buying car on Amex (supplementary?)

zerog

My wife needs a car for work. We found a dealer who after haggling a bit agreed to take my Amex gold charge card for a low fee.

I am guessing I would need to ring Amex before attempting the purchase, anyone tried anything like this before?

As I am the main cardholder is it better if I become the owner of the car while my wife becomes the registered keeper?

Or is it better for my wife to use her supplementary card, and would that make her the owner and registered keeper?

(Who will actually pay off the Amex bill when it comes is neither here nor there.)

YorkshireBoy

May I ask why you want to pay a fee to use your chargecard when you could pay with cash/debit card (presumably...since you'll be settling Amex at the end of the month)?

reclusive46

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

May I ask why you want to pay a fee to use your chargecard when you could pay with cash (presumably...since you'll be settling Amex at the end of the month)?

The membership reward points I imagine.

YorkshireBoy

reclusive46 wrote: »

The membership reward points I imagine.

OK. I just wondered if the OP thought he'd get section 75 protection, and that was the reason for asking about 'ownership' (invoicing/registered keeper etc).

zerog

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

OK. I just wondered if the OP thought he'd get section 75 protection, and that was the reason for asking about 'ownership' (invoicing/registered keeper etc).

Well I know that charge cards don't get S75, but in terms of the Amex protection or any other disputes, would it matter whose card was used and who became the owner/keeper?.. I've only used the card for flights, supermarkets and trains and I have other travel insurance already, so this is the first purchase I could potentially have a problem with.

Actually I am planning to spend enough to get to £15k and get 7500 extra points, and pay the rest in cash since it's nearly time to cancel the card. The dealer's fee makes this just about worth it

eddddy

zerog wrote: »

Actually I am planning to spend enough to get to £15k and get 7500 extra points, and pay the rest in cash since it's nearly time to cancel the card. The dealer's fee makes this just about worth it

Hi zerog

Don't you have to renew (and pay £125) to get the 7,500 extra points? Amex T&Cs:

7,500 Membership Rewards bonus points will be awarded to your account every year at Card renewal if you have made purchases of at least £15,000 within a 12 month period ending on the anniversary of your Preferred Rewards Gold Card membership. Should you qualify in any given year, the 7,500 bonus points will be awarded to your account up to 60 days after your Card renewal.

Or do you have a different deal?

(And you seem to need 10,000 points just to get £50 Harrods Gift voucher - although some of the travel offers look better value.)

[Deleted User]

Yes you do need to renew (£125 fee) to get the 7,500 MR points. However, Amex are the only card provider that I can think of that give a pro-rata refund on card fees. Nothing to stop you getting the bonus and then closing the card for a refund.

As to the issue of points redemptions, bear in mind that if you qualify for the 7500 bonus, you will also have earned at least 15000 from the required spend (probably more due to double points on supermarket/travel spend) as well as the 20000 sign up bonus - so a minimum of 42500. Depending on your redemption choices that could be worth several hundred pounds.

gaosini

I've only used the card for flights, supermarkets and trains and I have other travel insurance already, so this is the first purchase I could potentially have a problem with.

InsideInsurance

zerog wrote: »

I am guessing I would need to ring Amex before attempting the purchase, anyone tried anything like this before?

As I am the main cardholder is it better if I become the owner of the car while my wife becomes the registered keeper?

Or is it better for my wife to use her supplementary card, and would that make her the owner and registered keeper?

Yes, I try and pay as much as I can on my AmEx card subject to what fee a vendor wants to add on. Never bought a car on it but did book a honeymoon which probably equated to the cost of a new car.

If you need to call them depends on your history with them. If you routinely put through similar sized transactions a call isnt necessary. If its much more than you've ever put through then it would be prudent to avoid a decline when in store.

Who the owner and keeper are is totally independent of who pays for it. There is no S75 protection with chargecards so the the chain is irrelevant.

[Deleted User]

InsideInsurance wrote: »

There is no S75 protection with chargecards so the the chain is irrelevant.

This is true from a legal standpoint, however, recognising that not offering this may put some customers off, Amex do provide the same protection as credit card S75.

The only difference is that they are bound to it by contractual, rather than legal, obligation.

OP, if you do use the Amex, might be worth a quick call to them to confirm what I've just said and ask about the owner/keeper thing.