1 Lucky Texan Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 OK, tell me what's wrong with this idea cause I am ignorant of the Subaru Bucks/whatever they call it. Suppose, I get their credit card and use as much as the dealership will allow to pay for my WRX wagon I ordered! See where I'm going with this. Instead of writing them a check for the car as I had planned, I would charge as much as possible, pay off the card, and get those bucks. 1. Do they still have this deal and what is it's actual name? 2. Is there a link to online info about it? 3. Anybody know if there is a transaction or yearly or other limit as to how many bucks I could earn doing this? 4. what other problems make this a stupid idea? tia Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyKeith Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 You want the Chase Platimum Subaru Card I don't know if they have a limit or not. I have the card, and have had it for years. (It was originally handled by MBNA) The only thing I do know is that the money you get comes in $100 "checks" that can only be used one time. That means if you get an oil change for $40 and want to use your $100 check, you kiss goodbye to the other $60. It's a crappy system in that regard, but they don't want people coming in and buying a $10 wiper blades and walking out with $90 cash in their hands. I buy parts at the dealer all the time, and for warrenty reasons I've been letting Subaru do my Castrol Syntec oil changes, so it doesn't take much for me to equal that $100. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjwirth Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Rallykeith's link answers questions 1-3. As far as Q4, I personally think it's not worth it. you get a 3% reward, which is better than some of the other automotive rewards cards, but you are locked into Subaru. You can't even save up a decent amount for a down payment on a car, because they limit you to $500/yr. (not sure if that number can accumulate- i guess if it can, then it's ok) I edited this post, becuase i realized that maybe the rewards can accumulate so that you can save it up and buy a car or somehting. So maybe this isn't such a bad deal as I first made it out to be. I guess, I just prefer my citibank card which gives 5% for gas and supermarket, 1% everywhere else. it probably averages out the same, but I get a $100 check for cash instead of frequent flyer or GM points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted August 8, 2005 Author Share Posted August 8, 2005 So, IF (and it's doubtfull they'd let me charge more than 1/4 the full amount) I charged - say - 24K to the card, I'd get either a $500 max or, at the most $720 which, must be used in such a way as to round up in $100 increments. is that right? Also, can they beused at the parts counter for performance parts/accessories or service only? thanx guys Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyKeith Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Also, can they beused at the parts counter for performance parts/accessories or service only? thanx guys Carl They can be used for anything. I saved up something like $1400 that I used when I bought my STi, and since then I've used them on service alone, parts alone, and a mix. Just last week my dad used one on parts. Timing belt and a bunch of oil filters. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richierich Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 My wife and I have one, matter of fact it is our most used credit card. We use it for going out to dinner and larger purchases over $100 Our other card is a MBNA but it doesn't have good reward (cheap stereos, dinners, etc) so we don't use it. My company car is cash back, but only $300 per year, so I am looking for something better. Any incentive based card is only worth having if you pay it off every month. Example most cash back, flyer miles, etc are about 9.99%, and you get 1-3% back. Whereas a regular card is 6.99%. So to get a 1-3% back, you end up paying 3 more percent yearly. That and that a lot of the incentives never get cashed in make it a fair deal for the credit card companies. I am thinking about getting a frequent flyer card and using it for all my purchases, if anyone has one they like let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I have a subie card as well.... I used $100 of my subaru bucks as part of the down payment on my new Baja... future ones will got to 30 and 60K services and parts and stuff. There is a cap of $500 per year to get. Also the bucks have your name and address on them... so when you seem them on sale for $80 for a $100 check... be careful because the name wont match and they may void them. Richie... Shannon and I are getting a frequent flier card through rivermark credit union.. I dont know the APR really, its under 10% for sure though. One of these tuesdays I could probably bring the papers in with me after I find em in the files. Too bad I generally am petrified of flying... well of the sudden changes in altitude or bumps in bad weather anyway... when it smooth its all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoPete Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 So, IF (and it's doubtfull they'd let me charge more than 1/4 the full amount) I charged - say - 24K to the card, I'd get either a $500 max or, at the most $720 which, must be used in such a way as to round up in $100 increments. is that right? Also, can they beused at the parts counter for performance parts/accessories or service only? thanx guys Carl You could charge a $24K car to your card only if you had a $24K credit limit. (That would get you the yearly maximum of five $100 certificates and you would earn no more rebates for a year). The other problem is that there is processing time involved in issuing the Subaru Bucks. The charge has to appear on your statement, then the certificates are sent after the monthly closing date. So you would have already paid for the car before you got the Subaru Bucks, and you wouldn't be able to apply them to the car purchase. I like the program. I have spent $1000 in Subaru Bucks on maintenance and repairs over the past three years - money that would have come out of my pocket otherwise. It makes owing a Subaru quite economical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 You could charge a $24K car to your card only if you had a $24K credit limit. (That would get you the yearly maximum of five $100 certificates and you would earn no more rebates for a year). The other problem is that there is processing time involved in issuing the Subaru Bucks. The charge has to appear on your statement, then the certificates are sent after the monthly closing date. So you would have already paid for the car before you got the Subaru Bucks, and you wouldn't be able to apply them to the car purchase. I like the program. I have spent $1000 in Subaru Bucks on maintenance and repairs over the past three years - money that would have come out of my pocket otherwise. It makes owing a Subaru quite economical. Yeah, it'd be tough to get quite that high a limit. But getting it like 8K or whatever would get the $500 is doable. And I don't really care that it wouldn't apply to this car's price. Just kinda hate to get another card just for this purpose. Still, might buy a short shifter or something! hmmmmmm..... Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjwirth Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Just kinda hate to get another card just for this purpose. Honestly, if you don't want to get a card, I'd say don't get it. On the other hand, if you are going to use a card, it may as well be a rewards card of some type. Like I mentioned before, I have a citibank card, and I get 5% for gas and groceries. I figure that's about$400 in CASH each year (spend $600+/month just in those 2 expenses) I think Discover card has cash back, but I'm not sure what their %'s are. We also charge about another $1000+/month on other miscelaneous stuff , but that only earns 1%. In this scenario, the subaru card would get us more "rewards" but be limited to subaru stuff. as an aside, if you want to hear a great scam (and this may fall under urban legend), way back when rewards cards were first introduced and the rules weren't as strict, there was a guy who would buy travelers checks with his VISA card every month. Because he was a memeber of AAA or some group, there was no transaction fee for this. so Everymonth he would simply cash the checks and pay off his credit card avoiding interest. basically he got 120,000 frequent flyer miles each year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95legacy Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 just curious, do the points expire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 just curious, do the points expire? good question! Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95legacy Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 bump for the people who have the card already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 I dont think the points expire... I have not noticed anything on the photocopy of the one that I redeemed that said otherwise. EDIT... sounds like discopete looked at one and said it expires.... so I would believe that. I would expect that you probably would have trouble stocking up enough to buy a whole new car with em if thats what you were thinking... $500 a year X lots of years = takes a LONG time to buy a suby. I plan to use my bucks in the future to get a trailer hitch, MAYBE sport activity lights and regular tune ups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoPete Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 just curious, do the points expire? Each certificate expires four years from the month of issue. The expiration date is printed on each one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95legacy Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Each certificate expires four years from the month of issue. The expiration date is printed on each one. so logic would say that even if you can do the max of $500/ year, the most you can save on a car is $2000 to go towards a subie. thanks for the responses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benebob Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 so logic would say that even if you can do the max of $500/ year, the most you can save on a car is $2000 to go towards a subie. thanks for the responses! Bad logic. You can get one in your name, your cats name and your dogs name and then have $6k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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