I didn't mean "game" in a derisive manner. Just a blanket term to the entire car buying process, like how haggling (a legit part of the car buying process) is part of the car-buying game. Your tactic is part of the game.

Regards,
Chris

I bought a new car about 10 days ago and put just over $3K on my miles card. They didn't blink an eye. The rest was financed, but since they gave me a 0% APR I didn't have much incentive to put a larger down payment on the card (other than the miles). We just bought our first home three days ago, so we wanted more cash on hand for home related expenses.

perhaps makes sense to call ones CC company ahead and ask whether dealer's sales department accepts CC (or better yet get it in written, fax/letter)?

If proven they have CC contract and sign car purchase agreement, I do not see any way out for them...

On other hand, if one signs an agreement with dealership and late finds it doesn't accept CC (even if its separately structured service department does), then I don't see way out from such contract for a customer as well...

But donut and Red Bull sales will boom.

About that 2% --

1) Why so high? Didn't Costco offer a merchant agreement that's 1.57% + $.30/transaction? I'm sure that's changed, but don't high-volume merchants like auto dealers get a better rate?

2) If it came down to it, paying 2% to the dealer might work out fine if you have a good rebate, possibly including a promo, AND -- if timed right -- up to 50 days free interest. You could also negotiate this -- start by offering nothing, threaten to off the deal and complain to CC issuer, finally offering, say 1%. Reluctantly ("I shouldn't have to do this, you're not allowed to charge ANY CC fee . . . ")

Getting Miles for a Car Purchase
 

I just bought a new car, and attempted to use a miles earning credit card for the purchase. I think a thread could contain a great amount of information if we stick to the following format.

1. In the Title Line, simply list the City and State where the Dealership or Dealerships that you negotiated with are located. It may be best to use a Metropolitan Area Listing rather than a particular city name in many cases. For example, I spoke with dealers in both West Allis and Waukesha, WI, but since both are in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, I will simply use Milwaukee WI as the location on the title line.

2. In the body of the posting, list the name of the dealership and your luck in getting them to accept payment (either partial or full) on a credit card for a new (or used) car purchase.

My initial posting will follow shortly. Over time, we could hopefully build up a data base of dealerships who will accept greater amounts of credit card payment towards auto purchases to help make the process of purchasing a car easier for those of us who try to maximize the amount of miles generated by such purchases. Some dealerships might even be tempted to post their policies here. Then, by simply using the search mode on this thread for your city and state, you could locate dealerships in your area that are more agreeable to accepting larger amounts on credit cards towards aitomotive purchases. (Mods, if you think this should be made into a sticky or appear in a different forum such as SPAM, feel free to move it there.)

Milwaukee WI
 

1. Arrow Hyundai - West Allis, WI - Initial negotiation indicated that they would accept up to $2000.00 on a credit card against the purchase of an auto. However, as part of the negotiations for the purchase, we were able to get the dealership to agree to accept $4000.00 as a credit card payment. We dealt with Dan Clikeman, Internet Sales Manager, Arrow Hyundai, 414-329-3100, www.arrowhyundai.com who initially agreed to the $2000.00 limit. We also spoke with his father, David Clikeman, General Manager of the Dealership who approved the increase to the $4000.00 limit.

2. Boucher Hyundai - Waukesha, WI - The Internet Sales Manager for the Dealership indicated their policy is that they will not accept credit card payment for any portion of a new auto purchase.

Northern Virginia (Washington, DC metro)
 

Fairfax Honda - Fairfax, VA - initially would only allow $2500 on a credit card, but allowed us to do $3000 since we were adding about $500 in accessories to the vehicle. We asked to do $5500 but finance manager mentioned 3% fees, etc. So we put the remainder ($2500) on a debit card but he still ran it as credit. Leads me to believe he could have gone higher on the AMEX.. oh well.

This dealer also participated in the American Express auto buying program (highly recommend, btw) which specifically states the dealer will accept AMEX for payment - interestingly the site FAQ states they will accept a minimum of $2000 but to contact the dealer to determine the max amount accepted - I thought they couldn't set a max?

I was able to put 7500 down at a Mercedes dealership in February. Dont know if I couldve put the entire amount on their bkz I financed the rest, but it was the salepersons idea to use my cc, he said this was I could get FFP. Maybe he was a FTer?

Buying car.. Tips on getting the most miles/points
 

Looking to buy a car worth about $40k, I'm looking to put about $15k down on it at least.

Sign up bonus with American Express, then charge the car. Or the same on Chase.

See also:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...edit-card.html

Northern Virginia (DC Area)
 

Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly, VA

Up to 5k on a major credit card.

Dealer accepted $9000 on CC
 

There's an easy way out - they simply refuse to take the credit card! The merchant agreement is between the merchant and Visa (or Mastercard, etc) - the consumer does not have standing to challenge or enforce that agreement. If Visa wants to allow a merchant to violate the agreement (and in my experience they have explicitly told me this), they are free to do so.

So, yes, merchant agreements generally allow NO minimum or maximum purchase limits to be required by the merchant (try enforcing that next time you're at a Mom & Pop liquor store with a "$5 minimum on Credit Card"!). But, NO, you can't make them stick to that.

That being said, I ordered a new Porsche last month and the dealer said, "I'll need 10% down - will that be cash, check, or credit card?" And I put $9K on my credit card without them batting an eye. So, it depends on the dealer.

Sure they can. And there's nothing you can do about it. What are you going to do - sue? It would be thrown out because you are not a party to the merchant agreement. If Visa wants to let them violate the agreement, they can do so.

I'm glad you talked them into accepting your card, but they certainly didn't have to. The most you could've done is write a strongly worded letter to Visa, which they would have ignored.