Do i use my credit card (mastercard) to pay the deposit for a used car from a garage

fluffygingercat63

Hi 

I am about to purchase a used car from a known garage (not dealership) and considering paying the £500 deposit on my credit card (mastercard) and remaining amount in transferable funds. 
by doing this do i get consumer protection?
will i be eligible to a refund if i was to take the vehicle to a trusted garage for a once over to ensure car is sold in condition as advertised?
Many thanks 

eskbanker

Paying any of the cost of a purchase (that's valued between £100 and £30K) with a credit card brings section 75 protection into play, so generally worth doing, but all it does is to grant you the same rights against the card company as you have against the merchant, i.e. if there's a (demonstrable) breach of contract then you can pursue either party.

PRAISETHESUN

There's no reason not to, but as above S75 isn't the end all protection that everyone claims it to be. Better than nothing of course, so if the dealer allows you to pay the deposit by credit card then I'd definitely do so.

DullGreyGuy

fluffygingercat63 said:

I am about to purchase a used car from a known garage (not dealership) and considering paying the £500 deposit on my credit card (mastercard) and remaining amount in transferable funds. 
by doing this do i get consumer protection?
will i be eligible to a refund if i was to take the vehicle to a trusted garage for a once over to ensure car is sold in condition as advertised?

Paying by credit card doesn't get you consumer protection. 

Paying by credit card duplicates your consumer protection from being with the vendor to being with both vendor and credit card company. In many situations it's both easier and better to deal with the vendor than the bank but, for example, if the vendor goes bust then you have a second organisation to go after. 

The CRA gives you 30 days to reject goods, after which time the merchant can repair instead or refunding. 

MEM62

fluffygingercat63 said:

by doing this do i get consumer protection?

It gives you potentially S75 protection but don't over-estimate the benefit of this.  It is not a catch all remedy for ay issues.  Reviews and personal recommendations in respect of the business would serve you better.   

CliveOfIndia

As above, paying any amount by credit card will give you S75 protection (subject to the standard constraints), but it doesn't cover every eventuality - basically it'll cover you in the event of breach of contract.

fluffygingercat63 said:

will i be eligible to a refund if i was to take the vehicle to a trusted garage for a once over to ensure car is sold in condition as advertised?

This will come down to the standard CRA rules.  But a better approach may be to ask your trusted mechanic to give the car a once-over before you buy it - in a similar fashion to an AA or RAC inspection.  Obviously you'd have to pay him for his time, and he'd probably have to travel to the vendor's premises (which would add to the time it takes him).  But it may make things simpler - you wouldn't have the hassle of trying to negotiate a refund post-sale.  And, if he does find anything wrong with the car, you could negotiate with the vendor to either rectify the fault or else give a discount so that you can pay your trusted garage to fix it.