Checks are a necessity where I live because all the small contractors here - electrical, plumbing, windows stuff - are trying to avoid paying taxes and and checks can be deposited into a bunch of different accounts and not noticed by tax authorities. Credit cards and the like leave too much of an electronic audit trail and so the small contractors don't want to touch them. Of course they love cash best of all but that's kind of risky because then if there's a problem you have no proof that you paid them.

When I bought my Fit I put a deposit over the phone with my Visa card. Then next day when I went to pick it up I stopped by the bank first and got a bank draft for the full balance (all cash deal, no financing). Everything went smoothly.

 

Cynical Doubts about the sincerity of this whole operation once again creeping in.

One thing dealerships are very good at doing?
Selling vehicles.
They want to get those keys in your hands, your signature on the contract...and you on the road...and they do it with all the pre-planned, precise execution of a victim scenario in a Saw movie.

Please let us know when it's a DONE deal.

 

Seriously? You are very rude. I already signed all the paper work and the car is at the dealership with a temporary tag on it. It IS a done deal, they are just waiting on my stupid down payment now. They literally didn't ask me about how I'd be paying throughout this whole experience until yesterday. So far my impression of this dealership is bad. I even called the finance department today and asked if they'd take a money order and the finance manager said "I don't know" then had to find out for me, they don't btw. I need to get a cashiers check Monday. I don't care if you believe me or not.

 

fitchet is not being rude.

it is true that it is not an official done deal until u pay .. and u drive it off the delivery area.
unless you paid ur down payment off your credit card or something the dealer has the option to cancel the order.. not difficult to do. they just tear up the paperwork and create a new one for another customer.

im just saying u have to be ready to pay when asked if u want to do it properly. unfortunately u didnt know. it's a learning experience. just bring the check on monday to make it official. dealer is trying to help u get the car by holding it till then.

 

..and i too havent heard of people making payments on a car using money order..or debitcard for that matter..while i dont see why it wouldnt work.

 

I already put this car on my insurance. This was just a stupid set back.

 

yah, sounds frustrating. at least u'll be read to go on monday!

 

It is. I had the keys in my hand and they were taken away. I had this whole road trip planned for this weekend too. Wish I knew sooner that they wouldn't take my debit.

 

Is this your first new car?

 

Hang in there you'll get it done. Car dealers can be a royal pain at times. Once you get in your new Fit you'll forget all about this.

 

No, but he is being a dick. It sucks the OP is being screwed around by the dealer so he should have some empathy. It's another example how buying a car in the U.S. is such a horrible experience.

 

Sorry.
Didn't mean to insult anyone.

If this is your first dealership buying experience, I suppose it something that could happen.

I'm just kind of surprised, because I think in every dealership auto buying experience I have ever had...my first to my last, how I was going to pay the dealership was something that was brought up pretty early in the process. Not by me...by the dealership.
Usually how they are getting paid....is something THEY are very good at.

I really am on your side. I hope you do FINALLY get your Fit and enjoy it.
Hopefully soon...you can post a picture of your new ride.

 

Given a choice, I think I'd rather just be called rude.

 

Yes! All I've ever driven are old cars.

 

Well nobody is more surprised than me. I walked into the finance department on Friday, right after getting handed my keys and putting the car on my insurance with the salesman I've been dealing with, only for the finance manager to be surprised of all the things the salesman didn't tell me or ask me about. This is the same finance manager that couldn't tell me if they took money orders yesterday. Nobody seems to know what they are doing there, which is a shame because the dealership was so highly rated online and recommended to me by friends.

 

I don't know your age. But as someone suggested earlier maybe it is a Millennial thing.
I still pay for things using checks. The idea of having a bank account and NOT having some printed checks is nearly non-sequitur. But I think the younger generation is much more geared towards electronic transfers and non-printed commerce.
But I'm still surprised that dealership seemed so unprepared for a customer that might be someone who doesn't have pre-printed checks available.
"How are you going to pay your down payment?" is a simple question that should of been asked of you, much earlier in the process, and it would of avoided the disappointment of showing up to take possession of your vehicle only to have to wait.

Again I think with every vehicle purchase at some rather early point I was politely asked "How" I was going to pay, which means either I make the dealership nervous....or as I assumed, they just wanted to make sure I was using a modality of payment they could accept.

 

I'm 28 and like I said, nobody is more surprised than me. I had no idea they wouldn't take my debit card. If I had thought they wouldn't I would've asked sooner. This dealership seemed very disorganized. They didn't ask HOW anything until I went to pick my car up.

 

A finance manager that doesn't know what payment forms are accepted? Holy cannoli, that's astonishing. Exactly what is that person getting paid for?

Seriously, if it were me, I'd be having a sit-down with the owner of the dealership - not the general manager or anyone else - and be asking, really? How many vehicles do you sell before you determine how payment is to be made? Are you really qualifying the customer, or are you just assuming everything will be straightened out on the back end? You do realize that I have the power of the internet behind me, and that my experience will be told countless times about how this deal went down. Is that what you want? Why should I ever come back here at all? Plenty of Honda dealers in this area, I'm thinking at least some of them would know more about F&I than your dealership.

 

Exactly. When I called and she said she didn't know and would call me back, I called the salesman and asked him instead and he was astonished she didn't know.

 

yah, must be a millennial thing. when i was a kid i had lots of things taken away from me so no surprises.. i just fought to get it back. as i got older and wiser, i read how people were doing things and prepared before executing something not to mess it up.

the school system is over protective towards my kids and the youth including yourself which basically doesnt prepare you enough when youre out on your own. its a cold stupid world out there.

as for my recent technological challenge, i started using Uber and i successfully executed a handful of rides. haha. i used rotary phones when i was a kid..

almost monday.. GL tomorrow!