Buying a car on a credit card......

[v64motion]

Evening all,

Looking (still) at financing the MX-5 and I almost have the cash to buy the car outright but has anyone bought a car on a 0% credit card. It would allow me to earn a bit of interest on the cash (£4-5k) over the 12 month 0% period. It wouldn't make me much money in interest but I can't see any reason for not doing it.

Looking to get a Mk3 2.0 sport in winning blue or grey.

Edited by v64motion on Wednesday 26th January 18:25

[CampDavid]

Some places charge a fee for credit cards, otherwise no issue

[Sixpackpert]

A mate of mine bought a car on a 0% card and then kept transferring the balance to other 0% cards until he had paid it off. Good way of doing it as long as you remember to do the balance transfers before the 0% period ends.

[Wacky Racer]

v64motion said:

Evening all,

Looking (still) at financing the MX-5 and I almost have the cash to buy the car outright but has anyone bought a car on a 0% credit card. It would allow me to earn a bit of interest on the cash (£4-5k) over the 12 month 0% period. It wouldn't make me much money in interest but I can't see any reason for not doing it.

Looking to get a Mk3 2.0 sport in winning blue or grey.

a) Does your credit limit cover this amount?

b) You will probably find the Garage will stick another 2% on top to cover their charges....Same as buying road tax etc, negating some of the interest earned.

Always worth asking though....

[JB!]

My old man uses his every time, he gets a % back in John Lewis vouchers!

[justin220]

Most garages will wave the charge is you ask

[AndrewW-G]

A few years ago I sold a car to somebody doing the 0% thing, no additional costs as he paid using a credit card cheque

[icepop]

No different to buying other largish items, I think I did my last kitchen that way, and kept the money in the bank for a year, gaining a bit of interest, (remember that stuff, interest ?). And as said, negotiate the 2% charge out of the deal if possible, as a bit of a sweetener.

[sawman]

I did this a few years ago, using 2 different 0% cards! the dealer looked twice, but didnt really care - gave me 6 months to clear the balance tax free. I bought a boat the year later in the same way when one of the cards offered me another 0% period

[Engineer1]

Sixpackpert said:

A mate of mine bought a car on a 0% card and then kept transferring the balance to other 0% cards until he had paid it off. Good way of doing it as long as you remember to do the balance transfers before the 0% period ends.

And can keep getting 0% the number of players in the credit card market seem to have shrunk.

[Deva Link]

For years I've paid the deposit with a credit card (you should always do that as it brings the whole transaction under the cover of the Consumer Credit Act) but never yet had a garage agree to accept the full balance by credit card without adding a fee.

Presumeably this is because I've got a killer deal in the first place!

[SubaruSteve]

AndrewW-G said:

A few years ago I sold a car to somebody doing the 0% thing, no additional costs as he paid using a credit card cheque

The credit card holder pays the charge when using a cheque, often higher than 2% too.

[Herbs]

By all means do it that way to improve your cash-flow but any interest you would earn will be minimal and not worth the hassle and leaves you with the potential for extra costs if you forget the date your 0% ends.

[nsmith1180]

I had a customer that used to buy a new Vauxhall every year on Partners, with GM card 0%, after three years that I was dealing with him, (he had been doing it for a fair few years when I picked him up) he just bought in his old car, his GM card points and drove away in a new one. No cost to change.

[v64motion]

The intention is to clear the balance before the end of the 0% period ends, they don't give money away so why should I?

Thanks for the feedback!

[SubaruSteve]

Engineer1 said:

Sixpackpert said:

A mate of mine bought a car on a 0% card and then kept transferring the balance to other 0% cards until he had paid it off. Good way of doing it as long as you remember to do the balance transfers before the 0% period ends.

And can keep getting 0% the number of players in the credit card market seem to have shrunk.

And don't forget they charge you a balance transfer fee every time you change to a new card of around 3% of total balance.

[AndrewW-G]

SubaruSteve said:

AndrewW-G said:

A few years ago I sold a car to somebody doing the 0% thing, no additional costs as he paid using a credit card cheque

The credit card holder pays the charge when using a cheque, often higher than 2% too.

Sounds about right for this chap, he was buying a 100% original, very low mileage, one owner, UK spec, Supra TT . . . . . . . and kept going on about how he was going to ruin it with big wheels and stick on tat!

[BRISTOL86]

SubaruSteve said:

AndrewW-G said:

A few years ago I sold a car to somebody doing the 0% thing, no additional costs as he paid using a credit card cheque

The credit card holder pays the charge when using a cheque, often higher than 2% too.

If I'm not mistaken using a credit card cheque is treated the same as a cash advance which normally has a much higher interest rate than a purchase on the same card.

[Dog Star]

Deva Link said:

For years I've paid the deposit with a credit card (you should always do that as it brings the whole transaction under the cover of the Consumer Credit Act) but never yet had a garage agree to accept the full balance by credit card without adding a fee.

Same here.

[christofmccracke]

inkiboo said:

I got a BMW dealer to accept my Virgin AMEX to buy my 535d. 60,000 Virgin airmiles; thank you confused salesman who didn't realise until it was too late.

what did you get on it 2.5%? merchants that take the cards take a hit too poor bugger