I stand corrected. :)

My experience has been with VISA. I confirmed today that their merchant agreement specifically prohibits limiting how much you can put on the card. I just assumed the same applied to AMEX and MC. That's what you get for jumping to conclusions.

No worries, my friend. Believe me - when I went to pay 50k cash for my new car, I was trying every angle I could to get my points for the CC purchase. Just no go. I am sure if I really pushed it, they would have conceded, but I am not naive enough to think the money they spent on the CC fees wouldn't show up somewhere else on my final out the door.

So, I got 5k on the card for it... Eh. But at least I have no car payment. Priceless! :)

You need to buy an authentic Jump to Conclusion mat, then!

So I have a quote from a dealer for 34,475.
He offered me a deal if I wanted to put it all on AMEX for 36,975 claiming that we would split the 3% AMEX charges.

Yeah right, I take the 7.3% and you get an additional 4.3%.

If we split it I would end up just shy of 35K which is OK for me. If I go for a 5% Cash back card with 0% APR for 12 or more months I am netting almost a 4,000 discount given I can keep my money in a 6% savings account.

I cannot seem to find any point rewards cards that do this. There are ThankYou cards but they only have 6 months of intro APR.
The Citi Platinum Amex doesn't have intro APR for purchases.
I could alternatively go for a BT over to Chase after using the Citi Platinum Amex.

Buying a car getting miles (merged threads)
 

So I'm close to being in the market for a new auto. When I bought my last car I was new to the whole concept of miles but I do remember wanting to put it on my credit card but the dealership wouldn't allow it.

That was pre-FT for me.

So I now I figure, why not get 40k + miles out of buying my new ride.

Are there places/dealerships/ online retailers that will allow putting the entire purchase price on a miles visa/MC/Amex?

Any thoughts welcomed.

You can find a lot of useful info at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=728098 a long thread that was started last August and has several posts from March 08. There are also older Miles Buzz threads.

The dealers I've dealt with will only allow $3000 to go on a card.

I have the same experience as JerryFF - I was only allowed to put $3000 on my card. But I did it during a time when my SPG Amex gave me double points for transactions over $500. Now, I am never targetted for such offers ... :(

I was given the offer of $10,000 on the credit card or $300 towards accessories. Since I did not need accessories, I put 10K on the card.

Any dealership accepting credit cards cannot put a limit on the amount you want to charge. It is in their merchant agreement. They can however negotiate a price that is higher if you used other forms of payment. Talk with your dealer and make a deal.

I was put in a $3000 limit as mentioned before. They told me there is some kind of rule in place because people can drive around the car, and once damaged, make a fuss about it through credit card protection plans.

It's a made up rule to discourage you from trying to charge more.
Hear it from the source: call your CC, then call a dealer-friend or someone that knows a dealer.

I thought about that too - the next time I buy a car, I want to be able to charge at least a portion of it (even if they don't allow all of it) to be charged to my CC. It's a great miles earning opportunity!

Thanks for the replies and the links.

Now I wish I could re-title my post.

What I was hoping for was information on /specific/ dealerships or sales places where credit card sales were welcomed.

Judging by the contentious nature of some of the stories about CC use for card purchasing, perhaps this might not exist.

So...if I were looking to buy a new Tahoe hybrid, anyone got a specific dealer I might contact to use my CC without having to resort to quoting the contract language?

I'd suggest calling the dealership ahead of time, and figure out the issue with credit card company before going in. I took care of every single thing I could think of, set the price, color, features of the car, get loan approved by local credit union, called AmEx to make sure my big purchase goes through, then got stuck with a $3000 limit crap at 9PM 2 hours away from home.