Buying a Car Cash...

[Spinal]

Greetings - it's been a while since I've been here

As some of the older members may remember, I moved out of the UK a while back... First to Switzerland, and then to West Africa. I've continued to do my endurance rallies... but COVID has put a pause to that for a bit... Now, with the end in sight, I'm looking at options for something a bit longer . This means that rather than the usual banger, I'm looking for something a bit more decent... I've seen a few things which sparked my fancy - and am fairly confident that I can view a few and pick one, all in the space of a week.

So my idea was to fly in, view a few vehicles, pick one and drive it out. I've done this a few times in the last few years with cheaper cars for banger rallies... and it's always worked without a hitch (I use a friends address for the V5, and they then DHL it to a hotel wherever I am... though by the time the V5 arrives, the car is long since out of the country - I only need it to cross some of the more annoying borders).

In theory, I guess I could fly in with 30k in cash in my handbag and meet the seller at their bank, but that seems... dangerous. Also, would a private seller accept a briefcase of money? I know it would raise all sorts of flags if I were the seller.

International bank transfer would take ages, not to mention cost a pretty penny... and again, would raise all sorts of flags. If I were the seller, I wouldn't trust this either...

Any thoughts?
M.
(also saw something in Netherlands, but it looks like I need a Dutch residence permit to buy in Holland... while in the UK my British passport/driving license is enough).

 

[MCFastybloke]

Private sale? It would be upto the seller, your arrangement would be a no for me. Just becuase my bank counted it over the counter is not proof the funds were legit to start with. Do you not have a Uk Bank account?
Dealer wont take such a large amount of cash, not in my experience anyway, 2k was the max last time

 

[W1ghty]

Only that International bank transfer takes a day ?? If it takes longer do it earlier .
You are right nobody in their right mind accepts a briefcase full of cash from someone that has just flown over from West Africa

 

[jimbg]

You really need to get the money into a UK bank account, I have sold a car privately and we met at a motorway service station and the buyer transferred the money into my account over a cup of coffee.
I went online and changed the V5 ownership and then we went our separate ways.

The deal was for £28k.

 

[Spinal]

A UK account was an option, until a few weeks ago... then I got a letter telling me that unless I had a UK address, they would shut it.

Closed my account out of disgust rather than find an alternative... now regretting it...

Here's another option - I transfer the money to a friend's UK account in advance, and then he transfers to the seller.... but it still seems so... dodgy! Surely there must be a less dubious way of doing this.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Given that you are putting a friends address in for the V5 wouldn't it have made more sense to use this also for your UK bank account?

That would have solved problem.

 

[Peter103]

You could always señd me the £30,000 I will meet you at the airport. .
Ps, Tele: 01523 9472613.

 

[SlimJim]

I would like to accept a brief case full of cash, wouldn’t be fussy where they flew in from.

 

[flowrider]

Can you even bring £30k in cash through UK customs?

 

[Stratman]

Can you even bring £30k in cash through UK customs?

There is no limit to the amount you can bring in, it's just that any amount over €10,000 must be declared.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Welcome back Michel, albeit briefly. I can’t answer your question unfortunately but it’s good to read that you’ve still been doing your endurance rallies. We have a good friend in Switzerland who has a UK bank account using our address, but I don’t feel comfortable about it.

Stay safe.

 

[alabbasi]

You'll have to deal with a shit storm at customs if you show up with that kind of cash and not declare it. Find a bank that works with your bank. Wire fees are not going to be that high.

 

[Benzowner]

Over the years, I have sold a few things, cars and bikes, for cash with no problem. However, I always insist no £50 notes and a mixture of other notes. Difficult to forge different notes, but £50 notes can be. My last item was my BMW R1150RT which was exported to Germany.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I’ve bought and sold cars in the tens of thousands for cash, never really bothered me but I know it does scare quite a few people.

Worth sounding out the seller beforehand, they may be amiable to it - you don’t know unless you ask - they might just ask you to go to the bank with them to pay it in but, other than that, should t cause major headaches.

 

[Marquisofraspberry]

I think the maximum amount you can spend in the UK in cash is 10K anything more would be considered potential money laundering. Last expensive car I bought was at Sytner BMW and I had to make multiple 10K payments from my bank account to theirs.

 

[Marquisofraspberry]

PS, I think the sellers bank might get suspicious if they tried to deposit a massive lump of cash.

 

[John]

When I bought my current steed and my previous steed in 2016, the respective MB dealers wouldn't accept anything other than bank transfer.

I'd previously bought a car for the thick end of £30k from Sytner Nottingham back in 2004 with credit and debit cards - not an option this time.

£30k in cash wouldn't bother me as I sold the car above in 2005 and the guy turned up with cash.

I just made him pay it into my account and he had to cough for any duds they discovered which he duly did (much to his annoyance that they wouldn't give the duds back to him! Lol) and we did the V5 in the bank.

 

[W1ghty]

What would HMRC think of all that cash landing in your friends account ?

 

[jimbg]

I think the maximum amount you can spend in the UK in cash is 10K anything more would be considered potential money laundering. Last expensive car I bought was at Sytner BMW and I had to make multiple 10K payments from my bank account to theirs.

Not correct I have bought cars for £70k+ from a dealer and transferred the money in chunks of £25k per day which is the maximum daily allowance that the bank allowed.

 

[DSM10000]

Not correct I have bought cars for £70k+ from a dealer and transferred the money in chunks of £25k per day which is the maximum daily allowance that the bank allowed.

When did you do this? Acceptance of "cash" payments have changed and large transfers are either heavily discouraged or not accepted by many dealers.