When I got my most recent Toyota, I wanted to put $3k (their maximum) on a credit card. They asked why & I told them for the 1% cash back. My dealer countered: Apply for a Toyota card, put $3k on it today towards the car, and get $150 (5 times as much) back on money that can be spent at any Toyota dealer. That's how I paid for stuff best purchased at a dealer (WS fluid, Toyota SLLC Coolant and the like). Both of us ended up happy!
We bought my wife's 2012 Prius V on a VISA card. It was well over the credit limit, of course, so we simply pre-paid $30,000 on the account. I was skeptical of the dealer accepting it, but the deal sailed right through!
Why didn't I think of this... I get frequent flier miles for using my card, and I could have easily gotten 5000 miles!
I assume you're joking; what was the limit and how much of a negative balance did you put them? Some cards won't even accept a payment more than the current balance so you cannot go negative.
I am not joking at all. I went to Bank of Guam (who issued the card) explained what I wanted to do, and they quickly agreed. Got 28,000 miles out of the transaction.
My card has a $10,000 credit limit, we went ahead and deposited $30,000 to pay off our existing balance (which we do every month, of course) and create a $28,000 negative balance which we had explained to the bank would exist for one day only. I suppose it helps to have a card issued by a local bank where you are well known. I've found very few corporate policies on credit cards or anything else that cannot be over-ridden if you're dealing with a Manager who gives a damn about your business.