Credit card car purchase, when to apply?

Ebe_Scrooge

SamJ35 said:

Yeah all very good points about the credit card fee. Did not occur to me on the phone that it was a banned practice. They said that credit cards purchases under £1k did not have a fee but everything over did at about 3%. I’ll question it when I speak with them.

They are a reputable dealership locally; my parents have purchased from them before and were very happy with the car and the service (also paid by credit card but was pre-2018). 

Thanks everyone for the advice 

Yep, they get charged a fee (as does anyone who accepts credit cards) by the credit card company.  It's a percentage of the transaction value, so the higher the value of the transaction, the higher the fee they'll get charged.  It's common for car dealers in particular to accept a card up to a certain value (such as £1000, as you say), because they're prepared to swallow that fee.  And that's why it's often advised on here to pay a small amount on card and the balance by cash - it's a low enough amount that the dealer is prepared to accept it, but you still get S75 protection.  They used to pass on the fee to the customer if the customer wanted to pay the whole amount by card, but since that was made illegal, they limit the amount they're prepared to accept (or some businesses will just refuse to accept cards at all, that's their choice).

But if they're an established and reputable dealer, I find it surprising that they're talking about charging a fee for higher amounts - they must know that's illegal for personal credit cards.  Yes, they're at liberty to refuse to accept a card if they want, but they can't charge a fee for it.

born_again

SamJ35 said:

Yes apologies for the confusion. It’s a money transfer credit card with MBNA. So a money transfer in the typical sense, and would pay the dealer via bank transfer. 

I would not pay the dealer direct by any cash transfer from a credit card.
Transfer it to your own account & then pay the dealer.

dr_adidas01

born_again said:

SamJ35 said:

Yes apologies for the confusion. It’s a money transfer credit card with MBNA. So a money transfer in the typical sense, and would pay the dealer via bank transfer. 

I would not pay the dealer direct by any cash transfer from a credit card.
Transfer it to your own account & then pay the dealer.

Think you need to read it again as that’s exactly what the OP has said they are going to do. 

SamJ35

Ebe_Scrooge said:

SamJ35 said:

Yeah all very good points about the credit card fee. Did not occur to me on the phone that it was a banned practice. They said that credit cards purchases under £1k did not have a fee but everything over did at about 3%. I’ll question it when I speak with them.

They are a reputable dealership locally; my parents have purchased from them before and were very happy with the car and the service (also paid by credit card but was pre-2018). 

Thanks everyone for the advice 

Yep, they get charged a fee (as does anyone who accepts credit cards) by the credit card company.  It's a percentage of the transaction value, so the higher the value of the transaction, the higher the fee they'll get charged.  It's common for car dealers in particular to accept a card up to a certain value (such as £1000, as you say), because they're prepared to swallow that fee.  And that's why it's often advised on here to pay a small amount on card and the balance by cash - it's a low enough amount that the dealer is prepared to accept it, but you still get S75 protection.  They used to pass on the fee to the customer if the customer wanted to pay the whole amount by card, but since that was made illegal, they limit the amount they're prepared to accept (or some businesses will just refuse to accept cards at all, that's their choice).

But if they're an established and reputable dealer, I find it surprising that they're talking about charging a fee for higher amounts - they must know that's illegal for personal credit cards.  Yes, they're at liberty to refuse to accept a card if they want, but they can't charge a fee for it.

I too am a bit surprised after looking into it. I'll just have a conversation with them tomorrow, see what they say. Obviously if the credit card fee is not charged (as is the law), then I should be able to pay via a 0% purchases card rather than money transfer and avoid a fee altogether. This would be best outcome. 
Hopefully they will accept some sort of refundable deposit and will waive the credit card fees. But we'll see. Otherwise I'll put £100 on a credit card, and pay the rest via a bank transfer, to avail of the protection. 
Thanks everyone

TadleyBaggie

If the agree the fee shouldn't be charged, you'll probably find out that they will no longer accept that form of payment.

born_again

dr_adidas01 said:

born_again said:

SamJ35 said:

Yes apologies for the confusion. It’s a money transfer credit card with MBNA. So a money transfer in the typical sense, and would pay the dealer via bank transfer. 

I would not pay the dealer direct by any cash transfer from a credit card.
Transfer it to your own account & then pay the dealer.

Think you need to read it again as that’s exactly what the OP has said they are going to do. 

?
I got what the OP said, hence my advise  DO NOT... If anything goes wrong It will be hell to sort out.
They need to pay it into their own account, then pay the dealer.

jonesMUFCforever

OP you could always turn the situation around by asking for a 3% discount for a cash bank transfer - just to see what they say?

phillw

SamJ35 said:
I assume it will take a few days for the card to arrive to enable the money transfer? 

It will depend on the issuer, but I've had two credit cards take about a week to turn up lately.
Debit cards turn up quicker.

SamJ35

Thanks all for suggestions. They waived fees for credit card (as they should). They did mention CC not being a possibility due to the fees, but after a bit of back and forth it was agreed. Full balance being paid on it. 

They are giving new MOT and service and so will collect in new year, so that gives time for the card to arrive (which will take 7 days, thanks to poster above).  I put down a deposit to remove from sale and applied for MBNA purchases card and all approved. 18 months at 0%. 

Thanks to the poster for pointing out no protection on a money transfer, that did not cross my mind. So I got the s75 protection and the 0%, so that’s what I was after. Thanks again everyone.