Using a CC when buying a car

[travelbug]

I'm planning to buy a car in the very near future. I have the cash to pay for it outright without financing. But I'm wondering if it's possible to funnel the purchase (or part of it) through a credit card in order to earn points. I don't know if car dealerships do that, and I haven't asked yet. I'm just curious if any DISers have done that before.

TIA!

 

[Jitzy]

Yes, we have done that. Just let the credit card company know what you are doing in advance. If you have the cash, then why not get the points?

 

[Darcy03231]

We did it. The dealerships around here will let you charge up to $5k of the purchase price.

 

[Muushka]

Our dealer only allowed 2K, sadly.

 

[crjack]

We did it. The dealerships around here will let you charge up to $5k of the purchase price.

That's what we were allowed to charge as well and that was less than a year ago. Our dealership did tell us that many others were less than that.

 

[a1tinkfans]

2K max. here
We financed to get a better deal overall. Had to keep the finance for 3 mos and then paid it off in full.
Dealers make money off of financing cars
worked for us.........twice...........

 

[i*heart*minniemouse]

We did $3k for the downpayment on the daughters car. Love the rewards!

 

[Duchie]

We've done this multiple times, the most recent being last November when we were allowed to put $10k on our card.

 

[daemom]

We tried once--but they wanted us to pay their fee to the credit card company for the transaction.

 

[Psychodisney]

We just did it. They allowed $2500. Another dealer would have gone to $3000. Also did the financing for the extra perks and will pay it off after two payments.

 

[girli565]

I did it for my downpayment on my car. I had $3k in cash for the down payment but charged it to my Amex for the points then paid it off. The dealership wasn't thrilled but I was ready to walk if they didn't let me (there are several honda dealerships in the city) so they changed their tune quickly.

 

[Muushka]

It seems like the dealerships would come out ahead if they just offered what our credit cards are giving in rewards in the form of a rebate or something.

 

[Arielle22]

I worked at a dealership for 7 years. The reason most won't let you put the entire car on a card but will let you put a deposit is because the dealership doesn't want to have to abide by credit card rules for an entire card.

It isn't hard to imagine someone being upset with the dealership and filing a credit card dispute. While under contract law there are very specific remedies and a short time limit, a person can open disputes for months after the purchase with a credit card.

I have a Amex and love it. However Amex allows you to give a different reason and reopen the same dispute. It can be time consuming for a dealership to respond to multiple disputes.

The other reason is the credit card fee. For example 2% of $20,000 is $400. Many times the cars don't have that much of a profit margin and could put the deal negative.

 

[JKMJ441724]

My mom was allowed 3K.

 

[ICF]

When I last purchased one back in 2009, $3K is what we could put on a CC as well.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We tried once--but they wanted us to pay their fee to the credit card company for the transaction.

That is not allowed. You should have reported the dealership to your credit card company.

 

[navywifetill2002]

We tried once--but they wanted us to pay their fee to the credit card company for the transaction.

We bought our last "new" car years ago but we were told we'd have to pay the fee if we charged it so we just wrote a check. Not worth paying 2-3% to get 1% back!

 

[disneycruising]

When my DD bought her car last year. We were only able to put $2,000 on the credit card. We had to write a check for the rest of it.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Most dealers here wont go over $5K

But in Sept. after the girl on the cell phone totaled our van we went to a dealer and found a used van. We asked if them if we could put the whole amount on our cc. They asked the manager and he said yes.

With the dealer prep fee they charge they more than covered the cc fee.

Dh also had to call the credit card co. ahead of time to tell them of the purchase.

Our cc points lets you book rooms at disney so its great for us!

 

[swilshire]

I bought a used car in the $5K range a few years ago and charged it with no problem. You might wind up paying more for the car if you charge it. They'll recover their fees one way or another.

Sheila