Dacia Duster.

[Kalee20]

One other point, I don't know how you are paying for the car but the garage wouldn't accept cash

Wow - I thought that traders HAD to accept cash if offered as settlement of a contract? Coin of the realm only ceased to be legal tender if offered in absurd amounts (eg a £100 bill in 2p pieces), the limts exist somewhere.

I can imagine that cash might be non-preferred, but didn't think it could actually be refused.

[camallison]

One other point, I don't know how you are paying for the car but the garage wouldn't accept cash

Wow - I thought that traders HAD to accept cash if offered as settlement of a contract? Coin of the realm only ceased to be legal tender if offered in absurd amounts (eg a £100 bill in 2p pieces), the limts exist somewhere.

I can imagine that cash might be non-preferred, but didn't think it could actually be refused.

No dealer can accept more than £8,000 in cash (I think that's the number), due to money laundering regulations. Maybe this is what was being referred to.

Colin

[Keithstv]

That's it, money laundering regulations. I think they would accept a cheque but would have to wait until it cleared before they'd release the car.

Keith

[Nick]

The Money Laundering Regulations (2007) state that anybody accepting cash in excess of euro15,000 (about GBP 12,250) (car dealers, jewellers etc.) has to register with HMRC.

We have to do an AML (anti-money-laundering) exam every year - anybody who fails to notify HMRC of any suspicion that they may have about the origin of funds is personally criminally liable - "turning a blind eye" is now completely unacceptable - its taken very seriously and the personal penalties are large (unlimited fines, jail up to 14 years etc.)...

Further, if you notify the individual(s) concerned that you are speaking to HMRC, i.e. tip them off, that is in itself an offence, even if you don't accept the funds.

Its not a valid defence any more just to ignore the sources of funds, cash or otherwise.

[Retired]

Hi,

Strange isn't it that having worked hard for 50 years struggling to save a few bob only to find that the money in cash is no good to even buy a small car. I'd like to pay our TV licence and rates in farthings.

Bron and I were set on buying a Skoda after reading the reviews and knowing that friends had bought Skoda's who were delighted with them. In many ways the Citygo would be ideal just for the two of us but occasionally would prove too small for my workshop activities and running rubbish to the tip; it's amazing how much garden rubbish our Aygo can transport in one load but a larger car would cut down on the number of trips.

On the other hand we also didn't want to go the other way buying a car which was too big just running up bills for the sake of it. Take for example someone I know who bought a large mobile caravan then had to buy an equally large car to tow with. The caravan is towed to indoor storage once a year then remains on the same site during the season meaning the large car is then used all year round; of course this has nothing to do with me but just an observation and only mentioned because it forms part of our decision in which car we chose.

The Roomster is a very capable car with lots of attributes and wouldn't break the bank to buy or run and a car we looked at and sat in whilst at the dealers. We also had a very close look at the Yeti also gleaming brand new in the showroom; again we sat in it and it was most impressive; the Yeti was my personal choice but just for the two of us do we need this sized car and against it where we live it would end up on the driveway all year round so I reluctantly dismissed it.

My chum David bought a new Fabia last September and is delighted with it and it was David who kindly introduced us to Skoda's otherwise we would have possibly ended up with a Toyota Yaris (another fine car). Having considered our needs and expectations of a car we were happy to follow David and bought the Fabia which seems a perfect car for us giving the needed increase in size but not giving significantly higher running cost in fact the Fabia appears to cost similar to the Aygo to run although servicing costs are higher with the Fabia but well within reason.

Many things influence the purchase of a car; firstly of course is the cost but this doesn't seem to deter many because we see lots of brand new "posh" cars that having been bought languish on driveways just for show or to run the children a few yards to school. Others like to buy pre-registered cars timing this when garages are trying to get their sales figures up in order to get manufacturers bonuses and in this instance many genuine bargains can be had. Buying a nearly new car whilst the car is still under warranty can save a great deal of money. These days even older second-hand cars tend to be more reliable and are cheap (unless they break down) so there is a huge choice available. For those wanting peace of mind then there are lots of leasing deals where for monthly payments a car can be leased for say a three year contract at favourable costs but the car will never be owned but this method does have merit in that apart from the monthly payment; fuel and insurance the cost of the motoring is known up front without any worry about maintenance.

Bron and I have run many bangers in the past and had engines on the kitchen table; in those days I thought nothing of doing a hard day's graft at work then getting stuck into car repairs at night but as the years passed I started to want to drive the cars the car being my slave not the other way around so we ended up buying a brand new 2CV on credit finding the monthly payments nicely balanced what we were spending on the old banger but suddenly we could get out in a reliable car spending quality time together and since that 2CV we've always bought new cars; when I was working we would trade in around every 18 months but since retirement now every three years just as the MOT is due.

These are my/our thoughts on our motoring needs and we are in a position to afford a new car but everyone is different so it's a case of paying and choosing; what works for us might be totally wrong for someone else.

If I had plenty of indoor space I wouldn't have minded building a kit car just for the fun of it but I suffer enough as it is during winter trying to do smaller restorations. Winning the lottery wouldn't see me on foreign holidays or ending up an alcoholic because I was bored; I would indulge in a lovely well lit and heated large workshop and also for Bron there would be an equally impressive studio for her crafting hobbies. We've got the space here but to use the space would be expensive for building due to the steeply sloping plot; I can dream though and in so many ways we are content living here.

Just rambling as usual before getting off my backside.

Kind regards, Col.

[Nick]

Strange isn't it that having worked hard for 50 years struggling to save a few bob only to find that the money in cash is no good to even buy a small car. I'd like to pay our TV licence and rates in farthings.

The problem is not you, its drug dealers and other criminals who try to "wash" large amounts of cash through the system by buying capital items with cash and also to stop traders not declaring income/sales by being paid in cash to defraud HMRC of both corporation tax & possibly VAT.

If you have the cash legitimately and have paid whatever tax was due on it, just stick it into your bank account and write a cheque.

Money laundering is a major problem - the "Black economy" has just been caught up in the clean-up operations for organised crime.

[pwdrive]

For the average black economy bloke a lot of the cash is spent on stuff that attracts VAT, fuel duty, beer duty etc that's why HMRC don't bother with small fry even though they a large in number.

Cash will be around for a long time yet and hopefully so will the cheque.

Lawrence.

[camallison]

When we sold our house in Gloucestershire almost 3 years ago, we banked half of the proceeds and bought our downsized bungalow with the other half. After careful investigation, I then invested the banked half for a regular return. The financial adviser firm asked (reasonably) for an "audit trail" for this (ostensibly) cash. I was able to let them have a copy of the conveyancing solicitor's account of our funds to show the half had been "earned" on the house sale. This satisfied them.

Having worked for 3i Group (venture capital) for many years, I fully understand the need to trace money laundering. We had more than one instance of "co-investors" not being what they seemed. Like others, I have paid for a house on my debit card, not just cars or motorhomes.

Colin

[pwdrive]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/...cheap.html

Lawrence.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Nick; Lawrence and Colin; I had sussed out the problem was money laundering but it's coming to something these days when decent people cannot spend their legally earned money without facing an investigation. Unfortunately such things are sure to get worse bringing along yet more rules and regulations.

Thanks for the interesting link Lawrence which I've just been reading and I mentioned pre registered and lease cars previously. The knock on effect of pre-registered cars though is quite severe unless of course you decide to buy one of these pre-registered cars?

The dealers supplying our new car has the following on offer which is a superb deal;

http://www.dmkeith.com/skoda/sales-offers/fabia-se

Our car is our only real luxury so we don't mind paying for the exact model which suits us allowing us full choice but obviously at a much higher price.

http://www.drivethedeal.com/?gclid=COXWg...tAodnUEA0A

I also mentioned I had been web browsing looking at sites like the one above which is very tempting to use but I'm wary of anything which looks too good in case it has hidden teeth?

Bron and I could keep the Fabia ten years without trouble given our low annual mileage but we find driving around the local tank range AKA roads starts to manifest itself in our cars; the newness quickly wears off and the condition of the roads starts to be felt; general wear and tear is accelerated so rather than wait until the car shakes itself to bits we change at three years. Second-hand cars can be had very cheaply but when such as a circuit board for an air bag bumps an MOT bill up to £700 its scary. We've done the second-hand route for many years and although we pay heavily in running a new car our motoring costs are fixed.

A new Skoda Fabia at around £14,300 isn't going to lose as much money as say a new Porsche and we can afford to change cars like the Skoda every three years whereas depreciation on the Porsche in three years might pay outright for the new Fabia; buying a car is a minefield.

I tidied the old workshop this morning intending to get into the garden this afternoon; whilst we still have the Aygo with a full tank of fuel I thought I'd use it to run lots of rubbish to the tip before collecting the new car next Saturday; as usual the weather read my thoughts and it's now a black hole and keeps pouring with rain; perfect conditions for messing everything up with muddy boots?

Out of interest and actually something on topic for a change; Bron and I watched a movie based on a true story last night; the movie was via YouTube on our TV and called "Lethal Vows" 1999. I won't spoil the movie which was worth watching but I was surprised to see vintage radio content used in murder.

Is snow likely next Saturday?

Kind regards, Col.