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How much of a discount should I ask a merchant for NOT using my visa on a large purchase and pay cash? (car)?
Question : How much of a discount should I ask a merchant for NOT using my visa on a large purchase and pay cash? (car)?
I’m thinking about buying a car and would like to get a discount for using cash instead of a credit card. I know that the merchants get nailed with 2-6% for card use but what should I negotiate?
merchant cash
Best answer:
Answer by Ryan M
Since most people do not pay with credit card when buying a car, dealers already have a “cash” price on the car. Paying with a credit card is VERY abnormal, unless you are buying a junker from a shady dealership.
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#2 written by Reena 1 year ago
Car dealers aren’t usually confronted with that problem.
People don’t use their credit cards to buy a vehicle… at least not the vast majority of the population.
First haggle over the “price” of the vehicle. Don’t mention how you intend to pay for it at all.
Once you get to a reasonable end price bring the conversation towards “method of payment” and patiently listen to the whole spiel on financing, minimum down payment, etc. etc. and just before the dealer gets ready to “finance you” and wants details for the credit report he is going to pull, tell him that you have the amount in cash if he would be willing to drop the end price another $ 500 or so..
Don’t get too greedy… no use in negotiating a car price down to $ 10K and then tell him you want to pay $ 7500 cash instead… He won’t go for that. But tell him that you have him almost where you need to be at $ 9500 cash… and he might give in.
P.S. Dealers don’t usually put it on “credit” and may consider you an actual “loss” because they can’t get the finance charges and other kick backs from their in house financing when you don’t get a loan for the car.
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Nobody’s going to sell you a car on a credit card. Maybe there is a an exception if this is a small amount for a really cheap used car, but the dealer is likely to have a limit of $ 2K-3K that they are willing to take on a credit card. The reason is not just the commission to the CC processor, but a potential to have a situation when the charge is disputed because the CC was stolen, faked, or the customer simply changes his mind about the car after purchase.
Cash is still the king, they are likely to let it bypass the cash register, so the real savings for them is the slew of federal/state taxes they are going to “save” on. I’d try to negotiate a “sweetheart” deal where the car is gifted to you without any warranty in exchange for 10% off the final negotiated price. This would avoid all the garbage sales taxes for you as well.