CarSeekBlog

Okay, let’s be honest, we all have too many credit cards. I know I do and I know I struggle to keep a handle on the balances. My Depression-raised late father would not be pleased. That’s why I’m not sure Toyota Financial’s launch of a Toyta-branded credit card is that great an idea — even if it does follow the extablished pattern of the 50,000 Lexus credit cards floating around out there. I mean come on. If you can afford a Lexus in the first place, you’re probably safe with that card. For most of the rest of us, however, one more piece of plastic is one more temptation to spend money we don’t have.

Here’s how the thing works. You make purchases, you get points. You redeem the points for discounts on parts and maintenance bills or toward a vehicle down payment. The company is looking to issue 140,000 of the cards during year one, starting in October. The balances will be carried by U.S. Bank with Toyota maintaining all the customer data and such. (The customer info is confidential, but Toyota can use the data to take a look at purchasing trends.)

We’ve made no bones about the fact that this may not be the time to buy a car, especially if you have shaky credit. Yes, there are going to be good buys out there as automakers work to move their sluggish inventory, but the first question you must always ask yourself is can you afford that car? Can you afford to keep up with the payments? And the second questions is, what will I have to give up in some other area of my life to accomplish that? And this business of a Toyota card or one from any other automaker? My advice would be to think twice. If you already have weak credit, it’s not going to be strengthened by one more card in your wallet.

Filed under: Cash or Credit, Economy, Ford, Lexus, Toyota by Mel