Is this a crazy thing to do?

fleeze69

Hi

Im a bit of a newbie to the world of finance (being 21) so sorry if this is a silly idea.

The Plan
I currently have an Amazon card which has just finished its 0% free offer, so i'm going to cancel it and swap to another card offering interest free (as soon as my next amazon voucher comes through, just need to spend a few more £££s). When I have a new card I am wondering if it'd be feasible to buy part of a car on it.

Basically Im looking for a car for around £5000, firstly would a car garage let me pay £2500 on credit card and £2500 cash, and secondly would the credit card company charge me for doing this? As, as far as I can see if I had a credit card with a period of interest free on it, wouldn't that be like a free short term car loan. I know ill be able to pay it off by selling my current car, and my forthcoming wages and also I do have savings (but would prefer to leave these where they are).

Thanks for your help

W1zz

From past experience, most dealers will only let you pay a deposit using a credit card. £50 - £100 etc.. Not part or all of the balance.
It wouldn't be a problem for the CC companies, it's the dealer who would refuse due to them loosing out by having to pay the % cost of the transaction.

ianeverton

I bought my wifes last car completely on a credit card.

It was a Vauxhall and i used my GM card so i received 3% gm card points.

I had to pay a fee as the previous poster said but it was less than the points i earned.

The salesman said when he put the transaction through that the phone will ring because it was such a large amount but it didnt, i do use my CC quite a lot though.

By the way after my discount it was £8500.

code-a-holic

Perfect thread for me - im planning on doing the same soon. about £7000 cash and topping up with credit card if necessary. I have done a bit of reasearch and some dealers have said no problem and some have said we will have to charge 2.5% and others say 3%.

sicker

I paid £8990 by credit card and got £89.90 back from my Egg Money card. The manager of the sales person agreed to accept the card when I turned to walk away. He did not want to loose the sale of a new car which I believe the cans make from about 20% -30% profit on. So if you are ever going for a new car make sure you get all the extras such as floor mats etc, it just reduces tge sales persons commission.

Miss_Behaving

I tried to do this a couple of years a go but was refused - the dealer said that the card charges were too high.

KiKi

fleeze69 wrote: »

Hi

I currently have an Amazon card which has just finished its 0% free offer, so i'm going to cancel it and swap to another card offering interest free (as soon as my next amazon voucher comes through, just need to spend a few more £££s).

I'm sure this is obvious, but as you say you're new to this...!! Make sure the credit card is 0% on *purchases,* not balance transfer. Also, you'll still need to make minimum payments. Again, probably obvious, but just in case!

As, as far as I can see if I had a credit card with a period of interest free on it, wouldn't that be like a free short term car loan. I know ill be able to pay it off by selling my current car, and my forthcoming wages and also I do have savings (but would prefer to leave these where they are).

Thanks for your help

Yes, it would be like a short term loan. However, if you have the savings, why not use them, as it amounts to the same thing. Then *if* you have an emergency, then you could use a 0% purchase CC for that.

I think it depends on your spending habits; are you absolutely, completely sure that you won't allow the purchase to go past its interest-free date? Because if it does, you'll land yourself with huge interest!

It's not crazy if you're confident that you'll pay the CC off in time. Otherwise you might be better to use your savings to avoid temptation!

fleeze69

Thanks for the replies, in response to KiKi I don't really want to touch my savings as there in an account which I can only put a certain amount in each month so it would take ages to put it back into the savings, and as long as the credit card is 0% on purchases I may as well earn interest, whilst using the credit card companies money. Ill definitely pay it off with my forthcoming income, and even if i couldn't id then dip into my savings to avoid the interest from the credit card.

Again thanks for the advice everyone :beer: