Amex Auto Purchasing Program Review
If you have an American Express card, you might not be aware of all of your benefits. One of those is the Amex Auto Purchasing Program. Using this program, you can shop for your car, find a dealer that takes Amex and get up to $2,000 in reimbursements.
Understanding the Amex Auto Purchasing Program
The Amex Auto Purchasing Program is available to all Amex cardholders, regardless of which American Express card you have.
Not all dealers take credit cards, let alone American Express. The ones that do may only accept it to pay for small portions of your car, fees or add-ons. With the Amex Auto Purchasing Program, you can finance up to $2,000 with your Amex if you buy from a participating dealer (there are more than 7,000 of them).
To do this, Amex has partnered with TrueCar. TrueCar is an online car-shopping tool that helps you compare vehicles available in your area. You can also see how much people are paying on average for the year, make and model you’re looking for.
Using the American Express Auto Purchasing Program also gives you access to the TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus program. Here, you can get up to $2,000 worth of reimbursements.
What can you get with the TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus program?
- Auto repair expense reimbursements: You can get up to $500 reimbursed twice a year for car parts and repairs. Unfortunately, if you live in New Hampshire or New York, you won’t be eligible.
- Auto deductible reimbursements: This benefit will reimburse you up to $500 twice a year to go toward your car insurance deductible if you need to file a claim. Like the auto repair expense reimbursement, this perk isn’t available in New Hampshire or New York.
- Auto expert opinions: Let’s say your new car starts making strange noises and you need an auto repair. In that case, you can call a certified mechanic for guidance. This could be especially handy if you’ve gotten a quote from a local shop. The certified mechanic on call can help you figure out if the quote is reasonable for the job at hand.
How the Amex Auto Purchasing Program works
There are two separate components to the Amex Auto Purchasing Program. One is using your Amex to finance or partially finance your car. The other is taking advantage of the TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus program. Here’s how to go about it.
- Visit Amex’s TrueCar Marketplace.
- Enter the car you’re looking for as well as your ZIP code, and start shopping. You can search for both used and new cars.
- Provide your contact information and wait for TrueCar certified dealers to get back to you with offers.
- Choose the offer that makes the most sense for you, head to the dealer and take a test drive.
- If you decide to buy, you can put at least $2,000 down using your Amex. If you’d like to charge more, talk to your dealer and see what it’s willing to do for you.
- Report your vehicle purchase to American Express within 45 days to qualify for the TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus.
Pros and cons of using the Amex Auto Purchasing Program
Pros
- Can use your Amex card to finance at least $2,000 of your vehicle purchase
- You’ll earn lots of Membership Rewards points — cars are much more expensive than your everyday purchase
- Can get car-related rebates with the Buyer’s Bonus program
- Might find TrueCar incentives on certain vehicles
Cons
- The TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus program does not give you an Amex statement credit
- Each dealer decides how much you can finance with your Amex card
- Must buy from a participating dealer
- May get unwanted phone calls from dealers
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Pros of the Amex Auto Purchasing Program
- Lets you use your Amex card to finance a car
Using the Amex Auto Purchasing Program means you can put at least $2,000 of your vehicle purchase on your American Express.
- You’ll earn Membership Rewards points
You can earn tons of Membership Rewards points if you use your Amex to buy a car. These points are good for retail purchases, travel and gift cards. You can also turn them in for statement credits.
The number of Membership Rewards points you earn depends on the type of Amex you have and how much the dealer lets you charge. Once you have a rough idea of how much you’re going to put on your card, use Amex’s rewards calculator to estimate how many points you’ll earn and where you can spend them.
- Can take advantage of the TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus program
As long as you report your car purchase to American Express within 45 days, you can take part in the TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus program. Here, you can get up to $2,000 of reimbursements for car repairs and insurance deductibles.
- Might find special incentives on certain vehicles
Using the Amex Auto Purchasing Program means you’ll also be using TrueCar. TrueCar sometimes runs special incentives on specific years, makes and models. Most of the time, these incentives are bonus cash offers that will knock down your car’s purchase price.
Good to know: Putting a big expense on a credit card can be risky. If you can’t pay your balance in full by your due date, interest will start to accrue (unless you’re in a 0% APR promo period). As of this writing, the average credit card interest rate is 24.92%.
Cons of the Amex Auto Purchasing Program
- The TrueCar Buyer’s Bonus program does not give you an Amex statement credit
Some buyers mistakenly believe that the Buyer’s Bonus will give them a $2,000 statement credit on their Amex bill. Instead, the program lets you claim up to $2,000 worth of reimbursements for car- and insurance-related expenses.
- Each dealer decides how much you can finance with your Amex card
To participate in the program, dealers must let you put at least $2,000 of your car purchase on your American Express. There’s no guarantee that the dealer will let you charge any more than that.
When you pay for a car with a credit card, the dealer has to pay a transaction processing fee. This fee typically ranges between 1.5% and 3.5%. Dealers tend to shy away from large credit card transactions as a result.
- Must buy from a participating dealer
Not all dealers are a part of Amex’s network. If you can’t find a participating dealer with what you want in stock, you’ll need to choose a different vehicle.
- May get unwanted phone calls from dealers
Part of the process is giving out your contact information so that participating dealers can call you with offers. Comparing multiple offers can be a great way to snag a deal. But once you’ve bought your car, it can be tiring trying to get the calls to stop.
Frequently asked questions
If you use the American Express Auto Purchasing Program, you can use your American Express card to put down at least $2,000 on your car. That may or may not cover your entire down payment — it depends on how much your car costs and the deal you’re getting.
Maybe, but it depends on the dealer.
Because of credit card transaction fees, you will probably have a hard time finding a dealer willing to let you put an entire car on your American Express. If the dealer does let you, it might require you to pay the transaction fee that it would normally be responsible for. You must also stay within your credit limit.
It can be, but only if you can pay your balance in full by your next billing cycle. If you can’t, an auto loan is a better choice. Auto loans typically have lower interest rates than credit cards. You should also consider how using a charge card to buy a car will impact your credit utilization ratio.
Credit utilization ratio measures how much credit you have available versus how much you’re currently using. It’s a good idea to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30%. Anything higher can be a signal to lenders that you’re in over your head. This can make it harder to borrow money at an affordable rate.
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