Picking the Wrong Line at the Grocery Store

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm gonna say customers as much as cashiers

lol true true. We all know that can happen to us all.

 

[gillep]

Yup. Our newly inaugurated Governor's first act last week was to get the wheels rolling to get the DMV offices to start taking plastic. Now it is strictly cash or check. The best part, you CAN use plastic if you do your DMV business on their website.
And down payments for cars, strictly cash or check. No plastic.

This is not true about not being able to use plastic for a down payment for a car in CA. We purchased my husband's car a couple years ago, and although the dealer did have a limit (5K I believe) they still allowed us to use our credit card for that portion so that we could get the points.

 

[tvguy]

This is not true about not being able to use plastic for a down payment for a car in CA. We purchased my husband's car a couple years ago, and although the dealer did have a limit (5K I believe) they still allowed us to use our credit card for that portion so that we could get the points.

I am in California. My daughter bought a car from Hertz Car Sales in April of 2018, cash or check down only. Funny given they probably have some long term rentals that total more than her down payment. And DW and I bought a new car in June of 2018, not a single Ford dealer in the area would take a credit card.

 

[gillep]

I am in California. My daughter bought a car from Hertz Car Sales in April of 2018, cash or check down only. Funny given they probably have some long term rentals that total more than her down payment. And DW and I bought a new car in June of 2018, not a single Ford dealer in the area would take a credit card.

As I said before I am in California too, and we had no issue putting a portion of the down payment on a credit card when we bought our Chevy Volt in 2016.

 

[bcla]

Yup. Our newly inaugurated Governor's first act last week was to get the wheels rolling to get the DMV offices to start taking plastic. Now it is strictly cash or check. The best part, you CAN use plastic if you do your DMV business on their website.
And down payments for cars, strictly cash or check. No plastic.

Debit cards were accepted.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I am in California. My daughter bought a car from Hertz Car Sales in April of 2018, cash or check down only. Funny given they probably have some long term rentals that total more than her down payment. And DW and I bought a new car in June of 2018, not a single Ford dealer in the area would take a credit card.

Sales and rentals are separate divisions, not surprisingly with different conditions.

It's the dealer's choice whether to accept credit cards for car purchases. Some pros and cons https://www.thesimpledollar.com/can-you-buy-a-car-with-a-credit-card/
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/can-i-buy-a-car-with-a-credit-card
Couldn't find any CA law prohibiting charging a motor vehicle https://www.cardrates.com/news/consumer-guide-california-credit-laws/

 

[bcla]

Sales and rentals are separate divisions, not surprisingly with different conditions.

It's the dealer's choice whether to accept credit cards for car purchases. Some pros and cons https://www.thesimpledollar.com/can-you-buy-a-car-with-a-credit-card/
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/can-i-buy-a-car-with-a-credit-card
Couldn't find any CA law prohibiting charging a motor vehicle https://www.cardrates.com/news/consumer-guide-california-credit-laws/

I remember asking about it once at a dealer. The salesman said they wouldn't do it (even for a down payment) because their profit margins from the discounted sales of cars were less than the processing fee. However, he suggested that I buy accessories from the parts dept with a credit card rather than rolling them into the financed purchase price.

Supermarkets and discount stores have to negotiate for special deals with credit card processors.

 

[tvguy]

I remember asking about it once at a dealer. The salesman said they wouldn't do it (even for a down payment) because their profit margins from the discounted sales of cars were less than the processing fee. However, he suggested that I buy accessories from the parts dept with a credit card rather than rolling them into the financed purchase price.

Supermarkets and discount stores have to negotiate for special deals with credit card processors.

I can see that. A friend was Business Manager for a dealership and said they are under a lot of pressure from the manufacturer to sell so many new cars a month or year. She says she has seen $50,000 new car sales that had $25 profit, and $7,000 used car sales that had $3,000 profit.

 

[bcla]

I can see that. A friend was Business Manager for a dealership and said they are under a lot of pressure from the manufacturer to sell so many new cars a month or year. She says she has seen $50,000 new car sales that had $25 profit, and $7,000 used car sales that had $3,000 profit.

Well yeah. Their big profits are the used cars, plus service and parts. Dealers have to sell new cars in order to get access to OEM parts and claim factory authorized service. I've dealt with independent repair places, and quite a few have huge accounts with local car dealers for parts. I'll see dealer parts being delivered by vehicles with dealer markings. And the standard dealer prices for service packages are usually a ripoff, although their hourly labor rates are typically comparable. I don't know exactly how it works now with warranty repairs and a the current trend for complimentary scheduled maintenance during the warranty period. I always heard that dealers didn't particularly like doing warranty work because the manufacturer would only pay a discounted service fee.