A customer brought in dozens of bundles of small banknotes - denominations of 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 Vietnamese dong - amounting to 253 million VND (approximately USD 10,300) to pay nearly half the cost of a Toyota Raize. The incident, which occurred at Toyota Lang Son, has since gone viral.

According to VietNamNet’s investigation, this unique customer visited Toyota Lang Son (located in the Local Industrial Complex No. 2, Ky Lua Ward, Lang Son) on November 19 to complete the purchase. The total price of the Toyota Raize was 510 million VND (about USD 20,700), and he paid 253 million VND in cash using small notes.

Sales consultant Hua Hoang Hiep, who handled the transaction, recalled: “We were all stunned. This was the first time I and the entire dealership had seen a customer pay hundreds of millions of dong in small denominations like that.”

The customer had previously come to see the car and decided to buy the Toyota Raize for personal use. He chose the morning of November 20 as an auspicious time to receive the vehicle and had informed the dealership in advance that he would pay in two installments - half in cash and the other half via bank transfer.

Hiep explained: “I suggested he come a day early to pay the cash portion, so we wouldn't miss the good time for delivery the next day. He agreed and mentioned he’d pay in small denominations.”

“At the time, I thought maybe he meant 10,000, 20,000, or 50,000 dong bills. But today, we were stunned when he showed up with piles of 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dong notes.”

According to Hiep, the customer’s family transported the money in a Hyundai Tucson. The bills were packed in a large cardboard box about one meter long and 50 centimeters tall, weighing an estimated 50–60 kilograms. Four staff members were needed to carry it inside.

Initially, the dealership’s accounting team planned to handle the payment directly, but the volume of small bills was overwhelming. Instead, they accompanied the customer to a Vietcombank branch to have the money counted and documented.

Using both machines and manual labor, the bank completed the verification in five hours - from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The remaining amount of 257 million VND (approximately USD 10,400) was expected to be transferred by the customer the following morning, when he would officially take delivery of the vehicle at 8:00 AM.

The customer, identified only as T., was born in 1990 and works as a self-employed trader.

The Toyota Raize model currently sells for around 510 million VND (USD 20,700).

This unusual transaction follows a similar case that made headlines on August 14. Nguyen Van Luu, a resident of Kep commune in Bac Ninh Province, brought a styrofoam box containing 20 kilograms of small bills (1,000, 2,000, 5,000 dong) to purchase a Toyota Yaris Cross at Toyota Bac Giang. That transaction involved 60 million VND (USD 2,400) in small cash - saved over the years from selling vegetables.

Pham Huyen