Buying a car getting miles
 

:eek:Is it possible to purchase a car with my airline charge card? I plan on paying it off prior to having finance charges. Thanks for the help.

Yup, if you're willing to pay 2-4% on top of the price (and your credit limit can support it).

I've done it for 3% a couple of times.

I've tried to put the entire vehicle purchase on my Amex twice. Both dealers would allow some of the purchase on the card (no additional surcharge), but wouldn't go over $2,500. I figured some points were better than none.

In an earlier thread on this topic, (which I can't find right now but I know it's there), several people stated that they paid for the entire car with a credit card. While the dealers weren't too happy about it, they accepted the payment. One person wrote that the legal department of Visa stated that no company that accepts a credit card for one type of payment, service department, for instance, cannot then say that they will not accept it for sales. Additionally it was stated (where is that thread?) that Visa legal noted that no company can say they will only accept a certain amount and nothing above that.

I will be buying a car soon and I will be testing this out as I want to put the entire payment on my card.

I will let you know what happens. Plan on purchasing a vehicle for myself and a very used one for my daughter. Thinking that if they don't allow it perhaps I can get a better price from them at least as my miles will be a purchasing incentive for me.

I tried this once, after confirming with AmEx that the charge would be approved (in case the dealer was actually willing to do it). They declined. I pointed out, politely, that their merchant agreement requires them to take it. The salesman went off and consulted with the sales manager. He then offered the LoJack, which I had ordered, free if I paid for it some other way. Since that was more of a discount than the miles were worth, but cost them a lot less than the credit card fee would have been, it was a win-win. So, you may be able to get something out of this even if it's not miles.

If you can get the dealer to go along .. sure ^

Also mentioned in the 'elusive' thread ~ accepting full payment in plastic can subject the dealer to the card's version of those 'lemon laws' ;)

/.

From 2 different dealers on separate car purchases, both times they only accepted up to $5K of deposit on CC. Balance paid by anything except CC.

Yep, I have done it twice. Both times max the dealer would take was 5K on card. :)

Before you get into a big hassle with the dealer about paying for the entire price with the card, ask yourself if you want to fight with the folks who will be deciding what is covered by your warranty after purchase. @:-)

By the way, I suspect if you push the entire payment on credit card you may find your deal is somehow off, because the dealer is taking too big a hit.

They have to "go along"
 

Points galore basically has it right about the other thread. The dealership and VISA haave a contract and the dealer has promised to accept VISA in payment. It is not an optional thing. If you insist, they have to accept your card. As Efrem correctly states, you don't have to insist and they may offer you something as good or better. But if you are refused and want to press it, a call to VISA support will do the trick.

I have purchased my last three vehicles entirely with my Delta AmEx card. Have had no problems.

lex

I just purchased a new Toyota Corolla for my daughter charged entirely on my Visa UA card. Actually, the salesperson asked me how I wanted to pay and I asked her the ways and she mentioned I could use the credit card. Last 2 vehicles at different dealers, they told me the max was $1000 on the card.

There is no rule that you have to service your car where you bought it. I never do (the closest dealership to me doesn't move much under sticker price on purchases, so I buy elsewhere and take my car to the closest dealer for service).

Relevant, and very recent article here...

http://www.suntimes.com/news/zimmerm...ixer06.article

...according to both MasterCard spokesman Tristan Jordan and Visa spokeswoman Dori Busell, car dealers are not allowed to set maximum purchase amounts under their merchant agreement with the bank that handles their credit transactions.
...

One caution: Busell, of Visa, said many car dealerships organize their sales and service entities as two distinct businesses. Sometimes the service side decides to accept credit cards and the sales portion does not. That's fine. But if the sales portion does accept cards, it's not allowed to set a maximum.

That actually depends on what make of car you buy.

I once had a Ford (NEVER AGAIN!!), and was refused warranty work at a different dealer. I pushed it all the way to their corporate office, and they finally relented "just this once." I had moved about 70 miles and the only reason I asked to go to another dealer in the first place was that it was a pain to go to the original. They told me that their policy allowed a switch in warranty dealers only if you documented that you moved further (might have been 100 miles). In the end, it didn't matter where I went -- both dealers were equally incompetent.

Now we drive only Hondas -- and they allow us to take our cars to any dealer we want for warranty work, including any Acura dealer. Of course, we don't have to go nearly as often as when we drove the Fords....

It's no small wonder Ford's struggling to catch up.

On the original topic, I once tried to pay with a CC, and was told it was allowed but I'd have to pay the extra (I think) 3%. FF miles weren't an issue for me at the time, so I didn't bother.

When I bought my Jeep I was allowed to put $2.5K on my HH Amex and $2.5K on my Cit AA Debit MC with no surcharge. They were not happy about it but I made it clear it was a deal breaker and that I was sure another dealership would allow it if they did not.

Peace!

I bought my Accord, using a credit union negotiated pricing scheme, and was able to put 10% on the CC without much debate (this was before I found FT), plus they also let me do the 1% deposit (it was the 1st year of the model and an unusual configuration, so it had to be ordered and imported from Japan).

Steve

Just bought a Hyundai SUV. They let me charge up to $5k on my cc and the rest by personal check. They did say that I could pay the whole amount with the cc checks but this is the same as a cash advance with the high fee and interest. I just charged the $5k.

Top up your CC
 

The first new car I bought ythey only let me put $5k on my cc. I put my entire second new car onto my cc. My limit was high but not high enough so I loaded my cc with cash a couple of days before the intended purchase. It worked. Now in dealing with the dealership I phoned them and told them what I wanted to do. They said probably, come in and talk about it. I said no, decide now, I'm not coming in unless you say yes to the cc thing. I called back 15 minutes later and they said they would do it.

Mucho points!

Cheers,
Shane

Will American Express double the warranty period on a vehicle if I put the purchase price on my card?

IIRC, all creditcards exclude auto warranty coverage when using creditcard as payments (or have a cap on it). You can double check the terms that comes with the card.

I always put as large a deposit as the dealership will allow on my card, typically $2000. Since I like their service department and use them for routine maintenance, I don't push the issue. More impto me is the ability to negotiate a really god deal upfront without regard to method of payment.

Volvo dealership wewent to in Feb would only allow about $2500+ on a card so I put that on 3 dif cards and got miles on 3 dif places. I used this for the downpayment and then later paid them off with cash.

:)MM

I was allowed to only put 5k down on my last car.

Next time I'll try for more.

With this, you have to understand that this is a cost for the dealer. If they are willing to accept a CC payment for the whole car, that is another 1.5-3% they are going to lose on the sale.

The way the new car market is right now, a good negotiator would be dealing with 3-4% over true dealer cost anyways so that doesnt leave much to play with.

On the other hand, if you walk in and pay close to MSRP, then it shouldnt be a problem ;).

My folks just bought a new car and were told they could only put $3K for free - any more than that and they would add 3%.
Is that legal? Do the CC "rules" say anything about that?

If you are in a postion to negotiate, then NEGOTIATE HARD. By position I mean the following:

Great credit score
Big downpayment
not upside down on your trade in

I just bought a 2008 VW Touareg2 and they refused to negotiate the MSRP, but I did not pay sales tax and they paid my last 3 payments on my SAAB lease (approx $1450). So not a bad deal. But I have a credit score of over 750 and was ready to sign if they did the numbers right. I got approx $4500 off on a brand new model year car.

But be perpared to walk away if they do not agree...

The rules, specifically the merchant agreement the dealer signed in order to be able to take the credit card, forbid it. The dealers know that (a) most people aren't aware of that; (b) some of those who are aware of it don't want to risk souring their dealer relationship; and (c) they can probably come up with a way to call off the deal, or get the customer to call it off, if someone insists on their right to use one and that turns the deal into a losing proposition overall.

Dealing with the dealers
 

I knew that when I had pushed them to take the cc for the whole car and they asked where I would have it serviced before agreeing to take cc for the whole purchase, I had pushed as hard as I could. They were estenitally selling car for the servicing and the increase in volume.

..... Shane

If a dealer won't allow me to purchase the car with the CC and without paying the extra 3% it won't be long before I have my CC issuer investigating them. If they decide to accept credit cards in the sales department they MUST accept it for the FULL payment of the car...NO excuses.

I hate to read that some of you have been taken advantage of when trying to purchase a car. I've been told by some dealerships that they didn't accept any CC payment and that's fine, but those who told me they would accept a certain amount and no more were prompty educated as to what their merchant agreement says.

My most recent vehicle purchases came to a total of $112,346.53 and every penny of that was charged to my card.

Don't be fooled by the salespeople...they rarely know what they're talking about when it comes to the car...nevermind their merchant agreement.

If a dealer, who accepts credit cards in their sales department, refused to take your credit card for the full amount of the car's purchase price, how would you have standing to contest the issue? Seems to me that the ultimate dispute would be between the card issuer and the dealer, not between you and the dealer.

if costco.com sells cars for PU in store, I bet you can buy one from them online flat out as long as your CC can handle the limit!

How would I have standing?

Well, lets see...I have an agreement with my CC company...that company has an agreement with a merchant. The merchants must abide by their agreement or risk losing the benefits of the agreement. They don't get to rewrite the contract.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but...

Your agreement with the CC company governs the terms of credit given (to you) and your payment obligations to the issuer.

The agreement between the CC company and the dealer (probably) governs the terms of accepting said CC's company's cards and the issuer's payment obligations to the dealer. You would be a third-party beneficiary to the agreement between the CC issuer and the dealer, but is that enough to give you standing? Is there any contractual privity between you and the dealer?

I really don't know....but it seems to me that if the dealer will not allow you to use your CC in a certain manner, the issue of whether the CC should be accepted would be between the dealer and the CC issuer. Sure you can complain, but what rights do you really have?

No argument here...If nothing else I have a right to complain to the CC issuing bank.

I've had absolutely NO issue getting my CC company to make it work. I have no clue what they've said to the dealership, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that they aren't allowed to set rules on how much of your available credit can be used...that's not their job or their right.

Does anyone remember back when gas stations, who operate on very tight margins, used to charge a % or per gallon fee cc payment? How'd they get away with that?

Besides the cost of card transaction processing, you also have more recourse on cc to deny payment. It is a riskier transaction for the merchant than a bank draft or finance contract.

In the end, the cc company can and likely will do nothing. What the dealer will or will not accept for payment is part of the deal - and like everything about a vehicle purchase is negotiable. The simple fact is you don’t have the right to purchase something if the seller doesn’t want to sell it to you in that manner. You’re a grown up – if they can’t work the deal you want, get up and move to the next dealership. In reality, people just get tired of the ordeal and will give up and agree to whatever just to finish the whole thing. But that is your decision. Me – I agree whipping the cc out is a good way to get freebies that are worth more than the miles.

I agree it is part of the deal. But if the dealer knows it won't sell the car to you on the agreed upon terms if you want to pay by CC, it is up to them to raise this condition before negotiating the price. If they wait until after the negotiation to tell me they won't accept a CC, they are adding a condition after the fact.

Unless they have a new program I'm not aware of, Costco doesn't sell cars - their Auto Buyer program is just a negotiated '$-over-invoice' deal with the fleet sales group at select dealers. Sometimes these are great deals, and sometimes not so great.

I am going to test their pricing on a '07 Lexus RX400h this weekend - given the rather poor sales numbers for this model, I'm hoping the markup is very low, otherwise I will need to go to another dealer and waste the day doing hard negotiations.

Clark Howard talked about this on his show yesterday...

It wasn't a CC Fee...it was a cash discount. You must understand that a merchant is NEVER allowed to charge additional fees to the CC holder just to process a transaction. However, they are allowed to give you a discount on the price if you pay cash. I know it seems backwards, but that's the way it works.


IF a merchant decides to accept a CC for payment they're bound by those rules.

BTW...this "cash discount" is back in a big way on the west coast, and will probably gain even more popularity. The problem with this is that the money the station owners think they're saving by bypassing the CC fees...they're actually reducing the number of people who use the station b/c it takes longer to go into the business to pay w/cash. You lose customers by taking up the pumps longer.

Are merchant agreements generally posted in the CC website?