Buying a car with bank transfer

[rugby14]

Recent car purchases have been PCP but this time I'm buying secondhand outright. Is it good practice to pay the deposit or a similar small amount on credit card (to get the section 75 protection) and the rest by bank transfer?

Independent dealer, local, been around for years. Very good rep. My only concern is the car is £25k, just out of manuf warranty and it seems like section 75 is useful if the car turns out to have issues soon after purchase.

Thanks

[raspy]

I just put almost £50k on a used car via bank transfer, at a main dealer. I had paid the deposit using debit card.

[InformationSuperHighway]

You're pretty well protected by the consumer good act for 3 months regardless of payment method I think.

[rugby14]

I'd probably do the same with a main dealer because I'd expect then to sort out any issues including any warranty stuff. I'm less confident about an independent.

[itcaptainslow]

Many vehicle traders now won't take any payment via credit card.

[Matt_T]

I recently bought a car for £22k from a small indy dealer. I transferred the amount in 3 chunks via my bank app and they sent me an email after each notifying me of receipt as payment for the car & reg number. As a precaution I collected their bank details in person rather than via email.

Because I had £1800 in cash from sale of my last car I asked if I could give this to them on collection but they were very reluctant to take cash - preferred the full payment via bank transfer.

Edited by Matt_T on Wednesday 6th May 19:15

[soad]

itcaptainslow said:

Many vehicle traders now won't take any payment via credit card.

Well, fees are very steep?

[AddyT.]

All I can say is, when I bought my last used car at £20k from an indie dealer, my dad who used to run a franchise dealership years ago, told me to put some of the balance on credit card.

6 months warranty is your cover with CRA. Be very careful of what the aftermarket warranty covers. I had one thrown in with the car and it wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. The main bugbear was the labour costs which was around £70-ish an hour and getting people to take the job on. When I had an issue, I spoke to my trusted indie and they said they don't tend to take these jobs on as they were fully booked with non warranty work and getting the money from the warranty companies was a real PITA. And of course £70 an hour doesn't cover most garage's labour costs these days. TBH it's put me off indie dealer purchases. Obviously every sale and potential warranty case is different. My experience told me I was basically on my own and at least a main dealer with their warranty is more accountable. Could be wrong - just my personal experience.