[deutschmann59]

My loan is with BMW financing, and everything seems up to par. The only thing I'm a little mad about is on the owner's circle, you can't make any payments to the loan with a credit card. The only two payment options are payments via checking account or savings account, or check by postal mail. I was hoping credit cards would be accepted because I have Discover card with 1% cashback bonus. That would have added up to a nice little nest-egg after five years. I guess they just don't want you paying off one debt with another debt. Too bad

[Socko]

What kind of interest rates are they offering?

[Socko]

btw, congrats on getting your financing in place.

[C6H12O6]

That's because you can't pay a loan with another loan(Credit Card).

that's why....

[jubol]

BMW does not want to pay 2% +, credit card company charges!!

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by Socko

btw, congrats on getting your financing in place.

Thanks, Socko! My interest rate is 5.6% which I don't think is too bad. I remember I was going to get 3.9% if I would have went for an IS300 about a year ago, but that was then, and that was a completely differenty car.

Yeah, I guess I can see BMW's point. A lot of businesses like credit cards because they know they'll get paid, even if they have to pay a little back to the card company. But with BMW, I guess they figure why should they pay the charges to the credit card and spend unnecessary expense? If there's a default on the contract, they just take back the car.

[bzzbenz]

I was also wanting to do this... Kinda sux...

[fusionnv]

Originally Posted by bzzbenz

I was also wanting to do this... Kinda sux...

They don't want to have revolving credit. I think the US post office prevents you from doing this also. You can't buy a money order with a credit card. So you can't pay the loan with the money order purchased with a credit card.

[wannabe]

When I bought my car...the dealership let me put my down payment on my credit card. I had the cash to pay if off the next month, but still I wish I had a higher credit limit. I have the same Discover card.

Unless you have the cash to pay off the credit card right away, it doesn't make any sense to pay a 5.6% loan with a 11.99% credit card to get 1% cashback. sharp1183, I hope this isn't what you were planning.

You can't pay for a loan with a credit card. It has nothing to do with the credit companies charging BMW a service charge. That's why you can't pay a mortgage with your credit card.

[RedStripe]

Uh, I'm pretty sure finance companies won't let you pay off your monthly statements with credit cards because they don't want to be charged the vendor fee associated with accepting credit cards. There is no reason why they want to reduce their margins. Furthermore, some finance places will give you like 25 basis points off your rate if you pay electronically through ACH.

I think all "assets" can both appreciate or depreciate. Though it is taken as a given cars always depreciate and houses for the most part appreciate (don't want to burst that housing bubble). But regardless, the dealership will be paid for the vehicle by the financing company regardless of how you finance. At that point, taking back the car or whatever collateral you're talking about is the financing company's risk (assuming they haven't securitized it or something to some other entity). So, whether it's a credit card, bank, credit union loan, I think it's all the same.

Anyways, since people are talking about the Discover card, I thought I might recommend a card myself. The Citibank Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard. For those of you who like the 1% back Discover gives you, you'll love this card. It gives you 5% back on "everyday" purchases (grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies) and 1% back on all other purchases. And it's not a tiered structure reward program either, unlike Discover, American Express Blue, Chase Ultimate Rewards, etc (Read the fine print, you have to spend $3000 on your DiscoverCard before you start getting the full 1%, and then it resets annually). I only found out about it a year or so ago and have been using it ever since. It is the best all-purpose credit card with cash back reward out there (I'm not including any special or specific reward cards who appeal to different people for various reasons).

[RedStripe]

Also, since it seems this board is full of educated and upwardly mobile people who value their money (and cars!), if you liked what I said about the credit card thing, you'll love this recommendation (if you are comfortable with doing personal finance and banking online).

You might have already seen it, it's ING Direct Orange Savings Account. They offer 3.0% APY return a year on a FDIC-insured savings account with no fees, required minimums or service charges… no matter how much you have on deposit. Everything is done online through ACH (automated clearing house) transactions. So, if you've ever paid a bill, funded an account, or something else like that, by linking to your checking account (by providing a routing number and checking account number), then you are already exprienced with ACH transactions. So, obviously, a pre-requisite for opening up a ING Direct orange savings account is to have an established checking account here in the USA.

It'll take like 3 days or so to move money back and forth, but it's all convenient and electronic. Please check it out yourself. In addition, I can send you a referral email and if you use the link in it to open an account, you will get a bonus $25.00 for opening an account (no minimum amount needed to open, so I guess you could open for like 10 cents and get a $25 bonus, though you can't withdraw the bonus $25 until 30 days after opening). I've signed up all my family and friends. I only have a few more referral to give out, but if you would like me to send you one, and you are serious about it, please PM me. Full Disclosure: I will also get a $10 bonus for recommending you if you do in fact open an account.

Oh, and another note I wanted to add, ING is very fast about marking the yield to interest rate changes. When I signed on back in October last year, it was 2.25%, and since then, with interest rate rises, it's now 3.0%. They're not stingy about giving you the best return for a no minimum, no commitment, FDIC insured savings account.

[deutschmann59]

Thanks Redstripe! Very helpful threads!

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by wannabe

It doesn't make any sense to pay a 5.6% loan with a 11.99% credit card to get 1% cashback. sharp1183, I hope this isn't what you were planning.

No, I don't have any credit card bills...I'm pretty responsible with it. I pay off every bill 100% every month, and I've never had a late charge or fee. The only reason I use it is to get a good credit reputation and for the cashback. I guess I should have clarified, because you're right. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go from one interest rate to a higher one. In my case, the interest rate for my discover is I think around 18%. Pretty steep.

[RedStripe]

Oh, one thing about the Discover card I wanted to say but forgot: even though I endorsed another card in my previous post, I can't tell you enough how much I like Discover - because of their customer service, and I still will use them for major purchases. They were the first card I started using in high school/college and I used it for everything. The cashback feature is great, and they were really the first ones to come up with it. But I really value the card for their customer service. They have pulled through for me everytime I needed them. For example, last year when the Gold's Gym franchiser of the North Texas area left town, he bolted with all the member's membership fees, his employees last week or two of paychecks to be paid, etc.... just a rotten guy who left everyone out to dry. Anyways, I was someone who paid for one of those prepaid memberships of XX months in length 6 months or so before this happened. Well, I called up the Discover card people when I realized about this whole fiasco and they reimbursed me for the remaining balance. I heard horror stories about people who paid for multi-year contracts in cash the day before the doors got locked by the building owners and the equipment lessors seized the equipment. Everyone's money was G-O-N-E gone. And the crook, like a crook, was operating the gym unbonded. (So a lesson for gym membership holders or seekers, most states have regulations that require health club facilities to be bonded for a certain amount and that it must be publicly displayed.)

Also, another example (I'll keep it brief this time) is the summer of 2002 when the airline of a flight I had purchased went bankrupt after I had flown the first half of the roundtrip. Well, since I paid using Discover, I just called them up, and they gave me a reimbursement of the unused portion of the fare.

So for anyone out there with decision making powers at Morgan Stanley or the DiscoverCard unit, if you do decide to spin it off, I hope you keep the customer service to its high standards of quality as in the past. I would hate to see it go offshore because that stuff is so hit or miss, and more often than not, miss.

PS. Since I felt this post isn't nearly as long as it can be, I wanted to post something else. When I was in college just a few years ago, I would every once in a while miss a Discover payment or so, one time three months in a row, being a busy student (compounded by the traveling during holidays and summer breaks and before you could pay over the internet). Everytime that happened, I would call them up, and they would refund BOTH my late fees and any finance charges b/c of the non-payment. Obviously this is not recommended, and maybe you have to be a good customer for them to extend such a degree of courtesy, but you can have it your way if you're nice and professional about things. I've gotten courtesy refunds and such on other credit cards, but Discover was always the best, and I could always knew I could count on them when fit hit the shan.

[Amil]

i dont have to worry about this because my car is paid in full!!!

[Socko]

Has anyone applied and received bmw credit card via bmwusa website? If you go into the Financial Services section and select credit card application it says that if you apply, among other things, you can get "Up to $5,000 back on your next BMW FS lease or loan" . Does this interpret to mean you get $5K taken off your total loan payments? Not bad it that is the case and they don't screw you on the interest rate. Let me know if I'm understanding this correctly.

[fusionnv]

Originally Posted by Socko

Has anyone applied and received bmw credit card via bmwusa website? If you go into the Financial Services section and select credit card application it says that if you apply, among other things, you can get "Up to $5,000 back on your next BMW FS lease or loan" . Does this interpret to mean you get $5K taken off your total loan payments? Not bad it that is the case and they don't screw you on the interest rate. Let me know if I'm understanding this correctly.

I have the card. You earn points from purchases against the cost of your car. 1 point for every dollar on a normal purchase. Double points for certain items, etc. I think you would have to use them before they expire also. I am sure the points are pretty high for 5g. Maybe something like 20-100k in points, etc. I don't know the converstion to the awards, you have to call in to find out.

[Socko]

Originally Posted by fusionnv

I have the card. You earn points from purchases against the cost of your car. 1 point for every dollar on a normal purchase. Double points for certain items, etc. I think you would have to use them before they expire also. I am sure the points are pretty high for 5g. Maybe something like 20-100k in points, etc. I don't know the converstion to the awards, you have to call in to find out.

Thanks fusionnv! Now it makes a lot more sense to me.

[Reckamech]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

My loan is with BMW financing, and everything seems up to par. The only thing I'm a little mad about is on the owner's circle, you can't make any payments to the loan with a credit card. The only two payment options are payments via checking account or savings account, or check by postal mail. I was hoping credit cards would be accepted because I have Discover card with 1% cashback bonus. That would have added up to a nice little nest-egg after five years. I guess they just don't want you paying off one debt with another debt. Too bad

Have you tried sending them Discover Card Checks?

[Reckamech]

Originally Posted by Socko

Has anyone applied and received bmw credit card via bmwusa website? If you go into the Financial Services section and select credit card application it says that if you apply, among other things, you can get "Up to $5,000 back on your next BMW FS lease or loan" . Does this interpret to mean you get $5K taken off your total loan payments? Not bad it that is the case and they don't screw you on the interest rate. Let me know if I'm understanding this correctly.

I have a BMW card. Pretty nice because you get money off of your next BMW.

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by Reckamech

Have you tried sending them Discover Card Checks?

Huh Reckamech...you know I never thought about that! I usually get those checks in the mail all the time, but I end up just throwing them away because I never planned on using them. But I guess I could. I never really read into them so how do they work? Does cashback apply using discover checks? How do I go about ordering them, because like I said I usually throw them out, but I just may use them. Thanks, for the suggestion, Reckamech

[RedStripe]

I'd read the fine print if I were you before doing that. Unless there is a special promotion with the check, they usually charge an immediate finance charge using those enclosed checks. The same as if you were to use your credit card to withdraw money from an ATM.

Originally Posted by sharp1183

Huh Reckamech...you know I never thought about that! I usually get those checks in the mail all the time, but I end up just throwing them away because I never planned on using them. But I guess I could. I never really read into them so how do they work? Does cashback apply using discover checks? How do I go about ordering them, because like I said I usually throw them out, but I just may use them. Thanks, for the suggestion, Reckamech