Miss Sold Car Loan....Your Opinion Please

mrgigs32

Hi Everyone

I recently (Saturday) visited one of the car supermarkets and found exactly the vehicle I was after...at the right price as well....all good news (so far)...but I now feel rather silly and as if I have been miss-sold to....so this is how it goes

DAY 1

The salesman greeted me, took my details and requirements asked me what my finance monthly £ budget range was and then found me a car...He then handed me over to the "Business Manager" in respect of finance...after I had agreed in principle to the monthly budget £...but prior to him getting any agreement from a loan provider they took £450.00 from me to “reserve the vehicle”...next

Now he did the usual typing my details in etc....but came back to me saying that the system was down, and he didn’t want to delay me further...he would ring me later on (it was now about 5pm). I went off with a receipt for the £450.00 and the T&C's but nothing else.

At 7.pm he phones back saying the system is still down, he will contact me in the morning.

Next morning he rings me and says it’s all fine and organised....we will send someone to pick you up (I am the only driver in the family and can’t drive two cars at the same time I didn’t do a PX) and you can have the car today

Wow thinks I...great service!

So about a hour later, the same salesman picks me up and drives me to the site...I wait a little for the "Business Manager" and then he sits me down with paper after paper to sign, warranty / special prep on the paintwork, gap insurance etc (I wanted and agreed to all of these incidentally they weren't a surprise)....and then several credit agreement documents...he re-iterated the monthly payment which was fine (and in principle is still in my budget) and I signed away.

So, after a wait for the final prep, I took hold of the keys, and drove it home....now it all starts to turn a little downhill.

As you do, I reset the clock and date.....and started playing with the gadgets....The change of date brought up an issue with the service on the cars computer and the navigation wasn’t fully working

Too late to telephone that day (Sunday)....I phoned up the next day and they were accommodating, arranging for me to go back in on Friday to sort the cars issues out.

All OK again....until...I went through all my paperwork....and discovered

THE APR IS 20.6%......I nearly fell over

I tried to get through to the "Business Manager" by telephone that day, no luck...I emailed him...it bounced...I stewed over it all night.

So I did an Equifax credit check...it exposes that when the "Business Manager" said the system wasn’t working it actually was as it left a credit search footprint....so he could have given me the "pre contract information" which includes all the £ and the APR....so with 2 faults on the vehicle and a 20.6% agreement...I was less than happy.

So I telephoned the finance company....0871 of course...in India (I asked to be transferred back to the UK) and they said that the issue was with the dealer, but that if the dealer refunded them back the sum they had paid them...they would cancel the agreement.

I telephoned the General Manager, and went to see him...after seeing him and then another business manager, and then a customer service manager...I have managed to get the two faults rectified....but the 20.6% apr remains an issue.

I don’t have an issue with the £ I am paying...its within my budget, I think that the "Business Manager" deliberately avoided giving me the pre-contract info on day one and then didn't state the APR when I signed because he knew it would raise my eyebrows. He was gambling that my agreement to the monthly payment would be the end of it....had it have not been for the 2 issues, and me trawling through all the paperwork, it likely would have been not looked at again.

So...to summarise

• When I left on the first visit after paying the £450, I knew that the sum was not refundable (Unless I failed to get credit)...surely taking this sum is like handcuffing you....it should be taken after the pre-contract info has been handed over shouldn't it?
• I should have had the pre-contract info to make comparatives...especially given that the equifax report shows this is likely to have been available on day one
• When I did have the pre-contract info, it was signed at speed along with everything else, I was picked up and delivered to the dealers 40 miles from home so with no way back apart from the car I was purchasing..and I had no facilities to make a comparative sitting in his office, signing away like a loony...I was up a creek without a paddle....handcuffs number two
• The equifax report shows that I have a good credit score (>400) there is no way on this earth I would have signed up to 20.6% had I have had the info on day one to make comparatives.
• Incurred extra cost here for me against a middle of the road loan is nearly £2k over 3 years.
• The 20.6% is so high that moneysupermarket.com stops at 19.9%

What’s your opinion please...leg to stand on or not???

_Andy_

Why didn't you check the APR when you signed to confirm the loan?

poppy_f1

sorry but i dont see how it was missold you had the chance to back out and just losing the deposit, you would have saw the APR on the paperwork

mrgigs32

Hi

Thanks for the answers / question.......they both have the same answer however

I didnt question the APR on day one because I was happy with the payment amount...and it is still in my budget...point is that by effectively covering up the APR by not giving me the pre contract day 1 I didnt get the chance to compare...by day 2, irrespective of APR I thought I was getting a good deeal

Day two.. Well yes I could have said no and lost £450.00, I challange anyone however to do this when they are under the impression they are getting a good deal....the APR didnt transpire until long after the signing of paperwork...so yes, Silly me I should have asked, but it wasnt mentioned either by me or him and he certainly should have done surely. All the signing was done in a hurry, I was without transport etc...under duress is the best description I would say

Big thing here is....he was bound to supply the pre-contract info to me (CPA)and had the chance to do so on day 1 according to the Equifax report...so why didnt he...I would have then been able to review the document fully and I would have seen the APR andthe picture now would be different!

The equifax document is the valuable piece of information here....it shows the likely intention to cover up....failure to mention day 2 is continuance....he will be registered and approved by the FSA after all and there surely can be no covering up of information with them.

HeadInSand_2

I don't think there will be a cooling off period because you signed on the premises. Surely knowing the monthly payment and the term you could've done a quick calculation to see the total payable?
Signing up to something without even questioning the APR isn't the wisest move, especially having gone home and slept on it beforehand!

CLAPTON

What's done is done and I doubt if you will have much success in challenging the loan...but

Assuming that this is an ordinary personal loan and not HP, then you can see whether you can get a much lower APR and just pay this one off....

mrgigs32

There isnt a cooling of period...thats property (Time shares and the like).....The payment fell within budget thats my point...APR was mentioned and I wasnt worried due to budget and I had nowt to compare to or sleep on....I do now however

Kez100

mrgigs32 wrote: »

There isnt a cooling of period...thats property (Time shares and the like).....The payment fell within budget thats my point...APR was mentioned and I wasnt worried due to budget and I had nowt to compare to or sleep on....I do now however

The APR mentioned - what was it?

Did the paperwork you signed have APR on it (it wasn't duress as the stress of not having a vehicle is your problem not theirs - you can't duress yourself!)

You must learn to do your homework before you sign not after and when you sign something, do read it. It doesn't matter if the office is busy -let them go off and deal with someone else as they won't care once the deal is done.

Seekay_2

Car loans will do you over 80% of the time if you're not very careful. It's easy to get carried away though when you're dealing with an emotional purchase like a car. God knows I get emotional about cars...


Anyway, I think Clapton said it earlier, but I'd second it - if you have a decent credit rating then it's going to be less hassle to get an unsecured personal loan from an on-line or highstreet lender, probably at around half that APR, maybe even better. Just pay it off and swallow the early settlement fee that they'll probably charge.

Then you can put some poo through the letterbox of the dealership in the middle of the night, and feel much better.

(I don't actually advocate that action, sorry)

mrgigs32

Everyone

I know this is a tenuous link...I agree I should have looked at it far more carefully when I sat in the office signing away.....but I didnt.

The APR wasnt mentioned at all....by anyone...talk was all about budgets. I can afford the payments, but the real issue is that I am, through initially their ommision (and then my stupidity) paying way above where I should be.

Having someone bear down on you, and create the sense of urgency isnt the easiest thing to handle...and be assured if this guy is doing it to me he is doing it to others.

Finally yes the pre-contract information which was presented and signed at the same time as the agreement (Day 2) does state APR...but he even stapled it page 2 and then page 1 to ensure (I think) the lack of prominance....a well rehearsed procedure.

I accept that I am a mug here...I have never been caught like this before and have had many loans,,,

Incidentally the finance company no longer sell directly to the general public...BUT they do work with ASDA loans where the typical APR is 7.4%....I have 0% DFS with them at the moment also (nearly paid up at 3 years) so I was a known risk to them.....so same company 20.4% or potential 7.4% via another route...room I think for negotiation...and thats my tactic

Cheers

Seekay_2

Good luck with it - I'm sure you'll manage an improvement on 20.6%!

Don't feel like a mug mate, I'm in finance and if I really wanted a car and I knew I could drive away in it in the next 30 minutes I'd probably just say, 'HELL YEAH!', to every single question they asked.

I'd be interested to know how you get on.