Well, my transaction was well under $10,000 dollars. Believe it or not, I’ve never paid anywhere close to $10k for a vehicle (yet). (You see why the idea of $40k for a truck gives me a nosebleed?) I think that dealer was kinda shady anyway. Part of that deal was trade-in of a '79 Ranchero. About 8 months later I got a letter from the State demanding either proof I had sold or disposed of the vehicle, or payment of over $1,000 in penalties for not having insurance on “my” '79 Ranchero from the date I traded it in to the then current date. I sent them in the bill of sale with the V.I.N. listed as the trade-in, and that was the last I heard of it. The fact that the State sent me that letter tells me that that dealer likely never reported the transaction. . . . .
I suppose when you’re dealing with “monthly payment” buyers, you can slip in all kinds of warranties, V.I.N. etching, $300 nitrogen tire fills, scotchguarding, rustproofing, and on and on. . . like many here have posted, they keep you cooped up in that little cubicle until you have to go to the bathroom so bad you sign whatever they put in front of you just to get the double-hockey-stix OUT of there! Every now and then, one of my co-workers will get a “new” vehicle, and they brag to everyone about how much per month their new ride is, but rarely are they ever able to say what the thing actually COSTS!
I have an amusing anecdote concerning travellers cheques. The summer after my father retired we took a road trip cross-country. Back then they were advertising travellers cheques heavily as being safer than cash, so he went to the local AAA office and bought a BIG stack of them. Those things were harder to spend than Canadian quarters Even way back then, most gas station attendants were immigrants with very limited English language skills. If it wasn’t green with a dead president’s portrait on it, they wouldn’t touch it. . . Dad was good-n-pixxed by the end of that trip. . . Later that year he found out about the 25 day grace period for credit card purchases and got himself a Visa card, problem solved.
The deal with the travelers checks is that the recipient has to check the long list of stolen checks before accepting one. If they don’t and it’s bad, they need to eat it themselves, so no one wants to bother with them anymore. Not like the old days where you didn’t have credit and debit cards for traveling.
I paid cash for my 2008 Yaris and no one has kicked in my front door, nor have I seen any strange vans with dark windows near my house afterwards.
But then, I wrote the dealer a check, I didn’t simply withdraw the money from the bank and hand it over to the dealer.
Paying cash for a car won’t trigger an investigation. But a cash transaction of the same size between yourself and another private individual would. That was the idea behind the reporting requirement.
How would they know? If I squirrel away ca$h a few hundred dollars at a time over time, and I buy something from you and give you a bag of ca$h to pay for it, and you are smart enough to not show up at the bank with a big bag full of ca$h, the gov’t need never know. . . Of course, I don’t squirrel away cash because I have no need to make large transactions on a regular basis, but that’s another story. . .
the same mountainbike: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. I was preparing for 8 months or more of title 10 active duty and overseas deployment Feb thru Sep or Oct 2000. I always had my military title 32 National Guard pay deposited in savings and federal civil service pay deposited in checking. Both accounts were joint with my wife. I went to the bank with the intention of switching my military pay deposits from savings to checking. I explained what I wanted to the accounts manager along with my concern that Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) might mess it up. She suggested I just use my available auto transfer of new deposits from savings to checking. Why didn’t I think of that! Problem solved. After a couple of months overseas I got a call from my frantic Wife! Our bank accounts had been frozen pending investigation for violation of the RICO act due to excessive electronic transfers of funds!!!. I went to the JAG office for advise. I got lucky. The Major I talked to was also National Guard whose civilian job was an attorney specializing in corporate law. He was very familiar with RICO and recognized my problem as total BS. He informed me that three or more transfers of funds from one account to another in less than six months triggered a RICO investigation. He used speaker phone so I could hear and called the FBI. It took four transfers but using my SSN he reached the agent in charge of my investigation. Amazing! He brought it up on the computer and immediately saw it was two accounts owned by the same people in the same bank. He explained that the computer only recognized transfers between two separate accounts. He actually thanked us for allowing him to so easily close an investigation. This took all of 30 minutes! I profusely thanked the JAG and emailed my wife that the problem was solved but to call the bank and make sure. Problem was solved.
Well that’s interesting. I don’t know why but I’m just a little paranoid. I deal with two banks and a credit union. I Have four checking accounts, two debit cards, three savings accounts, three 401k type accounts, and still like a little cash. I just figure they’d have to work a little bit to shut me down. They serve different purposes though so its really not at all difficult to manage.
No matter what we do, the system will be inefficient. Ignore all money transfers between accounts and criminals can transfer money at will with very little chance of getting caught. Pay attention to these transfers, and regular citizens will be investigated as if they might be criminals. Which mistake do you want to make?
jtsanders: I agree 100%. The law and system are necessary. As always collateral damage will happen. I had no hard feelings at all. I’m sure my Wife and the bank could have eventually solved the problem but if it took a month or two she would have been a nervous wreck. By sheer luck I found the right person to help even though I was 11,000 miles away with a 10 hour time difference.
Even way back then, most gas station attendants were immigrants with very limited English language skills. If it wasn’t green with a dead president’s portrait on it, they wouldn’t touch it. . . Dad was good-n-pixxed by the end of that trip. . . 
Of course, I don’t squirrel away cash because I have no need to make large transactions on a regular basis, but that’s another story. . .