SBT question

ciuccia1

Hi all- i seem to have stumbled upon a good car deal and my financial advisor (ok, my Dad) has suggested that rather than take out a loan at 5.9-6+ % i can buy it on a credit card. Is this a really dumb idea?

In practice, i know that if i pay with the card i will be charged 3% so it seems that perhaps a SBT to my current account, and a a bankers draft might work. Are there cards offering )% for new customers? I thought that after the introductory period was up I could either transfer to a 0 % balance transfer card or perhaps Texaco.

My PA has also suggested paying the minimum payment and transfering the designated amount to ING on a monthly basis and then paying a big chunk off before the balanace transfer. I don't have an existing cc so i need to either pick a loan or find a cc that will work for this.

Your thoughts and suggestion would be much appreciated.

Rafter

Suggest you start with an egg card which does free super balance transfers and is fairly generous with credit limits. You may struggle because of a lack of credit history getting a decent limit but worth a try - their decisions are usually instant online too.

Your PA is right - no point paying off a zero% balance until necessary if you can earn 5% on savings elsewhere.

R.

Reaper

Your Dad is right in everything he says, and the SBT will avoid the extra charge (although note many cards have started to introduce BT fees).

However bear in mind that credit card 0% deals are short term, and while you will hopefully be able to keep rotating the debt onto new cards at 0% you should also consider what you would do if you find yourself unable to get replacement cards. For that reason the low APR cards are safer, although of course not as cheap.

grumbler

ciuccia1 wrote:

... or perhaps Texaco...

Be aware that low % 'life of balance' cards usually give lower limits. Some MSEs reported low limits of Texaco.

ciuccia1

"However bear in mind that credit card 0% deals are short term, and while you will hopefully be able to keep rotating the debt onto new cards at 0% you should also consider what you would do if you find yourself unable to get replacement cards. For that reason the low APR cards are safer, although of course not as cheap"

I guess there isn't a low percentage card offering SBT?

Thanks for all the suggestions!

grumbler

ciuccia1 wrote:

I guess there isn't a low percentage card offering SBT?

You can make SBT through Egg card. Just read this board.
Or transfer balance(s) from 0% (after 6/9/12/18 months) to low % as you planned initially.