[ezatnova]

Hope this is the proper forum. Anyay, I was shocked that my dealer said no to my request to put my down payment on my credit card. Yes, I have the cash but why not flip it on the card to get a ton of points (free golf club or something!). I'm sure they don't really like taking the 3% hit or whatever it is, however, I'm fairly sure that it is illegal for an establishment to refuse to accept credit card payment for a particular item/service when they accept it for anything else (in this case, parts, service, etc). Usually it is clearly stated in the credit card companies' agreements with the vendor that they can not do that. It's probably not worth the hassle of handing the dealer the fine print that I'd have to track down, just to get my bunch of points, but it just seems cruddy.

[ckm1515]

Originally Posted by ezatnova

Hope this is the proper forum. Anyay, I was shocked that my dealer said no to my request to put my down payment on my credit card. Yes, I have the cash but why not flip it on the card to get a ton of points (free golf club or something!). I'm sure they don't really like taking the 3% hit or whatever it is, however, I'm fairly sure that it is illegal for an establishment to refuse to accept credit card payment for a particular item/service when they accept it for anything else (in this case, parts, service, etc). Usually it is clearly stated in the credit card companies' agreements with the vendor that they can not do that. It's probably not worth the hassle of handing the dealer the fine print that I'd have to track down, just to get my bunch of points, but it just seems cruddy.

Odd. I've always put down deposit on CC. The max the dealership will allow on CC is up to $2K.

[mags]

I put 1k on my cc as deposit, my delaership limits down payments on cc to 1k.
That is odd.

[ezatnova]

You know, he did take my CC # for the 1k deposit, but then never charged it! I should ask that at least that be charged. I was putting way more than that down, but 1k is better than nothing.

Regarding the post above, it's also technicaly not allowed that they limit you to 2k max. Just crappy policy!

[specialque]

BMW of Bridgeport here in Connecticut is Max $2k. I was going to put the whole car on my AMEX but they wouldn't let me. 52000 rewards points would have been nice...

[theroyalwe]

yeah we have a limit of 2500 I think... no idea why.

[tintivilus]

Originally Posted by ezatnova

I'm fairly sure that it is illegal for an establishment to refuse to accept credit card payment for a particular item/service when they accept it for anything else (in this case, parts, service, etc). Usually it is clearly stated in the credit card companies' agreements with the vendor that they can not do that.

Being against the merchant/vendor contract doesn't make something illegal; and since the merchant agreement is between the seller and their bank, you do'nt have a whole lot of standing to do anything about it.

This is what the Visa website says:

If you run into a problem like this with a merchant, please notify the financial institution that issued you your Visa card. These institutions have access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations and can help you document and file your complaint.

[BD328xi]

I always thought that's how it supposed to be. For the last 3 cars I bought (Honda, VW and Acura), all of them took only 1k with my credit card and the rest had to be checks.

[ezatnova]

Originally Posted by tintivilus

Being against the merchant/vendor contract doesn't make something illegal; and since the merchant agreement is between the seller and their bank, you do'nt have a whole lot of standing to do anything about it.

This is what the Visa website says:

Well, there are laws around usage/issuance of credit that govern the contracts, and if you really made a big stink out of it, the dealer would have to cave. It might take a good bit of effort involving the cc company, but you would technically win in the end. The agreement is between the seller and the agency (mastercard, visa, etc) that gives these conditions.

Theroyalwe, it would be neat if you could pry for an honest answer from your finance manager or someone. It's got to be flat out cost savings, not allowing huge payments on cc. If each customer puts down 10k, and the cc takes 2-3% of that off the top, it could really add up.

[ezatnova]

Originally Posted by BD328xi

I always thought that's how it supposed to be. For the last 3 cars I bought (Honda, VW and Acura), all of them took only 1k with my credit card and the rest had to be checks.

I'm not claiming to have done it personally, but I know 2 people off the top of my head who've bought entire cars on their credit card, rather than paying cash. It's smart if you have the credit, to earn the points/miles, etc, and have your money grow in your own account for the extra month you can hold onto it.

[LEDZEP]

I had them hit my plastic for the deposit on my first E90 (they don't make me put deposits down anymore). I also put a couple grand on the card when I bought it. I get nice rewards too - that give me $$ whenever I buy a car (nice circular logic there, eh?). I didn't even attempt it this time because I made a huge down payment and I figured they'd freak.

Here's the REAL reason: Assuming you are financing your car - it is illegal in some places and forbidden by the finance companies pretty much everywhere for you to be "financing" your down payment. A credit card is a form of financing, and even though many of us never carry a balance, there is no way for the lender to know that. The logic is if you don't have cash for your down payment, maybe you're not really able to afford the loan. The interest rate you get is also partly based on the debt/equity ratio of the new car...

So, it's more of a banking rule than a dealer rule.

[ezatnova]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

I had them hit my plastic for the deposit on my first E90 (they don't make me put deposits down anymore). I also put a couple grand on the card when I bought it. I get nice rewards too - that give me $$ whenever I buy a car (nice circular logic there, eh?). I didn't even attempt it this time because I made a huge down payment and I figured they'd freak.

Here's the REAL reason: Assuming you are financing your car - it is illegal in some places and forbidden by the finance companies pretty much everywhere for you to be "financing" your down payment. A credit card is a form of financing, and even though many of us never carry a balance, there is no way for the lender to know that. The logic is if you don't have cash for your down payment, maybe you're not really able to afford the loan. The interest rate you get is also partly based on the debt/equity ratio of the new car...

So, it's more of a banking rule than a dealer rule.

That's some great thought around another reason why! Makes sense. Still, I'd rather them just check the hell out of my credit, and then let me put it on the card.

Forgot to ask, I haven't applied for the car loan yet...so it will give me a better rate on the loan since me down payment is hefty, giving me a good D/E ratio? I figured credit score and reasonable loan amount/income ratio would really factor the loan rate much more than what the down payment is. Although, it makes sense...the more equity you've already put into it, the safer it is for them.

[Lassaxi]

Originally Posted by tintivilus

Being against the merchant/vendor contract doesn't make something illegal; and since the merchant agreement is between the seller and their bank, you do'nt have a whole lot of standing to do anything about it.

This is what the Visa website says:

Failing to honor a credit card agreement may violate consumer protection laws in some states, as some states consider it to be unfair and deceptive to advertise that you accept credit cards and then refuse to accept them for transactions over/under a certain amount. It depends on the state, and it depends on exactly how the merchant handles the transaction.

I think it makes a lot of sense for car dealers to cap the amount they'll take on a credit card because there is a real potential for fraudulent transactions and purchases made with stolen cards. I don't know if credit card agreements take that into account or not, but it would be financially prudent for a delaer to impose a cap.

[cburton]

My dealer allowed 4500 on the credit card.

[bigJnyc]

Originally Posted by cburton

My dealer allowed 4500 on the credit card.

+1 my total out of pocket was $4500 and i put it all on a credit card.

[Doccommando]

If merchants don't like the terms of the agreement then they simply should not enter into the agreement. This kind of crap is complete BS

[Upstate328]

I test drove a car, then thought about it for a couple of weeks and called back to order it over the phone. The dealer told me they wanted a credit card to enter the order, so I let them charge $500....

[ezatnova]

I was talking about this some more with other people, and going back to my comment about knowing people who've bought whole cars on credit cards, it may be a different scenario there. Ledzep made the good point about loan institutions not liking giving loans when a dp is made on a CC since it puts the ability to pay the loan at risk. Well, if the ENTIRE car is going on the CC, then there is no formal loan from an institution. Basically, the whole thing is on the buyer to just pay the CC bill. Eliminating that side of the equation maybe allows people to buy cars completely on the card that way. That would be some mean credit card bonus points

[IrvRobinson]

It varies from dealer to dealer.Our max on a cc is 3k for a purchase which the dealer is charged a few points for,so it just eats into the profit,I don't know if there's a limit on a card in the service department.A long time ago,before we had a cc cap, I watched a man charge a 90K Porsche, I think that cost us 2700,plus it's easier to return if the customer is unhappy with anything,so it's not as binding a contract.

[ctgazer]

in toronto, they let me put $5k on mine guess its down to dealer policy....or they think you're gonna prank them with BAM! jk..how big is westchester, pa anyways? looks semi small from mtv's vantage point..

[Enkur]

When I ordered my car the dealer asked for $1K deposit on the CC but then when it came time to do the actual paperwork I realized that he never actually charged the credit card. I ended up paying by check for the down payment but in any case there is no real reason why they couldnt take your card for deposit.

[ezatnova]

Originally Posted by ctgazer

in toronto, they let me put $5k on mine guess its down to dealer policy....or they think you're gonna prank them with BAM! jk..how big is westchester, pa anyways? looks semi small from mtv's vantage point..

Quite small. Small enough that I know all the places they film and see him regularly around town hanging out or driving one of his cars. Haven't seen the purple Lambo yet actually, but I've seen the red F360 with "CKY2K" on the plate, and the black MB CL65. (I think that was the model. It was a large 4 door AMG)