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Columns: Driving for Dollars
Terry Jackson   Expert: Terry Jackson
Driving for Dollars
Dealers try to avoid transaction fee
Driving for Dollars

Tough to buy car with credit card
 

Dear Terry,
If you have the money in the bank, is it useful to buy a car with a cash-back credit card to save money on the total purchase price?
-- Stephen

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Dear Stephen,
If I understand you correctly, you want to put the car on your credit card, reap the card's cash-back benefits, then pay off the card with cash. It's a nice idea, but I doubt many dealers would let you do this.

The dealer pays the credit card company as much as 2 percent of the transaction, so that's another 2 percent out of the dealer's pocket. Most dealers will let you put part of the car's price -- usually capped at $5,000 or less -- on a credit card and then pay the remainder in cash or by financing.

Here are this week's reader questions:
Car lots crammed with three model years
I co-signed -- how can I get rid of the loan?
Can I buy my car with a credit card?
How do interstate auto loans work?
Bankrate.com's corrections policy -- Posted: May 9, 2008
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