Should I close redundant Credit Card Accounts?

colinstack

Hi Everyone,
Cant believe it's December already.

Ok so my car has recently had alot of work done due to leaking coolant.... spent lots of money and finally advised coolant is still over pressurising and would cost alot to fix....car is old with alot of millage......

Currently trying to work out best option to purchase second hand car... either bank loan, car finance, or credit card deal.......

ok so thats the background.

on ClearScore I have a fair score but want to maximise my credit rating....

I have managed to pay off my only active credit card before 0% finishes so all cards have a 0 balance now.(ignore balance on M&S card).

Finally to my question !!!!

Should I cancel my Vigin and mbna cards? and my M&S card? 
Would this help or hinder my credit rating

Although I have credit available on all cards I dont want to have the high interest.

OR should I use the credit I have the transfer the balances to another card..... although that doesnt make much sense as I may have to pay transfer fee percentages.....

Basically any advice would be appreciated and as a second question if I wanted to spend about £5000 on a car would you recommend a loan, credit card, car finance, or something else.....

Thank you for your time and all answers appreciated  

Regards

Colin

MorningcoffeeIV

With only three cards, keep them all. 

You're unlikely to be able to pay in full for a car with a credit card, so depending on where you are buying from, you'll need to look at appropriate options.

 Your scores and rating are irrelevant when it comes to lending, so don't waste time trying to maximise them. Keep revolving debt to a minimum and don't miss payments or otherwise break credit agreements.

retiredbanker1

I would keep them all too.
They are all from different banking groups - which might come in handy one day should you have any problems.

Just use them once in a while to keep 'live',

enthusiasticsaver

I don't think closing the cards would necessarily help your credit rating but as you say none of them are now 0% interest I would not use them to buy a car even assuming you could. Lots of garages would not take credit cards for a car so a money transfer card at 0% would be your cheapest option assuming you can get one.  If not I would look at a personal loan. 

Volcane

As above keep them open and never close a line of credit in case it’s ever needed.

only exception to this would be if you really can’t trust yourself to run up high levels of debt.

martinbainbridge1975

you may find money transfer options at 0 per cent on the existing cards to help funding a car, depending on how quick you wish to pay it back.

as above I certainly would not rush into closing them down

Heidiho

I’ve got 3 “permanent” credit cards but open and close others as and when incentives pop up (eg I’ve had several M&S cards in the past as they often offer M&S gift cards if you open an account). Rather than leave these additional ones open forever I shut them down once I’ve received the incentive so that I can benefit from an incentive again in the future. Not saying this is what you should do but if you like free cash every now and again it’s definitely something to keep in mind 😀

ps - regarding the purchase of a car, I have a feeling that dealers will only accept a deposit on a credit card and not the whole balance (that’s bin my experience in recent years, which is a shame as it would have been a great way to earn some decent cashback!)

Cisco001

I personally have 3 credit card.
AMEX, Master and Visa, One each 

With the second hand car, I bought my car with 0% interest purchase credit card 4 years ago (2 credit cards + 1 debit card). But that is with official dealership. No idea with other place would accept
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-0-credit-cards/#barclaycard

BTW, you may also look at card without fee for foreign fee transaction as spare. It is handy when you need to buy things in foreign currency or go on holiday.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/#analysis

Bank loan tends to has lower interest than car finance...

[Deleted User]

Cisco001 said:

I personally have 3 credit card.
AMEX, Master and Visa, One each 

With the second hand car, I bought my car with 0% interest purchase credit card 4 years ago (2 credit cards + 1 debit card). But that is with official dealership. No idea with other place would accept
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-0-credit-cards/#barclaycard

BTW, you may also look at card without fee for foreign fee transaction as spare. It is handy when you need to buy things in foreign currency or go on holiday.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/#analysis

Bank loan tends to has lower interest than car finance...

Yes, but it's often cheaper to take their finance then pay it off immediately...