Car purchase on AMEX

[mike47]

Whichever you choose (I don’t think there is any difference... both are @ 1:1.5) do it before October when the points reduce to 1:1.
At 3% seems a bit heavy.... If they want the sale badly enough they can adsorb a lot.
BTW... First vehicle I bought cost me 2 cases of corona and $375... 6 months later same dealer only "charged 2 cases of corona" for a second vehicle... depends on how hungry they are

 

[cove]

At 3% that would be a pass on $32,000 unless you have a brilliant use for the points!

 

[The Rok]

Or if he got a brilliant deal on the car. If you only paid 2 cartons of corona for the surcharge then the dealer made some good $$$$ off your car.

 

[mike47]

Nope.... 30.4k for a LWB VW cady..... they needed to move it (The preivious was a TDI polo with audio & comfgort pack. As I said "it depends on how hungry they are"

 

[The Rok]

So the dealer made good money on the deal.

 

[mike47]

Caddy Maxi List price when purchased $32990 plus dealer, rego tax etc,
Polo list with options $30050 plus dealer, rego tax etc,
Not too shabby a deal...

 

[The Rok]

If you say so!

 

[RWJ777]

I recently purchased a second car... once I had the best price possible from a multitude of dealers/unions/aggregators, I went to the cheapest and said I'll give you the business but only if the entire purchase is on Visa. That was $32K through zupps.

Just remember... they need your business more than you need theirs!

At the risk of going slightly OT, do you know what institutions offer the shopping around service? I have a commonwealth bank diamond Amex. I'm looking to buy a new car and would love some mass bargaining power on my side!

 

[The Rok]

Depends on what car you want and in what state!

 

[Cruiser Elite]

At 3% that would be a pass on $32,000 unless you have a brilliant use for the points!

cove even you are being a tad short sighted here are you not?

SQ J Saver PER-LHR after 15% disc requires 144.5K KF pts does it not?

Spend on AMEX to earn 144.5K KF pts @1.5 KF pt/$1 = $96,333 does it not?

A 3% surcharge on $96,333 = cost $2,890 approx + taxes $1,100 = Total $3,990

How much is paid J flt on SQ? Aprox $9,200 is it not?

I'll cop 3% anytime.

 

[mike47]

Union Shopper sometimes makes the grade..

 

[RWJ777]

Depends on what car you want and in what state!

Citroen; NSW or ACT

 

[lovestotravel]

I'll cop 3% anytime.

It's approaching the upper end of my acceptable limit for surcharging at present.

J long-haul can be a 6% return on each point, or as low as 3.125% with Australia-USA flights being around $6k or less at present (recently)

So @ 1.5 point per $1 spent that's a 4.68% return per $1 spent, or as high as 9% if fares go back to $11k again (not likely)

But it also can give you nearly 60 days to pay for the car and it's still a 1.68% return on spend

 

[airbridge]

I work for a motor dealer in Sydney that is a Qantas partner. You get 1 point for every $2 spent. We've issued 500,000+ points for people who have purchased a Rolls-Royce Phantom! Amex purchases are charged at 3%.

 

[spentan]

I just bought a Chrysler 300c (v6 luxury), on my citibusiness gold, paid 1.5% for cash over 3k and I get 3.25pts per $ (bonus 2pts per $) cant wait to use those points

Have you considered changing to a CitiBusiness Gold or a Citi Select from your Amex?

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

Does Qantas Ultimate go to 1:1 in October ?? I have not received anything to that effect

 

[trblvb]

Purchased the car today – the dealer ended up waiving the AMEX surcharge (after some more arm ‘twisting’) very happy customer

 

[burmans]

cove even you are being a tad short sighted here are you not?

SQ J Saver PER-LHR after 15% disc requires 144.5K KF pts does it not?

Spend on AMEX to earn 144.5K KF pts @1.5 KF pt/$1 = $96,333 does it not?

A 3% surcharge on $96,333 = cost $2,890 approx + taxes $1,100 = Total $3,990

How much is paid J flt on SQ? Aprox $9,200 is it not?

I'll cop 3% anytime.

Disagree with this logic in 2 areas
1) It confuses cost with value. The fact that SQ charges $9200 doesn't mean I at least would ever pay that.
2) I doubt I'd even pay $3,990 as there are other ways to get those FF points. I can think of a couple where the cost is around $2500 or less.

 

[jamesatfish]

Disagree with this logic in 2 areas
1) It confuses cost with value. The fact that SQ charges $9200 doesn't mean I at least would ever pay that.
2) I doubt I'd even pay $3,990 as there are other ways to get those FF points. I can think of a couple where the cost is around $2500 or less.

Another potential consideration is that if the vehicle is being purchased by a business then the 3% (or whatever) surcharge on the vehicle purchase will most likely be tax deductible.

If the purchase was made using a card that accrues FF points in a personal name then it's a case where an additional tax deductible business expense (the surcharge) accrues personal benefits (the flight) without those benefits being taxed as personal income. This means that the 'cost' of the FF points should be discounted by the person's marginal tax rate to get a true value comparison with the other ways of obtaining FF points.

 

[lovestotravel]

Purchased the car today – the dealer ended up waiving the AMEX surcharge (after some more arm ‘twisting’) very happy customer

Great news, and shows that you need to push and push and push and also be prepared to walk if you don't get the deal you want.

Buying closer to the end of month is also usually good!

I am currently waiting a call back from a dealer/s about my next car!