Fa-suto

Dang, I just found out that the dealership won't let me pay for my IS F by American Express - there goes my rewards!

I guess the credit surcharge really cost them for customer's wanting to do it this way. They did say I could charge up to $1000 though of course that's only another $500 towards in addition to my deposit.

Is this true to all dealerships?

ExTrEmE99

iTrader: (6)

When i bought my car they said "sorry we dont accept plastic" because we were waiting for someone to bring the checkbook haha

Mr Johnson

The last car I bought they would allow 5K on plastic. This time I forgot. Would have been nice to have Amazon points. *shrug*

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Dealers don't like to take more than $7k on plastic. The merchant charge jumps up to 7% for higher value purchases. I wouldn't take plastic either if I was going to lose 7% to merchant fees. Amex is one of the worst. Visa and MC start at 3%, but Amex starts at 5%.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

it depends on dealership. here in cali, they usually around up to 2k

joshmtx

Amex?!? Blah! Lexus Visa! www.lexuspursuits.com

I used my Lexus Signature Visa to put down $4,000 of my $5,000 deposit on the Neiman Marcus SBS IS F at Sewell Lexus in Dallas. 5% at dealer! That amounts to 20,000 points or $200 worth of Lexus Dealer Visa Gift Card(s).

"**Points cannot be redeemed for cash." You can redeem the points for a Lexus dealer gift card, which can be used for parts and service, etc at a Lexus dealer. What they don't tell you is that points redeemed for a Lexus Visa Gift Card can be used for just about anything where Visa is excepted. Per the terms that I read, it can be used for gas, but I've used it at quick service restaurants as well. The Visa gift card is not handled by LFS so they can't control what it is used for.

I get 1.5% back for all my purchases. The rate on the card is variable, currently 14.25%, which is too high to carry a balance, so I pay it off as soon as possible.

I wonder if they would take more on their own Lexus Visa. This card is actually backed by Lexus Financial Services not some other bank.

Plus, when using my Lexus Visa, my wife and I both occasionally get the "Nice card, do you drive a Lexus?" The gift card also features a photo of a 3rd Gen GS.

If anybody has a better credit card rewards program, please let me know.

Da Hapa

We've used our Lexus Visa twice to purchase new Lexus vehicles. The dealerships capped the amount we could purchase on the Lexus card at $5,000 in each instance.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

at least the dealership we go to, lexus visa is just like other cards in terms of limit they allow

we use lexus visa for all our lexus purchase too

Reyngel

What about the Amex Black Card? I thought people like Paris Hilton were going into Mercedes dealerships and picking up the top-end AMG SL by putting it completely on their Black Card?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

do you think they actually negotiate a price? they just pay whatever the dealership says... maybe paris was paying that dealership charges already...

SC400MAN

iTrader: (1)

The other problem from the dealer's standpoint is that you can stop payment on your credit card and then we have no car and no charge .

jblackbelt

some dealerships may do it if you offer to cover their merchant fee. that way they still get the money for the car and don't loose any money on merchant fees. however i don't see this worth it at all as your paying more money and getting nothing but point sout of it.

Fa-suto

No thank you on the Lexus card - if I can't buy a Lexus with it, I'll stick to my Amex. No blackout dates on traveling, upgrades, hotels, golf reservations, special events, etc. plus they do all the work - I just say when and where - not to mention the free plasma sitting on my wall with the points I racked up.

In fact, they called my dealership to handle the transaction, but my dealership backed out and only offered $1000 as lobuxracer said - merchant fees will eat into their profit and I didn't want to offer paying that merchant fee...that's nearly an extra $3k+ easily.

joshmtx

I don't think that I mentioned the Lexus Visa does include a concierge service. I have to remember to use that more often.

Of course, it is also accepted everywhere Visa is excepted. Amex is not accepted at too many locations and I believe there is an annual fee. Do you have to have a second card for places where Amex is not accepted?

A while back Lexus did a survey to see what cardmembers would be interested in using their points to go toward. There were some pretty great options on that survey, but I don't know what came of it.

Use Lexus Pursuits Points for up to 10% off your next lease or purchase of a new Lexus vehicle.
Redeem for service, parts or accessories at Lexus dealerships.
Redeem with no minimum point requirement.

I got my 2 yr old son a Lexus Visa with his name on it too! LOL! I called them up and just gave them the name, they sent the cards. But soon after I received the card I was upgraded, so my account number changed. They didn't re-issue him a card automatically.

I really do believe that this is likely the best reward card. I would really like to know if there is a better program.

gengar

^ I have an AMEX and still have to carry MC/Visa around. Too many places don't take it.

I will say that I much prefer cash back to any point reward system. Most of them aren't worth it. I only use it in a few cases where they give huge point bonuses that are easy to redeem. For example, amazon Visa gives me an effective 5% back in points, although they make me earn $25 in points before I can redeem; I also have a Citi card that gives 5% back for gas purchases but needs $50 before I can order a rebate check. But in those cases (especially gas, right! *ugh*), I buy it frequently enough that I accrue enough points to get the redemptions back in a timely manner.

I get 1% cash back on my Chase MC and 1.5% on my AMEX, so any point system that's close to those %'s, I'm much better off cash-flow-wise just doing that instead of having to build up points to redeem.