Fossil_TL

I have amex blue cash with 15 month 0% APR, and I was thinking what it be possible for a person to walk to a dealership and purchase a new vehicle and charge it on his/her credit card.

Assuming the person has the money to pay off the car at the time of purchase, it would be wise to take advantage of the 0% APR to get some good interest cumulating at the bank.

At 5.10 APY saving, $30000 would turn into $32000, it'd be a very good saving.

Has anyone done this before?

moeronn

The dealership is unlikely to let you put the entire purchase on your CC, since they would be paying another few points on the purchase. A downpayment, perhaps, but doubtful on the entire amount.

iTimmy

Some dealers will others won't, I'd ask, the worse they can say is no.

taz98spin

Not sure about a New car dealership, but I bought my fiancée's engagement ring using that card, and it cost more than some used cars.

When I picked up the card, it was only a 6 month, 0% APR, but still not having
to pay a big lump sum at once really helped!

And about the $30000, turning it into 32 grand, you'll still have to pay tax on that
2 grand of interest..

iTimmy

^^^ margins on jewelry are much higher then car(new or used).

I thought one of my friends bought a car on a card so I just called him and I was wrong, he has bought 4! A Honda Odyssey, A Lexus GS300, a BMW 535i and a Mercedes R500, so apparently most makes can be bought with a credit card - all of them were new.

Fossil_TL

I would think since there is a cashback reward, so that is easily another $300 dollars saving off of the full purchase price of the vehicle.
I dont like buying cars from stealerships anyways, so might as well screw them with the 3% merchant transaction fee they'll be charged with.

It's just a thought, btw, what is the interest you gotta pay on saving accounts?

Fibonacci

I've tried it a few times, each time the answer is $3,000 max. They have to pay merchant processing fees which is the reason.

Moog-Type-S

It depends on the dealer.
I know many motorcycle dealers that won't accept full CC purchases for bikes.

At best bet a card dealer may let you use your CC for a portion of the down payment.

...just ask the dealer.

doopstr

If they let you put the whole thing on a card you payed too much.

simplyscion

this is correct...each dealership has their own policy but our dealership has a $2500 max on either a CC or personal check. Also not to mention, its pretty easy for someone to go into a dealership, buy the car on a CC and then call the bank and put a stop payment on it. Thats where the fun car recovery part begins lol.

Fossil_TL

I asked around, few dealership for new cars only allow a max charge of $4500 on credit card.

But one thing I dont understand though is that you can purchase electronics or whatever luxury items with credit card almost same value as a vehicle.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Since the dealership has to pay the cc fee, I HIGHLY doubt he got anything for free. I'm sure it was lumped into the price OR he just didn't get the deal he could have if he financed or paid cash.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

iTimmy

I never said he got anything for free just that he has charged 4 different cars on a credit card. I don't know what type of deal he got and he probably doesn't care, he most likely did it to simplify his life and get a lot of flying miles.

jlukja

The dealership where I bought my car let me put $12K of it on my CC. The salesman said he didn't care if I charged it. My CC limit was $15K and I already had charges on it that month.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

when i bought the MB a few years ago, they would only let me put up to $2,500 on the CC... and when i bought the TL last year, $5k was max on the CC...

TzarChasm

I put $5K on my TL with a credit card. I had the cash in the bank not in hand and asked the guy if he wanted a check or credit card. He said he didn't care.

Black-n-Tan

Get a convenience check from your cc for a 0% balance transfer. Deposit the check in your banking account "to pay off another balance". Use your newfound cash to buy the car. pay that card off before promo rate ends.

VTEC11

Most convenience checks have a 3% transaction fee associated with them. Not all, but most do.

subinf

I think my dealer's max was 5k.

Will Y.

Most of the convenience checks for my credit cards have a capped maximum transaction fee- some amount between $30 and $75, depending on the card. The checks are useful if you want to avoid carrying around cash and cannot get a cashier's check from the bank (i.e. impulse buy of a $30K car on a Sunday).

IIRC, convenience check interest starts accruing immediately too, unlike CC charges that have grace periods.

It may be better to use a Home Equity line check for a purchase by check if a clear HELOC is available (and then pay off the balance at the end of the next week).

cbptls

For the two car purchases that I've made, I've put the maximum they would allow me to charge on a credit card.

I however did see someone purchase a brand new car and they put the entire purchase on their AMEX Black card.

taz98spin

You actually have a friend who uses one of those Black cards?