Buying a car on credit card and transferring the balance to 0% card

CreditCardChris

I want to buy a car, I have half the money but need the other half from somewhere. I'm reluctant to do finance as it comes with interest and even though the interest is low it's still more money.

Is it a stupid idea to pay half in cash and then half on my credit card then apply for a 0% card and transfer the balance? Should I apply for the card before I buy the car or immediately afterwards?

How do people usually do this kind of thing?

CreditCardChris

Actually I've just realised, the new card I apply for might not give me a limit sufficient for the balance transfer, that's a bit of a pain.

The card I want to transfer the balance from is Amex (£6,000), do you think if I applied for a balance transfer card with Amex (what with being an existing responsible card holder for 4 months) they would grant it? Or would they see I'm just trying to to avoid paying any interest and deny me?

BoGoF

Problem 1 - you won't be able to transfer Amex to Amex

Problem 2 - the car dealer may not accept such a large payment on credit card, if any. Especially if it's Amex.

CreditCardChris

Fair enough.

Why wouldn't they accept a credit card? It's only £6,000.

cajef

I have bought brand new cars from a main Honda dealer for cash, they will only accept a credit card for the deposit the remainder has to be either bank transfer, debit card or cheque and if the latter they would not release the car until the cheque had cleared, you need to check with the dealer to see if they will accept a CC.

stehouk

Car Dealer's don't want to pay the credit card fees, they often let you pay a small holding deposit on a card though, you could try haggling price down and offering to pay the fees.

BoGoF

And Amex, I believe, have the highest merchant fees

[Deleted User]

Dealers don’t like to accept credit cards due to fees, especially Amex which is the most expensive.

Plus Amex are notoriously difficult to Balance Transfer FROM - there’s only select lenders that accept BT’s from Amex - the forum is littered with posts of people who have tried and failed to do so.

You also don’t have to pay the full amount by Credit Card if you’re interested in Section 75 protection - even a £1 deposit payment will cover you.