I've got a 3.7% for them, peoplefirst is offering 5.24% for 60 months.

Is there any pitfall in using these checks?

 

yes it will lower your credit considerably. A large amount of revolving debt is not good on a credit report. It is probably the thing that can take the most points off your score besides not paying. an increase of revolving debt from say 10% of credit limit to 70% will easily take 50+ points off your score.

In addition, that 3.7% could be raised in the future to some much higher number.

 

Good point about revolving credit.

 

Also, the minimum monthly payment for your credit card could be a few hundred dollars more than the monthly payment for regular financing. This depends on the amount financed and the terms on the card of course.

 

I thought about using mine but ended up just financing.

 

I took the 5.24 peoplefirst check with me to the dealership while really knowing I wanted NMA financing so I could use my Citibank Online Payment. Peoplefirst will charge you .5% to use autodeduct.

I ended up receiving 5.15 from the dealership via Chase.

The dealers are desperate to finance and selll lots of warranty addons. Its a win to take the check.

 

I have been told that revolving credit debt is not as good for building your credit rating as a standard loan.

 

Are you saying that they have a higher interest rate if you set up automatic payments? My credit union reduces the rate by .25% if you have direct deposit, and .25% if you set up automatic payments from your account.

 

I was going to use one of those at 3.9% but ended up getting another offer at 0.0% and using that instead (it's only for a year, though). There's no real down side if you have a zero balance on the card when you use the check (if not, you will not be able to pay off the higher interest debt until the cash amount is paid off first). Maybe it affects your credit rating points, but that doesn't really matter unless you are going for some more financing before it's paid off. Another good thing about it as opposed to a car loan is that there will be no lienholder on the vehicle: it will be 100% yours. Also, you can decide how much to pay each month (the minimum payment may be low).

 

I believe that PeopleFirst charges you a higher rate (.5%) if you don't autodeduct payments. They call their their invoicing option.