<prompt> Human: I went to buy a used truck today at a reputable major dealership in CA. I was going to pay for half of the cost with a personal check and half with a dealer check loan from my personal bank. Its a common pre-approved blank check thats good up to X amount.The dealer was insistent that I fill out a form that was clearly labeled CREDIT APPLICATION even though I didnt have to fill in my social security number, and they werent going to check my credit.They gave me at least 5 different reasons why they needed my personal info on that specific form including, thats how they register the car to me, they were just using the identity check portion, theyre checking me against terrorist watch lists Im fucking serious, and in case my pre-approval dealer check didnt go through they would have backup info.This all sounded like bullshit to me. So I refused to fill out the form that they werent going to run anyway, and it was important enough to end our deal. So I walked. Why should they have to check my credit?Is this a thing? I inherently dont trust car dealerships.EDIT: This blew up overnight. Thanks for the responses, everyone. However, I and all of you commenters are still just as torn on the issue. It looks like I should buy this car only if a Im okay with accepting that my credit may be run at some point and b Im okay with them being dishonest about the form.EDIT 2: uduhhh supplied a good read for this discussion regarding what is required for identity checks:  <response>: Yes, you walk away. I work for a car dealership in sales, and Ive never taken credit from someone who didnt at least consider financing with us. Theyre trying to corner you into using their financing. Find a dealer who respects you and your plansgoals.Also, uchrisfinne theres a lot more than two pieces of paper that goes into it, if you buy a car cashuse your own financing. We have to send the buyers order to the financing company ourself, as well as fill out all the legal paperwork with the customer, just the same as financing a car, minus the financing paperwork. Which, itself is really two pieces of paper.They register your car to you by taking a copy of your current registration. Also, we dont need to run a background check. The only background check at least in MI we need to run is to make sure your license number isnt barred from registering a car. Which requires only your license number, name, and birthdate.Also, if you had a cashiers check, its guaranteed by the bank its drawn against, so a backup plan is unnecessary. In short, tell them to get bent. 