Which Card for Car Payment?

[Anonymous]

We just bought a new to us vehicle last week. The dealer wouldn't come down on the price, until we agreed to finance it, so we took the bait, even though we have the cash on hand to pay it off quickly.
I'm still waiting for the first bill, but the first payment will be due mid-February. If I had been planning better, I would have opened a new card before we went, but it was a last minute beat the ice storm type thing...
We did a $4000 down payment, with a 5.99% interest rate. The balance is around $5600.
I figure this is a good time to reach a sign-up bonus for a card, but I'm not entirely sure which one we should go for. We already have a CapOne Quicksilver, and an USAA Amex (opened in October 2015) I don't like annual fees, but I want to start building some rewards for some travel we hope to do in early 2019. We're not likely to travel a ton between now and then.

We bought the vehicle at a Nissan dealership, so I've gleaned that there should be a $15 fee to use a credit card, and a $2000 limit per transaction, but I won't know exactly, until they send me the first bill.
So that's a $4000 min spend limit...even if the card only gives 1% in rewards, those should easily cover the fee for the payments. Not much "leftover" but that's what the sign up bonus is for...

Anyway...I'm drawn to the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Within the next year, I'd open a Reserve or Freedom to "hold" the points, until we actually use them. I could just go ahead and open a Freedom for that sign-up bonus, and to fill the last $1600 that will need to be paid off. That would get me to 4 cards in the past 24 months, so I'd probably have to hold off on opening other cards, if I want to be able to potentially open the Reserve before the two other cards gravitate out of the 24 month zone in Octoberish. I realize if I close the Preferred, but keep the Freedom, I'll be limited to cash back, rather than travel points, but it might be worth it to have the placeholder regardless.
Could I transfer the points to the Freedom, then open the Reserve in mid-2018, and transfer them there for the travel benefits?

Is there a different card I should be considering?

Thanks!

[happypill]

Your message was difficult to follow, but have you confirmed that you can use a CC to make your payment?  You can only get points if it is a regular transaction of some type.  If it codes as a cash advance or something, you won't get points for that.

[fltireguy]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

We just bought a new to us vehicle last week. The dealer wouldn't come down on the price, until we agreed to finance it, so we took the bait, even though we have the cash on hand to pay it off quickly.
I'm still waiting for the first bill, but the first payment will be due mid-February. If I had been planning better, I would have opened a new card before we went, but it was a last minute beat the ice storm type thing...
We did a $4000 down payment, with a 5.99% interest rate. The balance is around $5600.
I figure this is a good time to reach a sign-up bonus for a card, but I'm not entirely sure which one we should go for. We already have a CapOne Quicksilver, and an USAA Amex (opened in October 2015) I don't like annual fees, but I want to start building some rewards for some travel we hope to do in early 2019. We're not likely to travel a ton between now and then.

We bought the vehicle at a Nissan dealership, so I've gleaned that there should be a $15 fee to use a credit card, and a $2000 limit per transaction, but I won't know exactly, until they send me the first bill.
So that's a $4000 min spend limit...even if the card only gives 1% in rewards, those should easily cover the fee for the payments. Not much "leftover" but that's what the sign up bonus is for...

Anyway...I'm drawn to the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Within the next year, I'd open a Reserve or Freedom to "hold" the points, until we actually use them. I could just go ahead and open a Freedom for that sign-up bonus, and to fill the last $1600 that will need to be paid off. That would get me to 4 cards in the past 24 months, so I'd probably have to hold off on opening other cards, if I want to be able to potentially open the Reserve before the two other cards gravitate out of the 24 month zone in Octoberish. I realize if I close the Preferred, but keep the Freedom, I'll be limited to cash back, rather than travel points, but it might be worth it to have the placeholder regardless.
Could I transfer the points to the Freedom, then open the Reserve in mid-2018, and transfer them there for the travel benefits?

Is there a different card I should be considering?

Thanks!

---

This doesn't make any sense.

Who did you finance thru? You wouldnt be making your payments to the dealer, you would pay the bank / finance company. And they more than likely will not take a credit card to make a payment...

Who is going to be sending ou the bill? Who actually is holding the title to the car?

[Anonymous]

It was a Nissan dealer, so it's likely through NMAC, but I won't know for sure, until they send me my first bill.
If it's through NMAC, then they should accept credit card payments with a $15 fee for up to $2000/transaction. So I'm looking at 3 transactions ($2000, $2000, and $16XX) to pay it off, which would be $45 in fees.
If I use a card that has 1% returns, I may end up a little upside down with the fees vs. points, but if there's a sign up bonus, then I don't care.

I would like to apply for one card, before I get my first bill, so it's ready to go, if I'm able to make the payments that way..
I'd like to have the whole thing paid off before the end of February.

In short, with $5600 in pending spending over the next 2 months, which cards would you open to maximize sign up bonuses? Eventual travel is the goal, but probably not for 2 years, so paying excessive annual fees doesn't make sense to me.

[Anonymous]

I am confused, too. You got a loan on a vehicle and don't know what bank provided the financing? Didn't you have to sign any paperwork, contracts etc?

[Anonymous]

Yes, we signed a contract, but all it says is the name of the dealership under the Seller-Creditor. It's a Nissan dealership, so I'm assuming it's NMAC. Maybe it's not, which is fine. I don't actually care. If I can't use a credit card to make the payments, it's not the end of the world. We wouldn't have financed it at all, except they didn't want to come down on the price otherwise. There are no early pay-off penalties, I would just prefer to run it through a credit card for the points. If all I can get is the $60 cash back that I already got through the Quicksilver, then so be it.

[Anonymous]

I sincerely doubt you'll be able to pay any type of auto loan with a credit card. If the lender does allow it- fantastic! If that IS the case, you're still looking at it wrong.. What type of card are you looking for? It sounds like you're looking to cash in on a big sign up bonus to meet spend requirements.. if thats the case, I would just rephrase the question as that "who is offering a large bonus for 5k+ spend requirement?".. churners should chime in. Good luck!

[Steelersboy]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
I sincerely doubt you'll be able to pay any type of auto loan with a credit card. If the lender does allow it- fantastic! If that IS the case, you're still looking at it wrong.. What type of card are you looking for? It sounds like you're looking to cash in on a big sign up bonus to meet spend requirements.. if thats the case, I would just rephrase the question as that "who is offering a large bonus for 5k+ spend requirement?".. churners should chime in. Good luck!

---

I know right. 

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
I sincerely doubt you'll be able to pay any type of auto loan with a credit card. If the lender does allow it- fantastic! 

---

Well, no real need to doubt, sincerely or otherwise, you could just look up the NMAC Payment options: https://www.nissanfinance.com/nmac_inf_paymentOption?ln=en

The service provider, BillMatrix, collects a convenience fee for making a payment with an electronic check, ATM debit card or credit card using their system. States where BillMatrix is unable to accept credit card payments: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.

So quite a few big states where it doesn't work, but if OP is outside those, credit card payment is indeed an option.

[Anonymous]

Interesting.. Not being familiar with that service, I'd be concerned about your issuer considering it a cash advance. Has anyone here used it before?