>>28580577
1. Cash purchases beyond 10k need to be reported, which is annoying paperwork, so the dealer probably told the new guy to just decline any cash purchases beyond 10k. Then the newbie probably told the manager about this and manager tells him he will take care of the technicalities- just call the dude to come back with the cash and they will deal
2. Most dealers make way more money from financing, not actually the sale of cars, so cash purchases give them way less profits than you think
3. Inventory is better now, but it's still not pre-covid levels. They would rather sell the car to a sucker who will finance 50k with interest than some dickhead with 40k cash.