# Can a person buy a mercedes with a credit card? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063 "2007-02-06T13:37:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/21 "2007-02-06T18:52:49Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I have another question: suppose i show up at my local M-b dealer-with $80,000 in $100 bills. I point to a floor model and say: “This one!”. Is the dealer going to report me to the local police? I know banks have to report cash transfers of \>$10,000, But do car dealers have to? [/QUOTE] Dealers have to file a report with the feds. Some local car dealers and salesmen have been prosecuted for money laundering, selling cars for cash to drug dealers and not reporting the transaction. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/22 "2007-02-06T19:16:07Z")
[QUOTE=charlie956160] The answer, nowadays (2007), in the USA, as far as I know it, is no. There are laws against it because it is so easy to get a credit card with a high limit. You can buy a car on a credit card, or multiple, _then stop paying_, but you still have the cars as physical assets. Since it is an “unsecured loan”, the credit card company \*cannot \* come after your cars to pay the bill. [/QUOTE] They sure can. They just have to sue you and get a lien against your assets, including those cars you bought. It’s a bit harder than just calling the repo man, but not by much, considering the price of a new car. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/23 "2007-02-06T19:16:30Z")
What do credit card memberships say about accepting or not accepting credit cards in different departments of what is arguably the same business? Every new car dealer has a parts department and service department which (of course) accept credit cards. Does this then subject the new car showroom (or even used cars) to accept credit cards? How about the case of a retail business, then? Sure, I’ll sell you eggs and bread with a credit card, but I’ll only take cash for milk. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/24 "2007-02-06T19:29:22Z")
[QUOTE=charlie956160] The answer, nowadays (2007), in the USA, as far as I know it, is no. There are laws against it because it is so easy to get a credit card with a high limit. You can buy a car on a credit card, or multiple, _then stop paying_, but you still have the cars as physical assets. Since it is an “unsecured loan”, the credit card company \*cannot \* come after your cars to pay the bill. [/QUOTE] That doesn’t really make sense to me though. If the car dealer accepts your credit card for the purchase of the car, then they’ve gotten their money from the credit card company (barring anything like, say, a chargeback). The debt is then between you and the credit card company and the car dealer is out of the loop entirely. Assuming you’ve got the credit limit to afford, say, a $20,000 car, you could use that same credit limit to purchase $20,000 of collectible Beanie Babies, expensive dinners, vacations, etc. You still owe the credit card company that 20,000 either way. And either way, if you don’t pay, the cc company could come after your assets as **friedo** said. True - it’s harder for them to get the money than if they had an actual lien on the car, but that’s reflected in the correspondingly higher interest rate compared to a true car loan. I really think the car dealers’ reluctance to take credit cards for more than a token amount is tied more to the fees they incur, and perhaps some industry standards, than any concern over being stuck with bad debt. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/25 "2007-02-06T21:56:52Z")
I bought my last (used) car for ~$27K with a MasterCard. They fussed about my proposed method of payment it until I explained that I knew their merchant agrement prohibited having a maximum transaction amount. The card was one of those giveaway deals, almost zero percent until paid off. At the min payment, I have their money for about 8 years at about zero APR. I love it when a loss-leader turns into a real loss for The Powers Of Evil (AKA Visa/MC). What’s not to like about a deal like this? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/26 "2007-02-07T00:03:35Z")
As it happens, I know a Mercedes dealer. I remember him talking about this topic. He said that he had at that time twice sold entire cars on a credit card. His contract with the credit card company in no way obliges him to do so (he really only maintains credit card facilities for his spare parts & accessories division). In the two instances where a customer told him they wanted to put it on a card, he had taken the customer’s card details and phoned the credit card company, to check authorisation but also to see what they could do for him as regards the c/c company’s fee (he’s a _dealer_ after all :)). He says that he found that on both occasions the c/c company was very keen for the business, so he negotiated a special deal with them on the spot. The first time he did this he was surprised by how easily he got the c/c company to agree a very low special rate. He realised that really he was in a very good bargaining position: he didn’t _need_ to get the c/c company to agree. He wasn’t going to lose a sale over it, because the customer wanted the car and just would have paid some other way, so he didn’t care one way or the other. However, the c/c company was _very_ keen to get a $100,000 sale through because they’d make a killing on interest as the customer paid off the balance. The next time a customer asked to pay by c/c he just rang the c/c company and said he’d only do the sale on c/c if the company waived their merchant fee altogether. The c/c company agreed. Probably the answer depends on the precise agreement between your dealer and his c/c company, and your dealer’s clout with his c/c company and so on, so YMMV, but there’s an anecdote for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/27 "2007-02-07T01:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] A He realised that really he was in a very good bargaining position: he didn’t _need_ to get the c/c company to agree. He wasn’t going to lose a sale over it, because the customer wanted the car and just would have paid some other way, so he didn’t care one way or the other. However, the c/c company was _very_ keen to get a $100,000 sale through because they’d make a killing on interest as the customer paid off the balance. [/QUOTE] This doesn’t really make sense - presumably, the guy has the cash to pay for the car in full, and is just using the credit card out of convenience. I’d expect him to simply pay the bill in full at the end of the month, resulting in no income for the credit card company. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/28 "2007-02-07T01:47:31Z")
Possibly. But credit card companies make money off the fact that a goodly percentage of customers don’t do this, much as you’d think they should. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/29 "2007-02-07T03:18:45Z")
My dad bought a brand new Cadillac Sedan DeVille (IIRC, $30,000+) back in 1988 on his Visa card. I was with him and between the two of us, we negotiated a great deal on the car. Then Dad pulled out his Visa card. The Vegas dealership hemmed and hawed, so we just got up and started to walk out. The sales manager instantly came out and told Dad he would accept his card as payment in full. We drove back to Utah, Dad asked me to stop by his bank, and he arranged a car loan with his banker and paid off the Visa the next day. I’m driving that same car today. It only has 92,000 miles on it. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/30 "2007-02-07T05:05:12Z")
About ten years ago, I knew of a professor from Japan who was going to be in the US for a few months. He bought a car on his credit card. Apparently, it was easier for him to use his Visa rather than getting a loan or lease. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/31 "2007-02-07T07:48:40Z")
My Dad bought his car, a 2006 Mustang, and my car on his credit card. He also put his motorhome on his CC. For his car and motorhome , he was buying them outright so he put it on the card to get the miles. He paid the balance at the end of the month. For my car I had a loan (which I just paid off, 2.5 years early. Woo! Hoo!) but my Dad put it on his card for the miles and the loan check went to him. That took a bit of doing but it worked. My car is a Hyundai Elantra ~11,000. IIRC correctly the Mustang was 25,000 or so. The motorhome was about 95,000. He gets a lot of free travel thanks to his credit cards. Slee ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/32 "2007-02-07T07:57:52Z")
[QUOTE=StuffLikeThatThere] Maybe not. At least at the dealership Mr. Stuff works at, they pay a 3% fee for each credit card transaction. y. [/QUOTE] Hmm, the fees usualy start at 3%,when the Merchant has a low average transaction. I’d think that a Merc would bring the average up a bit. 😛 (it then is usually 1%) Warning- **LSLGuy** - all they have to do is hold one of your payments until it’s a day late, and you go to 20% or something. As to Minimum charges- no, those are against the rules, but usually Visa/MC won;t do much about it. Government enities are allowed to pass the surcharge onto you. Normal merchants can not, and MC/Visa will often crack down on _that._ ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/33 "2007-02-07T11:24:48Z")
The dealership where we bought our Cruiser only allowed $5K on one card only. We wanted to split up the charge on two cards(for the miles) then pay the balance off in cash. No can do said the finacial guy. Made no sense because we bought other 'Big ticket items " and could charge them. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/34 "2007-02-07T12:16:11Z")
It might be tougher or cause more consternation if one tried to pay cash, rather than a credit card? As an aside, there are still a fair number of farmers and folks around here who probably still don’t care much for banks, and tend to buy big ticket items like tractors, combines and trucks, easily comparable to a high-speed Mercedes. Dad told me in his business dealings with small town banks, it wasn’t uncommon for them to cover what might be considered very large over-drafts, their customer base had lots of cash, but tended to have income very spotty or seasonally. “Oh, that’s Hank, he’ll be in this fall…” kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![charlie956160](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee59a6/32.png) [@charlie956160](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charlie956160)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/35 "2007-02-07T15:57:29Z")
[QUOTE=Bambi Hassenpfeffer] Requiring a minimum purchase is a direct violation of [Visa’s](http://usa.visa.com/download/business/accepting_visa/ops_risk_management/rules_for_visa_merchants.pdf) and [MasterCard’s](http://www.mastercard.com/us/wce/PDF/12999_MERC-Entire_Manual.pdf) acceptance procedures. If a merchant refuses your card because you didn’t buy enough, you have the recourse of reporting the incident to Visa / MC. There is _no_ such law, nor is this practice permitted under the Visa / MC rules. Neither is a merchant permitted to impose a surcharge for a credit card transaction. I bought my car on my Visa, and the dealer tried to charge me for the transaction fee due Visa. I told him that I wouldn’t pay it, as that was forbidden by his Visa Merchant Agreement, so he quickly dropped it. We’ve covered min / max purchases and surcharges before. Lemme find the thread real quick. ETA: OK, [here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=362581) the thread with the min / max discussion, and [here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=362472) another one about ID requirements. [/QUOTE] Ya mean those rat bastards lied to me? That’s a load of horse crap. I’m seriously pissed now. I can understand shady business where the left hand doesn’t see what the right is doing, but outright lying? The fecking arsegoblins! Well screwwww them. I’m going in with ammunition next time. Would I have any recourse if they decided to not do the sale even if I showed them a piece of paper that said their agreement forbade placing limitations on the type of transaction? Would it be worth my trouble to raise a stink? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/36 "2007-02-07T18:52:02Z")
[QUOTE=charlie956160] Ya mean those rat bastards lied to me? That’s a load of horse crap. I’m seriously pissed now. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure I understand. Why did you buy the car under terms you didn’t like, when you claim to have the ability to pay of the car in “like two payments”? Why were you in such a poor bargaining position? [QUOTE=charlie956160] This is why I had to get a damn Buy-Here Pay-Here loan on my jeep…I didn’t want to, it makes me feel like I’m gonna get it repo’d on a technicality or something. I have good credit (700’s) but the age of the car prevented financing normally. I would have paid by CC, then paid it off in like two payments but nooooo. They told me that in addition to the fees for the transaction, there’s a law preventing the transfer of a vehicle title in that fashion. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/37 "2007-02-07T19:19:43Z")
I bought a new Mazda 626 with my Amex Card a few years ago for the full price. I didn’t have any problems with the purchase. When the bill came, I just wrote a check for the amount charged. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/38 "2007-02-07T19:34:23Z")
Buying a car with a credit card can be a smart move: in the U.K., purchases between £100 and £30,000 (?) gain protections under the [Consumer Credit Act](http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2006/20060014.htm) as the credit card company shares liability with the retailer. This does not apply to charge cards like Amex. So if you buy a car, the dealer goes bust, and you have a problem, the credit card company are on the hook. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/39 "2007-02-07T22:34:01Z")
[QUOTE=Rico] We drove back to Utah, Dad asked me to stop by his bank, and he arranged a car loan with his banker and paid off the Visa the next day. [/QUOTE] Why did he do it that way? For the miles on the credit card?? I like the guy Eli Broad who bought the $2.5M painting at Sotheby’s on his AMEX to get the miles. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063/40 "2007-02-07T22:51:40Z")
Once I tried to put the down payment for a car on my credit card, but the dealer wouldn’t let me because they have to pay the fee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-buy-a-mercedes-with-a-credit-card/391063.md?page=3)