I was attempting to put a large portion of the purchase of a new vehicle (over 10k) on a CC. Upon going to the dealer to pick up the vehicle they refused to accept payment by CC saying that at most I could put only $2,000 towards the purchase.

I know this is a violation of there merchant agreement, yet I dont want to make too many waves since my car is going to be serviced there for 5 years under the warranty.

Any advice?

As far as I'm concerned you could pay for the whole car on the credit card.

I could care less.

Won't do any good to make any waves either, you can report them all you like, because neither visa/mastercard/amex or the like will fine a dealership or suspend/revoke our agreement for imposing any limit we like.

As a business, we may choose the method of payment we accept or any limitations on any method of payment we accept. And to be quite frank, there is nothing anyone can or will do about it.

It's probably just that store's policy not to accept over a certain amount.

The credit card companies may not do anything, but if you let enough people who have principles know about it, they will certainly go elsewhere for a car.

I am thinking that is something that can be done.

And I'm thinking that actually not a great many people care either way.

I certainly don't. Pay Cash, Pay with a loaded wheelbarrow full of Coin Wrappers, pay with a credit card, makes no nevermind to me.

Since this is more of a policy post regarding the acceptance of credit cards or denial thereof, I'm am moving this thread to the appropriate forum and saying goodbye to it.

MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE AUTOMOTIVE DEPARTMENT

2 DURANGOS

100% PIF

AMEX DELTA

YES I WAS WILLING TO WALK AND TOLD THEM FROM THE GET GO

SOME DEALERS ARE A STRANGE BUNCH OF PEOPLE

THEY MAKE MORE MONEY BY REFUSING A SALE

As a former General Manager of 3 dealerships (family owned) it was policy not to accept payment over 1000 on a credit card toward the purchase of a new/used vehicle. I did not care if it irritated people or not.

I would have held the door open for you.

A CREDIT CARD FEE IS...

A TAX DEDUCTABLE COST OF DOING BUSINESS JUST LIKE...

PHONE
WATER
GAS
SEWER
ELECTRIC
ETC..........

AS IN KICK ME TO THE CURB???

Yes. It wouldn't have been personal. Just business.

YOU THE ONLY PLACE IN TOWN???

No.. not the only dealership in the metro area. ARE YOU THE ONLY CUSTOMER IN TOWN? It was my policy not to be held hostage by a customer for any reason.

OK...........

THE PLACE NEXTDOOR WILL GET THE SALE

As always a interesting and spirited debate.

Please explain how a customer, willing to buy a car at a mutually agreed upon price, and using a legitimate payment method, is holding you hostage.

If you really want to pay by credit card. Contact MC or Visa and complain. In about 14 days the dealer will get a nasty letter telling them to cut it out. Wait a few weeks go back and see if they are still doing it. If so, report them again.

You can report the violation to Mastercard here:


http://www.mastercard.com/contactus/contactus_mv.html


I have seen some of the letters that merchants in violation of MC/Visa policy get. Some of them are pretty nasty (repeat offenders).





From another thread:

My friend made some enemies at a local Toyota dealer with that one. After beating them into the ground, he pulled out his credit card to pay. They told him they only took credit cards for deposits. He told them that if they accepted Mastercard, then they had to accept it for all purchases. They said no. He called MC corporate line from his cell phone. They put him through to the correct department. The finance manager refused to speak to MC on the phone. My friend gave MC the dealership info.

Somone called a few days later and invited him to come and purchase the car. He was told that their processor called the manager and "explained the situation to him".

I take that to mean they were threatened with having their account yanked.

When you accepted your merchant agreement, was there a clause in it that said you could not set a maximum charge amount?

STORE POLICY DOES NOT OVER-RULE CREDIT CARD POLICY

****Update****

Although I knew I could call up the CC issuer and make a situation out of it, in this case that was not the route I chose to take for various reasons.

1) they were the only local & convenient dealer for the make of car
2) I gorged them on my trade in value and got it in writing. The appraiser messed up and thought I had a different model and appraised it over blue book value.

Next time it will be the 1st thing I say to dealer and make sure it wont be an issue.

We negotiated a fair and reasonable amount to be put on my CC. It was not the amount I had planned but am happy with the results.

Why not walk into a nearby bank and get a cash advance? Was it the % charged for the cash advance fee that was stopping you? Some of my cards don't charge for a cash advance and I can just go to a bank, hand them the card and ID and leave with either cash or a cashier's check for the items I want to purchase. This was very helpful for me when I traveled extensively..

Again you can pay for a car with a card till the cows come home but dont expect the dealer to suffer a loss for it. in other words dont expect to pay invoice because you wont be paying invoice with a credit card and we will not only show you the door we might even be nice and open it before we throw you out of it.

It can be done, my father used his AMEX and got a new car so it depends on the dealer, if it was me, I would let them know I am using a CC dont like it, fine I will go spend my money elsewhere. On the other hand though, lets be realistic, some of these dealers dont want you to come in with a credit card, a certified check or cash. They are usually hoping they can get you "financed" with one of their banks. Paying in full works in the customer's best interest, not the banks. JMO

I'm sure they wouldn't want to lose their CC accounts completely... too much goes through their service department on CCs. So, if it's such an issue, why don't dealers set up two separate business entities... one for service that takes CCs, and one for sales that does not?

Many cards now charge significantly more for cash advances.
For example, Chase 0% promo, 8.99 regular fixed, 24.24APR for cash advances PLUS 3% fees in some cases. Whenever I've gone into a bank to get a cashiers check on my card it is a cash advance. The banks send printed checks in the mail all the time but you have to read the fine print, some of these are purchase checks, some are promotional APRs, and others, usually the ones printed with the bill are cash advance checks at high rates plus fees.

I get convenience checks every month from Providian. Because of some things I'd read here, I looked at the fine print on the ones I got a couple days ago. The verbiage about a maximum fee was no longer there (it used to be). They no longer have a maximum and will charge 3% up to infinity.

Nobody here has mentioned the real reason I suspect dealers play games with credit cards. Follow the money.

Auto dealers make significant commission on finance deals. Talk a family into a car a bit above their means and get them on a 72 or 84 month loan at the payment they can manage, that loan brings a significant chunk of commission change in their wallet.

Some will make the car price look like a real steal knowing they get the kickback from the finance company. And many dealers play other games with credit, pushing and confusing customers into finance packages that make more for them and are not in the customer's best interest. They bend over backwards and stay late hours after closing to get a deal done and have you drive off that night because they know you'd find a better deal the next day.

Credit card = fee charged to them
Cash = neutral, but have to accept
Dealer Financing = a nice extra nut for them

I have no doubt that some dealers lie about $1000 or $2000 limits when there are none, and it is actually a violation of their merchant agreement, which of course is written for the benefit of VISA/MC/AMEX to get their fees!


Ever get one of those special finance deals from CapOne or other companies, the so called "blank check" but you can only take it to certain "authorized" dealers? That is because the bank has worked out a special incentive deal with specific dealers.

I've also walked in, negotiated a sale and then laid down my blank check from the credit union. One dealer called me all sorts of names and I walked out, then a manager chased me out into the lot begging me to come back. Another dealer accepted the check but insisted I go through their whole financing process to see if they could beat the CU deal. They could not, and I drove away but with 7 new hard inq on my CRAs. That was 11 years ago, but I doubt much has changed.

It is a possibility that the people that had
their CC accepted for a large part or all of
a car purchase, did not negotiate the best
deal possible, and thus the dealer was willing
to take the CC and pay the fee.

I thought that was obvious in the debate. If you walk in and pay sticker price (as George has stated he did for his two Durangos) they'll gladly take your credit card. After all, you just overpaid a couple thousand in pure profit, so what difference does a 3% CC fee make? If you've negotiated and get the vehicle at invoice, the only profit the dealer sees is the 2-3% manufacturer holdback they get. In that case, incurring a 3% CC fee is equivilant to them paying you to take the car, from a dealership standpoint. They're not going to lose money to sell you a car, and it's foolish to expect them to.

MOST CARDS CHARGE A CASH ADVANCE RATE OF 19.99% FROM DAY ONE AND A FEE OF LIKE 4% ON TOP OF THAT

I paid the reduced price from the sticker

DID YOU DO THE soldiergurl74 ON MY SALE FOR THE OVER-PAYMENT???

(PROOF IT NEVER HAPPENED or NOT)

IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT THE DEALER KNOWS THEY HAVE A NEW CUSTOMER BY NOT REFUSING THE SALE

and

THE DEALER KNOWS THAT THE CREDIT CARD FEES ARE A TAX DEDUCTABLE COST OF DOING BUSINESS

the dealer would rather have profit and a CASH or FINANCE deal with a customer than a LOSS selling a car at invoice by credit card so some customer can get rewards. those tightwads get shown the door. we didnt lose money and we dont want the bad CSI score than such customers love to send in.

Sticker? MSRP? Dealer mark-up? Which sticker? How much over invoice was it?



Ok, that's fine, so why don't they just acknowledge the proper rules and not accept credit cards at all? Problem solved. Honest business.

If "tightwad" is someone who wants to maximize their own personal finances, then count me in.

19.99% OR HIGHER

REDUCED FROM THE PRICE ON THE WINDSHIELD

ya'll still arguing over this silly thing?????????

*sigh*

if you want to pay sticker price with a card you can do that all day long we dont care. if you want to pay invoice with the card.. theres the door.. cya

I'm agreeing with you so far. As much as I'd like the ability to just buy a car on credit, and dont personally see the harm...

...businesses need to recognize problem customers and deal with them accordingly. Unreasonable demands? Fine, leave.

NO MINIMUM

NO MAXIMUM

NO FEE TO USE

NO ID ON A SIGNED CREDIT CARD

THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS A DEALER GETS MONEY FROM A SALE THAT ARE NOT KNOWN BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC IT IS MIND BOGGLING

AND YOUR POINT IS??????

THE POINT IS....

THE DEALER ACTS LIKE THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE THEIR SHIRT BY TAKING A CREDIT CARD AS PAYMENT

WE ARE NOT TALKING A CREDIT CARD FEE OF $2,000 HERE

WE ARE NOT EVEN TALKING $500

$15,000 X 0.015 = $225

I BET THEY PAY OVER $225 FOR THEIR PHONE BILL

THE FEE "CAN" BE 1%--3% (I would assume the dealer is on the lower end of the scale)

That's great... but doesn't address the question.

the answer is they dont have to honor the cc if they dont want to. the deal isnt done till the paperwork is signed and the funds are in the dealers bank. and they can determine how they want to get paid. its as simple as that.

So basically, no, it's not honest dealing. It shouldn't matter what form the payment is and a deal at any price should take any legitimate form of payment that the dealer accepts. The dealer even agrees as much when they sign the merchant agreement. But, in the real world, since the price of a car is a moving target, the buyer doesn't know what the dealer's lowest price would be, there's no way to prove anything. End result... while the dealer may not be ethically right, or even legally right, there's no way to prove it, and the dealer gets away with it.

Side question: Would a dealer with fixed pricing, i.e. Saturn, refuse a credit card payment?

yes they will

Seems that would be harder for the dealer to get away with. If the customer were knowledgable about the process.

(Assuming you were answering the fixed pricing part)