Took me 3 weeks to transfer money between my own accounts at different banks
I needed to move $4,200 from my credit union to my main bank for a car down payment, and it took 3 weeks to actually clear. The hold times and verification steps were ridiculous. Has anyone else had transfers take way longer than expected?
Three weeks is tough but honestly it saved me from making a bad call once. I was dead set on this little hatchback, money was ready, and then the seller went quiet for a month. That time let me check out more listings and I ended up finding the same model with lower miles for less cash. The one I originally wanted turned out to have a salvage title the dealer conveniently forgot to mention. So yeah, that waiting period can work in your favor if you let it.
You said "almost missed out on a used car I wanted" and I get that feeling, but honestly I think three weeks is kind of a blessing in disguise. It gives you time to really think it through and not jump on something just because you feel rushed. When I was shopping for my last car I took almost a month and ended up finding a better deal a few days before I was ready to give up. The one I almost bought had a weird transmission issue the test drive didn't catch until later.