help with arnold clark finance - have i been mislead?
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Good evening,
I bought a car (Car A) from Stetford Arnold Clarke, July 2014. I made a Payment for Car A against personal hitachi loan - £500 in cash and a Peugeot 206 trade in which was in good shape and just through MOT. The original sale was dealt with by a relatively new member of staff who really pushed the sale of an audi A3 as she drove one. What was alarming to me at this time was that the sales woman said the deposit had to be processed before the car would be dispatched from Glasgow branch. Payments started coming out monthly from August 2014. In September, the colouring of the car started to fade and I went back to Arnold Clarke to complain about this. I was told that a respray was out of the question but that they would buff.
I then went back to AC in December to ask about my options with the car. The reasons about asking for this was due to my working commitments and imminent changes to my working life. Arnold Clark said this downgrade would take my monthly payments down if I handed the Audi back and opted for a cheaper car. There was also an expectation of a cash payment at this stage but I'm not really sure why this was, so I give over another £100. He then said, I'm going to ring up the people from Hitatchi and they agreed to 'take it back, no problem'. As a person who doesn't work in this industry, I was assured that this was the 'end' of the original loan associated with the Audi and he assured me this was the case.
Following this, he then signed me up to the new loan (Car
but at no point did he make it explicit that the new loan was being added on top of the existing one. This really didn't make sense to me and why would it? The very reason I was back in AC was to change my car option and the associated loan repayments, when in actual fact, I ended up paying for the total of two.
I visited another few times were I mentioned to the sales staff that I would be more than happy to take any 'banger' they had on the yard. Surprisingly, this was not taken up as a viable option which was confusing to me as the staff were fully aware that I wanted to downgrade.
I have rang Hitachi finance (who the money is owed too) who sympathised with my situation, several times, to see what I could do. The first phone call was from me to query why the repayment total was so much; totally opposite to the reason for downgrading. I now roughly have to pay back £10, 000, and I have paid about £4, 000 – the car in worth about £1200. I have rung Arnold clark several times and left all my details, but they have never rang me back. I also have sent them emails and they have not replied.
So I am looking for advice – has Arnold clark done anything wrong? Have I any way of negotiating this ‘loan’? I have a lot of paying back to do and it feels like I have been ripped off. I would be happy enough with maybe having a big loan to pay back if it was going towards a very good car, but the car probably needs changing in the next 6 months. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. From reading through the comments, it seems that many people feel misled.
Summary:
I took out an audi a3 and put down a puegeot 206 and £500 deposit. After a few months I wanted to downgrade as repayments were too much. Arnold clark took the car back and settled the figure. I took out a new car on a more affordable monthly repayment. They didn’t tell me though that the new finance deal was added onto the first one. Now I have £10, 000 to repay for a car worth £1200. Is there anything I can do?
The questions I have are:
1 – has Arnold clark done anything wrong
2 – Have I any way of negotiating this ‘loan’
3 – is my issue with Arnold clark or hitachi?
4 – What should I do next?
I bought a car (Car A) from Stetford Arnold Clarke, July 2014. I made a Payment for Car A against personal hitachi loan - £500 in cash and a Peugeot 206 trade in which was in good shape and just through MOT. The original sale was dealt with by a relatively new member of staff who really pushed the sale of an audi A3 as she drove one. What was alarming to me at this time was that the sales woman said the deposit had to be processed before the car would be dispatched from Glasgow branch. Payments started coming out monthly from August 2014. In September, the colouring of the car started to fade and I went back to Arnold Clarke to complain about this. I was told that a respray was out of the question but that they would buff.
I then went back to AC in December to ask about my options with the car. The reasons about asking for this was due to my working commitments and imminent changes to my working life. Arnold Clark said this downgrade would take my monthly payments down if I handed the Audi back and opted for a cheaper car. There was also an expectation of a cash payment at this stage but I'm not really sure why this was, so I give over another £100. He then said, I'm going to ring up the people from Hitatchi and they agreed to 'take it back, no problem'. As a person who doesn't work in this industry, I was assured that this was the 'end' of the original loan associated with the Audi and he assured me this was the case.
Following this, he then signed me up to the new loan (Car
but at no point did he make it explicit that the new loan was being added on top of the existing one. This really didn't make sense to me and why would it? The very reason I was back in AC was to change my car option and the associated loan repayments, when in actual fact, I ended up paying for the total of two.I visited another few times were I mentioned to the sales staff that I would be more than happy to take any 'banger' they had on the yard. Surprisingly, this was not taken up as a viable option which was confusing to me as the staff were fully aware that I wanted to downgrade.
I have rang Hitachi finance (who the money is owed too) who sympathised with my situation, several times, to see what I could do. The first phone call was from me to query why the repayment total was so much; totally opposite to the reason for downgrading. I now roughly have to pay back £10, 000, and I have paid about £4, 000 – the car in worth about £1200. I have rung Arnold clark several times and left all my details, but they have never rang me back. I also have sent them emails and they have not replied.
So I am looking for advice – has Arnold clark done anything wrong? Have I any way of negotiating this ‘loan’? I have a lot of paying back to do and it feels like I have been ripped off. I would be happy enough with maybe having a big loan to pay back if it was going towards a very good car, but the car probably needs changing in the next 6 months. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. From reading through the comments, it seems that many people feel misled.
Summary:
I took out an audi a3 and put down a puegeot 206 and £500 deposit. After a few months I wanted to downgrade as repayments were too much. Arnold clark took the car back and settled the figure. I took out a new car on a more affordable monthly repayment. They didn’t tell me though that the new finance deal was added onto the first one. Now I have £10, 000 to repay for a car worth £1200. Is there anything I can do?
The questions I have are:
1 – has Arnold clark done anything wrong
2 – Have I any way of negotiating this ‘loan’
3 – is my issue with Arnold clark or hitachi?
4 – What should I do next?
0
Comments
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Your post is very confusing.
Can you break down the financial elements of each loan, including trade ins and settlements.0 -
I'm assuming there is still only one payment leaving your account each month?
So they can't have done any of that without a signature from you agreeing to it, on the form that detailed how much per month and for how long, with a bottom line total amount repayable figure.0 -
as above when you read the agreement what did it say?Don't put your trust into an Experian score - it is not a number any bank will ever use & it is generally a waste of money to purchase it. They are also selling you insurance you dont need.0
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Did you expect that when you handed Car A back, the outstanding loan for Car A would be completely settled?"Facism arrives as your friend. It will restore your honour, make you feel proud, protect your house, give you a job, clean up the neighbourhood, remind you of how great you once were, clear out the venal and the corrupt, remove anything you feel is unlike you... [it] doesn't walk in saying, "our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution."0
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I too am confused..
What Was Your original Monthly Payment?
What is your new monthly payment?
The fact of the matter is though that there was more than likely always going to be negative equity in the car so when you handed it back you would have still owed them money. By the sound of things this was added to the sale price of the second car. This should have been made quite clear to you if this is the case.0 -
I assume when you returned the Audi it was worth less than what you owed on the original finance deal so any extra from that finance deal was added on to your new finance agreement."We act as though comfort and luxury are the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about” – Albert Einstein0
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