Credit card to buy a car..
Credit card to buy a car..
Author
Discussion

Little Butch

Original Poster:

589 posts

207 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
At the moment, my daily drive is a 1986 Landrover 110, which as much as I love... Isn't practicable for my needs right now. I'm a self employed tree surgeon, I'm starting to contract to different companies rather than finding my own 'jobs' as such.

I'm looking to buy a car in the £3k range (looking at clk's), I'm thinking about putting 2k of my money into it and then the rest and the insurance on a credit card.

I've never even looked into credit cards so haven't the slightest clue about them at the moment. Is this a good idea? Am I stupid? A lot of banks seem to be offering interest free cards but I'm not sure what the limit is on them. Can you just draw the cash out if you're buying a car privately and not from a dealer?

Jasandjules

72,588 posts

258 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
Get a car loan if you need to unless you get a 0% credit card and even then you would need to ensure you pay it off before the interest rate skyrockets.

Baz Tench

5,648 posts

219 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
Get a car loan if you need to unless you get a 0% credit card and even then you would need to ensure you pay it off before the interest rate skyrockets.
....Which normally gives you 6 months interest free credit only. Some are less.

rj1986

1,107 posts

197 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
Most a garage has ever let me put on a credit card was £500 i think.

But if you can get a 0% for X months and pay for the insurance and some of the balance, then go for it.
Just set up a direct debit every month for an amount and job's jobbed.

Most applications are for a £1200 credit limit, but you can set it as high as they will let you (one card of mine had a £700 limit, another has £8k)

Baz Tench

5,648 posts

219 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
The 30 month interest free offers you are seeing are for balance transfers only.

Little Butch

Original Poster:

589 posts

207 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
Cheers guys! I'll go in and talk to my bank tomorrow, I just need about a 2k limit really...
What does 'balance transfers' mean exactly?

Baz Tench

5,648 posts

219 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
Little Butch said:
Cheers guys! I'll go in and talk to my bank tomorrow, I just need about a 2k limit really...
What does 'balance transfers' mean exactly?
Transferring debt from other cards.

rj1986

1,107 posts

197 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
0% New Purchases is exactly that- 0% interest on things you've bought for X months (minimum monthly payments apply).
Most tend to be around the 12-18 months

0% Balance Transfers is transferring balance from one/multiple cards onto the new card (for a small fee) and that has no interest on the amount on the card. Again, minimum monthly payments apply.

These tend to be for longer periods (20-30 months), and is a good way of avoiding people like Wonga and loan sharks.

Some have offers on both for the same card, so make sure you read the small print, keep up the repayments, and don't forget your Baby Oleg on the way out.

HaylingJag

2,122 posts

177 months

Thursday 20th March 2014
quotequote all
not forgetting the two and a half per cent surcharge the dealer might add on for a credit card transaction of that size!!

D

R6VED

1,490 posts

169 months

Friday 21st March 2014
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I am not sure if this is feasible, but can you get 2x credit cards, put the balance on one and then immediately transfer it to another on 30 months 0% or whatever the best deal is?

That way you get the benefit of the balance transfer rate immediately?

devnull

3,863 posts

186 months

Friday 21st March 2014
quotequote all
I should also add that a lot of garages only allow £500 on a credit card.

LuS1fer

43,504 posts

274 months

Friday 21st March 2014
quotequote all
Forget it. I tried this. I couldn't find a single dealer who didn't want to charge a 5% credit card fee to process the car. I ended up getting a bigger loan over a longer period and buying a better car. Don't get too bogged down by the APR, look at what you're paying over the term, the difference is rarely a lot.

lamboman100

1,445 posts

150 months

Friday 21st March 2014
quotequote all
Little Butch said:
At the moment, my daily drive is a 1986 Landrover 110, which as much as I love... Isn't practicable for my needs right now. I'm a self employed tree surgeon, I'm starting to contract to different companies rather than finding my own 'jobs' as such.

I'm looking to buy a car in the £3k range (looking at clk's), I'm thinking about putting 2k of my money into it and then the rest and the insurance on a credit card.

I've never even looked into credit cards so haven't the slightest clue about them at the moment. Is this a good idea? Am I stupid? A lot of banks seem to be offering interest free cards but I'm not sure what the limit is on them. Can you just draw the cash out if you're buying a car privately and not from a dealer?
Spend the weekend reading moneysavingexpert.com. Get a 0% money-transfer deal. Be VERY alert with your planning. Never ever miss a payment or overlap the free period.

telecat

8,528 posts

270 months

Friday 21st March 2014
quotequote all
Main Dealer in Rotherham was quite happy for me to buy my last car on the Credit Card. Seems to be an exception though.

kingb

1,166 posts

255 months

Friday 21st March 2014
quotequote all
I just got a motorbike on my card. Tesco gave me 18 months interest free on the purchase. Very straightforward to be honest. As others have said you can get transfer the debt to another card with no interest on transfer and then have another couple of years interest free. There will be a small fee to transfer of 2 or 3% but that's not so bad.

I like it as I can pay off more or less monthly as I need and I couldn't borrow 5 grand and cheaper!

mikeyr

3,395 posts

222 months

Friday 21st March 2014
quotequote all
Worth putting at least £100 on a C/card for section 75 protection.

Sis-in-law got money back for a Smart Car they bought which turned out to have had an engine rebuild that was dangerous (there were things pressing down on brake lines, wiring looms etc!)and the dealer "disappeared", their £200 deposit on a CC saved them from a major loss.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...

Dan_1981

18,097 posts

228 months

Friday 21st March 2014
quotequote all
Get CC from someone offering very long balance transfer AND money transfers.

Transfer cash direct to bank account, remove cash, pay for car.

Pay card off monthly, if interest free period ends before you have paid off, transfer to another card with a new offer.

I've been doing this for the last 10 or so years. (Not with the same purchase I hasten to add)

If your credit rating is good the card providers will happily give you a decent limit after your first card.

Ensure you close the card once you have finished with it so you can reapply again after 6 months should they have a particularly tasty offer.

The only extra cost you will incurr is the %fee the providers charge when transferring between cards - usually 2.5% but you only have to do this once every 18 months - 2 years on the longer cards.