Visa cards

[wobbles]

If I were to buy a car using my visa credit card would it be seen as a purchase or cash advance?

We are talking IRO £6000 which would be paid off over 8months or so.

I'm reckoning it would be much cheaper than getting a loan.

If you KNOW you'll be able to pay it back in that time, consider getting a new cc with an introductory 12-month interest-free deal so you won't pay anything over the odds.

jkklpu, problem is most CC companies don't give you large credit limits to start with.

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

Don't see why it might be considered as a cash advance - the CC guarantee scheme covers items from 100 to 30,000 pounds (last time I read about it) and car is surely just an item you are buying, as much as paying for a holiday, or an antique or painting from a dealer.

What interest rate would you be charged on your credit card ? I'd expect a reply in the region of 15% to 30% unless you have a great deal (or a rotten one) that is outside.

You could perhaps use your credit card for the purchase and then get a loan (assuming you have a reasonable credit rating, and given your expectation to pay this off over 6 months) using Zopa when you might be able to save 5% to 10% (or more). I know they aim for people borrowing for 36 to 60 months but you could certainly see what the rate you'd be charged is, and whether they would accept the loan on a 6 month basis (if not, you could perhaps still end up paying less if you took loan over a 12 month basis - less interest than you'd be paying the credit card, if they charge over 20%, IYSWIM)

Also, if you expect to repay that fast, have you considered a personal loan from a bank - I have never used one for a car, but they would surely be worth checking, to see if they would charge less. If you do investigate a few of these, would be handy to have feedback about who was asking what interest rate, just for comparison. I may be very wide of the mark as far as which will be cheapest and which most expensive and some 'real life' figures would perhaps help others - nothing like a newspaper item where they have a real situation not something "on paper" being offered as an example.

Most car dealerships charge you for paying by credit card

ooops mixed 6 of 6000 with 8 of 8 months.

NG, thanks for that. Lots to think about there.

CG interesting to know that dealerships charge for CC payment.

The interest rate is 18%

Charge by credit card firms is 1% to 4% and shops are allowed to pass it on. Most don't but some (like travel agents) have done for years and make it clear they add some % for CCs and some flat fee (usually) for debit cards (they get charged but it's something like 50p).

Most businesses just absorb the cost of those fees. Maybe car dealerships consider a few pounds is too much on top of any commission they pay their sales people!

In the past, particularly with sole trader or family owned shops (unlike the big chain stores or franchises) it was sometimes easy to get a 2-3% discount by "paying with cash" as the owner knew he would perhaps pay 4% in card fee.

18% doesn't sound so bad, if paying off over 8 months.

You may be able to get 10% over 12 months on Zopa though, get cash into your bank account and pay with a debit card to avoid dealership fee on top.