> I assume the finance guy had some means to verify I had the balance in my account.
I don't assume that.
Every dealership has their own policies. My guess is nonpayment on personal checks for car purchases is such a low occurrence that they are willing to take the risk of just assuming that the check will clear. Plus they also (in my state anyway) register and title the car on behalf of the DMV so they have all your information.
When I bought my car I said I needed to move the money into my checking account before I wrote a check. It was from the same bank so it was instant but they replied "no problem - do you need us to hold the check for a couple days then?"
I don't assume that.
Every dealership has their own policies. My guess is nonpayment on personal checks for car purchases is such a low occurrence that they are willing to take the risk of just assuming that the check will clear. Plus they also (in my state anyway) register and title the car on behalf of the DMV so they have all your information.
When I bought my car I said I needed to move the money into my checking account before I wrote a check. It was from the same bank so it was instant but they replied "no problem - do you need us to hold the check for a couple days then?"