Hi

Anyone used a credit card to pay for a portion or all of the car?

Since I would use my pre-approved credit line to finance as it is a few % below the present Bank new car loans rate. I was thinking I could pre-pay my Credit Card say $20, 000 so I have a credit of 20,000 and with a limit 20, 000 be able to make a purchase of $40,000.

Then pay off the CC when due with my line of credit, this could save up to 1 month's interest for $20,000 and since I have Air miles I get that also for the full amount.

You can't buy credit with credit..... I am not sure if it will work or not.

My dealer said bring in a deposit, I said "cash"? He said, nah doesn't matter, cash, credit card, debit card, whatever.

So I figure, hell I'll put it on my credit card, I'll get some pc points.

So he swipes the card, I get my statement CASH ADVANCE!

Because it has to be "cash" So I think if you pay with your credit card it might be a cash advance which accumulates interest from day 1.

I was lucky my statement came a week later, otherwise it would have been lots of interest and I would not have been a happy camper.

Dealers won't accept more than a small portion on a credit card - probably around a $2K or $3K limit. Credit card companies charge their retailers up to 3% of a transaction, so on a low-margin item like a car (relative to clothing, jewelry, etc), that's a good part of their profit gone to the credit card company, so that's why they simply won't accept a credit card for any more than that.

Regards,
Gordon

Gord is right. I wanted to put as much as I could on my Aeroplan VISA card to get Aeromiles. My Mazda dealer's limit was $2000. The good news is that it did not count as a cash advance. I also just got my wife a 2004 Toyota Matrix. I also put about $1500 on my credit card, it did not come through as a cash advance.

My dealer is a big f'up!

I wrote a 2 page letter (10point font) to mazda canada already!

If you want a copy I'll e-mail it to you. Seriously my dealer bites!

The dealer must have made a mistake. I think only a bank can give you a cash advance on your credit card.