looking over it would be difficult and I'm 99% sure it's genuine and a lovely car.

I shall be doing it tomorrow. Rear parking camera....here I come!

I'll call the bank for a heads up on a large sum of money going out via direct debit, and may even consider putting £1K of the money on a credit card, if it offers more security

How will it go out by direct debit? That's not for one off payments, you won't be able to do it that way.

Do you have anyone going with you, you're not coming across as the most financially savvy person, how does anyone forget they have a credit card

It probably is totally legit but of course they sound plausible on the phone, if you could tell a scam by a phone call no one would ever get ripped off

Just want to say - If it sounds too good to be true... Your updates make me even more suspicious!

You can still pay part of it when you get there by credit card, insist on it