Cash Purchase & Title Info

setbarhigh

Hello Everyone,

I am seeking information on purchasing a new 2016 S550. I have been out of the US for several years now and am not sure about the details of the process.

This would essentially be a cash purchase. How long after the completed transaction will the dealership release the title to me? Can anyone provide some detailed information about approaching an authorized Benz dealership for a cash purchase? What is involved in the paperwork? It is my first car purchase.

Thank you in advance for your assistance

Michaell

setbarhigh said:

Hello Everyone,

I am seeking information on purchasing a new 2016 S550. I have been out of the US for several years now and am not sure about the details of the process.

This would essentially be a cash purchase. How long after the completed transaction will the dealership release the title to me? Can anyone provide some detailed information about approaching an authorized Benz dealership for a cash purchase? What is involved in the paperwork? It is my first car purchase.

Thank you in advance for your assistance

What do you mean by "essentially" a cash purchase?

I would presume that the dealer would take an authorized cashiers check drawn on a known local bank.

I doubt that a personal check or a suitcase filled with cash would be welcome.

It may take a week or two for the paperwork to process and the title delivered to you.

setbarhigh

haha sorry, poor diction,

Yes cashiers check.

I intend on exporting this car for personal use as I live in Shanghai. It is almost twice the price there. I plan to purchase the car by cash (without telling them I will ship it), wait until I receive the title, then take it to the port to get it processed by customs for export.

Any thoughts on this process? Is it doable? As anyone else attempted the same thing?

stever

Once you're here: Importing your own vehicle

If the site is correct, you may have a problem with this detail:

"Only right-hand drive vehicles in Singapore."

setbarhigh

@stever thank you for the link. I'm more concerned about the process to purchase here in the States (I'm from New York) and getting it to the port legally rather than issues once it's delivered to Shanghai port.

Any information you can provide on that end? Thanks again.

stever

Hm, since the exchange rate got better, our Importing Car into Canada from US discussion faded.

Some of that was because of the exchange rate and some was because the warranties weren't honoured in Canada. And some dealers were told not to sell to Canadians by some manufacturers, as I recall.

As far as practicalities go, you'd buy the car and get a temp tag. Then you'd drive or ship the car to port with the temp tags. But there could be other gotchas, like maybe needing a permanent US address to get the temp tag. Ditto the title. And the tag could expire before you were able to get the car to the dock. But they can be renewed in some places. Insurance could be an issue.

Be nice to find someone back in Singapore who's done this, or perhaps pay a broker to do it for you.

kyfdx

On high dollar Euro cars, many dealers will make you sign a form that states you are not purchasing the car with the intention of exporting it.

stever

Good point. Manufacturers really don't like gray market cars.

kyfdx

I would also guess that exporting a car to China from the US would be difficult, even if you could convince them that it's for your personal use.