Buying new car in cash

challengesahead

I am about to buy an electric car in couple of weeks time. Have got few options

1) using  finance(pcp) is available at 7.9%
2) pay cash
3) use a credit card with promo / cashback

The first two don't seem too great. Has anyone used any cashback/rewards credit card to make big purchase recently?

Clive_Woody

Often there will be a dealer contribution to a PCP deal that is well worth having (often £1000s towards deposit). There is no reason why you couldn’t sign up to a PCP deal, benefit from the dealer/manufacturer discount then pay it off after a month if you have cash available or can get a loan at a better rate. Plenty of stories on here of people doing that.

There seems to be little to be gained from paying cash these days and most dealers are unlikely to accept credit cards, other than for a few £100 as a deposit.

Have you checked CarWow and other sites to get best prices?

DrEskimo

As above, make sure you are getting the best possible price. Things are beginning to get back to 'normal' and we are starting to see discounts and finance incentives on some models, but will depend on which EV.

Which EV are you looking to get and what is the price being offered?

That best price may or may not be dependent on taking out the manufacturers finance deal (may come with other perks, like free servicing). I, like many others, take advantage of these by taking the finance out, then settling the next day/week/month. Worth checking the T&Cs about early settlement though.

IMHO there is no argument for keeping the PCP finance at 7.9% if you can afford to pay it in full.

Use a credit card for the holding deposit, that way you can get S75 protection (assuming the car is not >£30k I think?).

DullGreyGuy

challengesahead said:

Has anyone used any cashback/rewards credit card to make big purchase recently?

All the time, but the challenge will be if the garage is actually willing to accept a credit card for such a large purchase... most are willing for you to pay a sub £1,000 holding fee/deposit or such by credit card but any more than that it has to be by debit card or another form of payment which doesnt charge them a percentage. 

Its a slight quirk of garages as were you to buy a few bottles of Romanée Conti 2009 along with your meal the restaurant would be happy to put through the £60k on your card. 

user1977

DullGreyGuy said:

challengesahead said:

Has anyone used any cashback/rewards credit card to make big purchase recently?

All the time, but the challenge will be if the garage is actually willing to accept a credit card for such a large purchase... most are willing for you to pay a sub £1,000 holding fee/deposit or such by credit card but any more than that it has to be by debit card or another form of payment which doesnt charge them a percentage. 

Its a slight quirk of garages as were you to buy a few bottles of Romanée Conti 2009 along with your meal the restaurant would be happy to put through the £60k on your card. 

These things are mostly to do with the profit margin - your restaurant booze is of course hugely more expensive than the same stuff from an off-licence, so the restaurant can happily swallow the credit card commission, whereas the garage isn't making all that much as a percentage. 

challengesahead

The car is a MG 4 EV(£31,500). Looks like since its a new model and quite in demand, dealer has got people in waiting so not really motivated to give any perks. Checked other places and they have got same pricing, plus wait for another 3-4 months to get delivery.
Dealer is happy to take partial payment via credit card. So is there a credit card, that I can utilize for cashback/points.

TadleyBaggie

Be aware that as the purchase is more than £30K, you won't get any S75 protection by using a credit card.

challengesahead

TadleyBaggie said:

Be aware that as the purchase is more than £30K, you won't get any S75 protection by using a credit card.

do you think, I should go for pcp at least for some kind of protection and then pay off in cooling period?

Mutton_Geoff

I bought a new car last year, the dealer wouldn't even accept a debit card, the purchase price had to be paid by bank transfer.

Grumpy_chap

challengesahead said:

The car is a MG 4 EV(£31,500). Looks like since its a new model and quite in demand, dealer has got people in waiting so not really motivated to give any perks. 

That's a nice car - there are some Dealers offering very small discounts of £200 ish, but that's about it.

challengesahead said:

Dealer is happy to take partial payment via credit card. So is there a credit card, that I can utilize for cashback/points.

What credit card do you have / can you get?
Any card with rewards / cashback will work the same way assuming you have the available credit limit.

challengesahead

I was going to go for chase account, as they offer 1% cashback but found wont get it for buying car.

I have decent credit, so can try and apply any new credit card with offers.