I just made a deal on a car that came to $30,000. My wife fell in love with the Ford Escape – she likes the ‘SUV’ feel with small car maneuverability. After thinking hard about the hybrid, I ended up with the V6 instead- XLT Limited. Too small for my taste but she is happy.

Wanting to make the most of the deal I used the X-Plan (ExxonMobil gets the same deal as Ford employees on new cars), plus I got the dealer rebate incentives. Since I got 0% financing buying on a credit card was out of the question but just to test the waters, at closing I threw out my MasterCard as payment and the finance manager looked pale (my credit limit is just over $32,000 on that card- & I have figured why it's that high). His reaction struck me as it had been done before and he excused himself and brought in his boss. He said that he would allow $5,000 to be put on the card but no more and went on to explain that because of the deal I was getting (X-plan with incentives) there was simply no fat and wipe out any margin there was left. If I insisted, he would be forced to void the deal and we would have to renegotiate and I would then be allowed to use the credit card. He was VERY nice about it and explained about the fees they would incur in doing so. We talked about it some and I told him it was not a real desire for me since the 0% financing was more to my advantage anyway and I had just wanted to know what their reaction would be.

According to him there is no “set limit” what would be accepted, it would vary from dealer to dealer but any deal involving a total payment via credit card would be declined and renegotiated to allow for the fees- and killing any advantage for using it. He acknowledged the bank would demand that it be accepted for payment but the dealer has to approve the deal (if not profitable it would be declined).

So, it appears that there is really more than one answer to the question. Yes/No they will accept it and Yes/No there is a Limit. It all depends on other factors.