Large purchase on credit card

Looking to upgrade my motorcycle this year from a 250cc to a Kawasaki Er6 probably one or two years old. Looking at 3500-4500
From a dealer.
Now there are plenty of pcp deals about but I don’t like that idea.
And having just recently changed banks they won’t offer a loan for another 6 months.

I do however have three credit cars a Aqua one poor rate 34% don’t use it, maybe put petrol on it and pay the balance in full, a HSBC one 7500 credit with about 75 balance which I’m about to pay off next week and 18% rate.

And have just got a Barclycard platinum 7500 limit and 0% on purchases for 25 months.

Just wondering do bike/car dealerships accept credit cards as payment?

Superbike factory say they accept credit cards but I’m a bit dubious about them.

I thought about using my credit card when I bought my motorbike years ago but if I recall the dealer would let me use it for the deposit but it was about an additional 3% charge or thereabouts to use it for the full purchase. Things may have changed since then.

I suspect the large value of the CC fees might make it difficult without them passing those costs to you.

Ask them. Last time I bought a car as I proffered my debit card the dealer asked me if I wanted to pay any of it by credit card to take advantage of any deals the CC had on cashback/points/airmiles etc, so I did. I wouldn’t use one to actually finance the purchase though, although that’s obviously up to you.

I bought my current bike from a dealer for about 6k on a credit card which I then immediately transferred to another card on a 0% balance transfer, had to pay the transfer fee which was about 1.5% but essentially an interest free loan for 3 years. I haggled with the dealer and got them to waive their usual credit card fees. I don’t think dealers care too much where the payment comes from as long as it’s legit.

So if I were you I’d use the 0% purchase deal on the Barclaycard, but be sure you can pay it off in the 25 months as I imagine the interest rates will be punitive once the deal expires.

Probably pay it off in 12-18 months maybe less.

Now there are plenty of pcp deals about but I don’t like that idea.

Don’t like because? For any big purchase look at what you have available and do the sums. CC fees would be the main issue, any discount there is what they would have offered elsewhere. Also do you want to it now now or will in reality a 6 month wait for a load work?

we buy EVERYTHING on our tesco credit card.. cars clothing food home mainteance.. and off on holiday to cornwall this weekend paid for with clubcard vouchers.. kids have already been to cinema 3 times this summer and pizza express on vouchers.. not as generous as it once was but mrs tts susses out the deals.

Don’t like the fact you have to pay a large fee at the end of the agreement. Once I’ve paid my credit card off at a rate I want more or less per month the bikes mine. Yeah need it soon. Change of jobs means I need something more capable for longer motorway journey.

Nothing to stop you ‘overpaying’ the monthly payments by putting 1/36 or 1/24 or whatever it is into a savings account to give you the lump sum at the end. Then you have the flexibility that if you want you can pay it off, or if you prefer you can chip it in for another new one, or if you decide you hate the bike in the meantime then hand it back and keep the cash.

I know you effectively have the same in that if you buy the bike and pay it off you’ll have the residual value of the bike i.o the saved sum, but as said above sometimes the PCP dealer deposit contributions and discounts and 0% finance deals make it worth doing. The issue with PCP is that most people don’t save the lump sum, and thus have either the choice to chip it in for a new one or hand it back which isn’t much of a choice because it leaves you with nothing to drive to work. Hence – you’re tied back into supporting the bike manufacturers to keep making new bikes (IMHE from cars but don’t see why bikes would be so different)

If you go down the ‘pay now’ route. Definitely the 0% card and then set up a standing order to pay it back monthly.

We had to pay cc fees for our virgin holiday using our virgin credit card. Why the big companies can’t swallow the cc fees I don’t know.
We don’t do as many large transactions as a car dealer but we certainly do a lot more transactions. When you get someone wanting to buy a greetings card with their credit card you can kiss most of your profit good bye. We have to pay a fortune in CC fees. I’d love to see how our customers react if we whacked them for extra when using their CC.
Mrs Zip was behind someone who bought a single banana on her credit card. It would be cheaper to give the banana away.

That’s why most places have a £5 or £10 minimum if using a CC…

If your bank has a saver account like First Direct or Nationwide drop the money you intend to pay the CC off with in their and you could get around 5%. Standalone savings and ISAs are crap at the mo but the ones linked to current accounts pay ok.

we buy EVERYTHING on our tesco credit card

Yep, business expenses too. Points used at Evans 🙂

You get much more consumer protection, especially on travel, with a CC. Hence the fees they charge retailers. They can choose to soak up the cost, but where they’re big fees (travel, for example) and you’re getting more for using the card, they often choose not to or can’t afford to.

For the OP, no reason not to: very cheap credit, even if you have to pay the bike shop fees or transfer fees. Just have a repayment plan, and stick to it.

And *whatever* you do, as a minimum cut up that Aqua card. Right now. No really, go get the scissors before you do anything!

Payment plan dealer offered last time I bought a car did have a final lump sum but it wasn’t a fee, just a final payment. However interest pushed the total price up if I waited until the end, but they allowed you to pay it off early just after the interest free period and then end up paying the exact price of the car. Dealer interest wasn’t much anyway. Far better than a credit card.

Anyway, got savings? Could you save a bit up before you buy? Cash deposit and lower the price.

No savings, existing motorbike should fetch between £1500-2000 so use that as deposit.
Bike I’m looking at is £3691 2013 Kawasaki Er6f with 4,000 miles on the clock.

OP no problems really putting it on the 0% rate card. However you must be disciplined and pay it down. PCP forces you to make the monthly payments. Don’t get lazy and leave a big lump sum and then get hit with very high interest rates

FWIW we put everything we can through an airmiles credit card and pay it off. I have paid for large purchases inc car deposits with debit cards, dealer did say using a credit card was possible but he preferred not as fees where higher.

Not that much then. Looking at up to £2191. With deposit the dealer should let you use card, but still might charge a fee unless it’s a debit card, typically 2%, so around £40. If you’ve got a 0% card and want to own the bike there and then and no hassles with contracts, then £40 isn’t much. Better still if you can pay off the card within the 0% period.

PCP shouldn’t be that bad though. Just as said, pay it down before the interest kicks in. Just keep a check on the final payment they quote. There may be two figures, one for if you leave it until the end and one for early payment (or “buy it now” payment). The early one is key and hopefully is same or not far off the price (less deposit), but there may be a fee. Leaving it until the end you may have a final lump or it just lets the payments run out. Interest will apply.

You have the option after the initial period of just handing the bike back and walking away, or trading up. Basically remember that you don’t own it during PCP, you’re renting it and there will be restrictions on what you can do to it (upgrades etc).

Check out http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-finance/personal-contract-purchase

We had to pay cc fees for our virgin holiday using our virgin credit card. Why the big companies can’t swallow the cc fees I don’t know.

Why should they? It would amount to penalising people who choose to use cheaper payment methods, as they’d have to raise their prices to cover the cost of the fees.

You get much more consumer protection, especially on travel, with a CC.

As I understand it, you don’t even have to put the entire purchase on CC, you get exactly the same protection with a partial payment. So you could just put the deposit on CC and the rest, I don’t know, Direct Debit or something. Come to that, you could put a fiver on the CC and the rest by other means and you’d get full “paid by credit card” coverage on the purchase.

I think, anyway.

OK, so the primary option to consider is what is the total cost of purchase between the dealer’s PCP and buying it with a credit card.

So, might be worth getting a PCP quote with all costs (interest, admin fees, etc.) to compare with CC (CC charges, any other fees).

Once you have those numbers, you can then decide which is the preferable option: PCP with lower monthly payments, but a big balloon payment at the end vs CC with a larger monthly payment (via standing order..!) for 25 months.

There’s no wrong answer, other than paying too much. And donlt forget to haggle in all of this..!

They do some good monthly deals on pcp however the mileage rate is a good 4,000 miles under what I do a year. I do 10,000 a year just commuting add on sunny weekend blasts the odd euro trip I’m hoping to do.
I’d Sep the direct debit up for £ 180 per month which clears the balance in 16/17 months then pay more per month when I can.

I think between Mrs PP and I we’ve bought al least 5 motorbikes and 2 cars on credit cards. I’m be only been charged extra onc (£60) on the lowest value one. All the others have gained points or similar and been paid off interest free apart from the odd balance transfer fee. Best way to do it IME.
Oh, we also bought £8500 worth of kitchen on cards too.

Don’t like because?

Because you never own it. I wouldn’t use PCP either. I just pay the whole lot then it’s mine to do with as I wish.

Mrs Zip was behind someone who bought a single banana on her credit card. It would be cheaper to give the banana away.

Most merchants charge a percentage for credit card transactions, and a flat rate for debit cards. So no, in your example it is better for the retailer to take a credit card than a debit card.

I bought a car on a credit card. Retailer charged 2% or so, which was about £100, but still cheaper than any finance as it was 0%.