cheapest and safest way to bring cash to US to buy a car

[nonlinear]

i'm buying a car from the states for about 15k, and paying cash. what do you guys think is the cheapest and safest way to pay the guy? i'm leaning towards getting cash at my bank, but I don't know if there a limit to how much cash i can bring across the border? and on this sum, I also want to get the cheapest exchange rate possible.

[Amysicle]

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5056-eng.html#s2x9

Not sure about the exchange rate and stuff like that.

[Weapon_R]

The biggest problem is that no one wants to take a money order from a Canadian bank. It takes a long time to clear and there is potential for fraud.

If you have a U.S. bank account, transfer the money to your U.S. account and then drive over with the seller to your bank. You will have to notify them a few days in advance to make sure they have enough cash on hand for you.

Otherwise, cash is king. I've never been able to convince a single seller to take a money order from me, and I've bought a dozen cars for myself and family/friends from the U.S.

[TYMSMNY]

Best thing is to wire transfer the money. It only takes ~24hours for it to transfer and verified.

Don't bring down $15,000 in cash, cheques, money orders, drafts, etc.

[nonlinear]

hrm yea, i don't have a US bank account :(

i guess i'm gonna have to try and get US cash from my bank here, and then get effed-in-the-a on exchange rate :cry:

[badatusrnames]

Originally posted by nonlinear
hrm yea, i don't have a US bank account :(

i guess i'm gonna have to try and get US cash from my bank here, and then get effed-in-the-a on exchange rate :cry:

Can't you just transfer money from your Canadian account into the US sellers account once you're down there?

[AndyL]

I don't think you can carry 15k across the border can you?

[Pollywog]

Originally posted by AndyL
I don't think you can carry 15k across the border can you?

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c59/handsomebassman/Picture20.png

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by TYMSMNY


Don't bring down $15,000 in cash, cheques, money orders, drafts, etc.

Dont let these people fool you, cash is perfectly fine. As long as you declare them to BOTH the US customs AND CBSA. To declare to CBSA, their office is located on the main floor of YYC airport. Tell them you need to declare $XXX across the border. They will do the exchange rate for you on the form. They'll give you a copy of that and make sure you keep it until you have imported the car back.

Then when you go into US per-clearance, do the same thing. Tell them you are buying a vehicle and are bringing $XXX to the US. They'll send you to the back to fill out a form. This one you wont get a copy of but it doesnt really matter.

It's actually really straight forward. Cash is king.

BTW: you can always take out CAD from the bank and have it exchanged downtown at calforex to get better rates. Just call in advance so they'll have it ready for you.

[nonlinear]

^^thanks for that! what is CBSA? you say they do the excange rate on the form - does that mean they take my CDN and give me USD?

[AndyL]

canada border services agency

ahhh paperwork... it's always in the paperwork...

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by nonlinear
^^thanks for that! what is CBSA? you say they do the excange rate on the form - does that mean they take my CDN and give me USD?

Theres a column for CAD equivalent on the form. You put down USD and they will fill out CAD for you. Thats what i meant its not really anything. They certainly dont do any currency exchange. Unless you have a business account in a bank, i doubt you can get better rates than calforex. Good luck

[nonlinear]

does calforex have better rates than most banks? (i bank with RBC).

[Team_Mclaren]

^^ call calforex and your bank on the day of exchange and you'll have your answer. In my experience they usually do.

[nonlinear]

^^cool, thanks for everything man :thumbsup:

[thetransporter]

No, got to Royalbank, they can issue Centura US dollar money orders (Centura is their US Bank)


Or get a loan from Wells Fargo Financial. Then go to a wells fargo to cash the money order. They will call to verifiy.


If your a brown guy it may be a little difficult

[TYMSMNY]

I was just trying to say that a wire transfer is the safest and most efficient way of doing it. Like Mclaren said, just declare the entire amount of money you're hand carrying.

What are you bringing back if you don't mind sharing. :D

[Team_Mclaren]

The problem with wire transfer is that its not instant. You certainly dont want to wire money to a private seller thoursands of miles away without having the keys to the car. As with money order, most banks will need to verify it with the branch of which the money order was purchased. If they are not able to do that, they will hold it for a period of time. So again, cash is king. Its not worth the time and effort to do either of that imo. 15K isnt all that much in cash. Have it close to you at all times and you'll be just fine.

[schocker]

I was lucky enough to get the seller to accept a us bank draft when I got my car, will not do that again though. The other methods listed would be much less stressful.

[CUG]

Or take someone with you and give them $7500 to carry with them :)

[broken_legs]

If you have a chequing account, go to the ATm and withdraw $15,000

sorted.

[badatusrnames]

Originally posted by broken_legs
If you have a chequing account, go to the ATm and withdraw $15,000

sorted.

Can you withdraw that much from an ATM even? I think my limit is something like $1000...

[JAYMEZ]

Hmmm lots of misinformation here...

When i got my supra , I went to downtown Royal Bank and asked for 33,000 US .. They had it right away.. When I got to the airport , I went to the Canadian Customs , declared my money .. Walked through..

I met up with the guy in a bank , and got my car right away.

[mr2mike]

JAYMEZ's story is a lucky one or else he isn't revealing that he got rubber gloved at the airport.
My first time, i went down with a casier's cheque and declared it. I was by myself and about 21 at the time. Next thing I know, I'm in the back room getting the same question 20 times about the money I have for this car I want to buy.
Plus when I gave the guy the cheque at the bank, they bank couldn't verify the funds were good for like 7 days because it was from Canada but in US funds.
Second time, I created a US account within my usual Royal Bank account. Takes about 2 seconds online if you already have a bank account. Then when the exchange was where I wanted it, I transferred cash from my Canadian account into my US account.

Then I wrote up an agreement for the bank manager and myself to sign that on a certain date, I will call and would like to transfer such amount to this US account with the seller's name and all his info. Then I flew down to the US, saw the car, liked it, went to the US bank, called Royal bank from there to execute the funds transfer. She did it and it only took me a few hours. I hear bad stories that it takes a day or two. Not for me. That's my advice.
Go talk to your bank and run it by them. If you have a bunch of stuff in writing, they should be fine with it.

[beyond_ban]

Soooo... the really important question here is what are you picking up for $15k?

[rage2]

JAYMEZ's story definately isn't lucky. We've drove to the US with $25k cash or something before, declared it, showed the car ad, filled out a form, counted the cash in front of the agent, done. That's 3 sketchy looking asians crossing the border at 4am. And the car smelled like weed haha.

As long as you show enough info, you're good to go.

[Mar]

One of the questions they ask you when crossing the border is, "Are you carrying more than $10,000 cash with you?"

So that's your non-declared limit, they've asked me many times.

[mr2mike]

True. I was young, importing cars wasn't what it's like now so I didn't have a clue what to do except what the riv said to do. Even then, there was conflicting info.

When I went this year, I had zero issues. Different methods used and more paperwork brought.

Rage2, you guys probably had your fingers in the race deck ready to pull that car out if they hassled you, haha. They could sense it.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Mar
One of the questions they ask you when crossing the border is, "Are you carrying more than $10,000 cash with you?"

So that's your non-declared limit, they've asked me many times.

He should bring a friend and each carry $7500.

[Team_Mclaren]

Dude, I look like im 10 and i have carried >20K more than a few times across the border with that exact procedure (declaring it) without hassle. You must look like you're homeless or something if you have a problem. :rofl:

[mr2mike]

Well, I don't want to blame it all on 9/11, but it certainly didn't help.

I was wearing a Tapout shirt and an Ed Hardy trucker hat.

kidding.