I know this can be a wacky question, but it is possible to use a business credit card with a high enough limit to purchase a car for business purposes?
Best Answer: It might be possible, but why would you want to?
Instead, save up cash and buy something used. Continue to save money and keep moving up in car until you get what you want.
Otherwise, go into debt and cause stress in your life by getting a loan.
Scott….
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Ok, sorry. I wasnt trying to accuse you of anything. I was mostly just trying to state the rules because I think a lot of consumers dont know them and as you say a lot of the big companies will try to take advantage of them. Thanks for clearing that up.
Reply:"We let them pay the whole amount on the card and then are the credit card fee (~2%)"
Now I know why it looked like we charge a fee, the "are" in the above statement was to be "ate". I was typing late and did not catch that typo.
Reply:Just to clarify… we NEVER charged an extra fee, nor did WE set a min. or max. We had a VERY small markup to stay competative with the big guys, yet we still accepted CC's. I was just stating the industry view on the subject. Although I am aware of the rules regarding accepting credit cards,(and I chose to follow them) I was not a big dealer of new cars, I was a used car dealer, an independant one at that. The ones that would "break the rules" are the large auto specific dealers.
Although they are not complying with the CC acceptance rules, I was just stating what I know from talking to other dealers.
I have found that it is good to know the "rules", but also to know how situations are handled, regardless if others are following the "rules".
Hope this helps,
HD
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I agree. I hate going to businesses that have a minimum transaction fee if you use a credit card. I didn't know it was against the rules though. They do need to eat the cost…they wanted to accept the card, so they have to pay for the benefits of doing so. Reminds me of how gas stations were doing that back in the 80's, different price for credit customers.
Reply:I just bought a 95 Quest van for my business. I took a $1,250 off of my Key bank card, no intrest for 12 mos….I love it!!!
Reply:Greg, do you ever sleep?! That post was at 4:00 am!
I am so glad this thread was started. We're purchasing a vehicle in the next couple of days and although we are financing it, I think we may use one of our new credit cards w/0% that we haven't used for the downpayment. I guess it'll look kind of funny using a GM card at Dodge or Nissan, huh? Kind of like using HDMC at Lowes!
Thanks for sharing the info!
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If you are a business that accepts credit cards you are not allowed to charge a fee/surcharge for accepting the card. its a cost of doing business. You also arent allowed to have minimum or maximum amounts. there is actually a whole forum about this here. It is against Visa/MC/Amex policy and illegal in some states.
Seriously if you are selling something for $25,000, you can afford a $500 transaction fee if you really want the convenience of accepting credit cards.There is always some negotiation leeway in there anyway ( perhpas the card buyer might not be able to work out as good a deal as someone else, but you cant blatantly charge them more).
Reply:We used to have a car lot, just closed it down… anyways, you can use any payment method the dealer allows. We never once had a chargeback of a credit card purchase, main reason is if they ever did they would never receive title. The paperwork could would not be submitted for DMV registration with out payment. We let them pay the whole amount on the card and then are the credit card fee (~2%)
Second item is that new dealers always set a limit normally of $2K (a decent down) for a credit card transaction, reason here is not for chargeback concerns, but because the dealer does not want to eat the discount fee. IE. they do not want you to charge a $25K car and then they have to absorb the 2-3% charge. (car dealers have higher rates due to the perceived greater risk in the car biz).
Reply:I used my Citi AA card to buy a car not too long ago. I had the 0% deal for 12 months. I didnt buy a new car, I bought a used BMW 540i. I am 4 months into it and have the car halfway paid off. I like that all my payments go towards principal.
Reply:I asked this question somewhere else in Visa/MC policies because I think George either attempted to or did buy with an AMEX rewards card. basically if they accept even a partial CC payment ( I knew someone who did a CC down payment) under the merchant agreements with Visa/MC/AMEX they must accept i bcause merchants are prohibited frm surcharges and minimum/maximum purchase amounts. I am trying to find that post now.
Another thing you could do is use a BT check or deposit BT check to your account and write a check.
Reply:I bought a car on a BoA credit card using the checks that they mail to you. There was an offer for zero percent for so long and then the balance stayed at prime for life. What a great deal at the time!
The best thing is that there was NO lien on my car.
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Not necesarily. Some cards give rewards, cash back,etc. You could BT to a 0% rate card,etc. I have a Prime for life BT card, thats certainly a lot more than 0% now, but considering I probably couldnt even get a car loan, not bad.
What if you bought it with a high CL, high rate card and then BT to a 0% 12 mo card. At 11 months, BT to a prime card. By then its at least 20-24% paidoff interest free. How crazy is that.
IMO, its not anymore crazy to use unsecured debt to by a car than it is to gt a 5 or 6 year secured loan. preferably not finance at all and pay cash, but obvioulsy most people dont do that.
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OMG You know that makes total sense, but that would be hilarious.
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Most auto dealers will not allow it. Why? Because during a normal purchase transaction once the papers are signed and you drive off the lot the car is yours, whether you paid cash or financed it. If they allow you to purchase with a credit card you can call the card company and complain about a problem and they can reverse the transaction.
Reply:I think so.
Reply:sure you can but that would be crazy!
September 29th, 2011 
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