car finance help/advice

Chris_yard

I need some advice on where we stand on a finance agreement and a faulty car.

We purchased a used renualt laguna estate just over a year ago from a reputable dealer for £4499 and have had nothing put problems ever since. Although the car has spent months in both the workshop at the dealer and with a main renault dealer the problems are still there.
Because of this the dealer has finally agreed to buy the car back from us at £2000 which would be put towards the cost of another car. Because of the outstanding balance on the faulty car this would mean we had to carry on paying for that and the remaining balance on the replacement car bringing the balance to £6272. If we had payed another £250 pounds or so we could have cancelled the finance on the first car and not had to pay any more on it.
We would like to know where we stand in regards to this as the we are not simply changing the car because we want a newer/ better one but because it is faulty and always has been. The finance company has been kept up to date all the way through.
Should we be given the option to pay the current finance to the amount required for cancellation and no further payments or should the dealer be responsable for the outstanding balance due to the faults not being cured?
Any help/advice on the matter would be great.

standupguy

If you only have a small payment to make to get you to half the hp price then the best option may be to vt the agreement and return the car.

But, the car must be in a reasonable condition for its age and mileage and your account must be up to date with no arrears.

chalkie99

If I read this correctly then you have paid £4449 for a faulty vehicle which the dealer has not been able to fix to your satisfaction and his offer is to take your car back and knock £2,000 off another vehicle he has for sale?

Presumably this £2,000 is off the screen price which might well be inflated anyway so it hardly seems a great deal and I am not sure if I would want to buy another vehicle from the same dealer in your situation.

Why have you not threatened or pursued legal action?

CM66

standupguy wrote: »

If you only have a small payment to make to get you to half the hp price then the best option may be to vt the agreement and return the car.

But, the car must be in a reasonable condition for its age and mileage and your account must be up to date with no arrears.

I've heard people mention that if you've paid 50% of the HP then you can hand the car back - is that right? I've had a car on the Ford Options scheme and called for my settlement figure yesterday which is less that 50% of the original amount loaned. In that case, can I just hand the it back to the dealer?

Chris_yard

chalkie99 wrote: »

If I read this correctly then you have paid £4449 for a faulty vehicle which the dealer has not been able to fix to your satisfaction and his offer is to take your car back and knock £2,000 off another vehicle he has for sale?

Yes the screen price was £4449, so far we have paid £2409 off the finance. The car has been back to the garage for just under 5 months of the total time I have had it. It has even been back to a genuine Renult dealer and they were unable to fix it.

chalkie99 wrote: »

Presumably this £2,000 is off the screen price which might well be inflated anyway so it hardly seems a great deal and I am not sure if I would want to buy another vehicle from the same dealer in your situation.

Yes the £2000 is off the screen price of £4999, so I will be paying £3000. I have tried to bring the screen price down / or my part ex price up but dealer is saying that I have had the car for just over a year and the part ex price is better than it should be anyway. (at just over £1600)

chalkie99 wrote: »

Why have you not threatened or pursued legal action?

Againt who ??? Dealer or Finance company ?? We have got trading standards involved with the dealer, which is why I think we have now got to this stage, i.e. the dealer now (as he has argeed) has to pay for the fault, so wants to change the car so he scrap the car claim the scrappage allowance and he has made a nice tidy profit from me.

Am I within my rights to ask the dealer to pay the outstanding balance on the old car ??? and take his £2000 part ex

CLAPTON

are you saying that you have had a car for a year of which 5 months was in the gargage for repairs?

You should long ago asked for a full refund from the garage and if they don't refund you then take them to the small claims court.

Chris_yard

CLAPTON wrote: »

are you saying that you have had a car for a year of which 5 months was in the gargage for repairs?

You should long ago asked for a full refund from the garage and if they don't refund you then take them to the small claims court.

Yes that is right had the car for just over a year and 5 months in the garage, I had asked many a time for a refund and all I was getting was bring it back in and we will look at it again, even when I told them that I was going to trading standards and thinking about small claims they just kept telling me that they are dealing with it and will sort it. Even finance said that we had to give them a chance to try and fix it.

ILW

Chris_yard wrote: »

Yes that is right had the car for just over a year and 5 months in the garage, I had asked many a time for a refund and all I was getting was bring it back in and we will look at it again, even when I told them that I was going to trading standards and thinking about small claims they just kept telling me that they are dealing with it and will sort it. Even finance said that we had to give them a chance to try and fix it.

I think you are beyond giving them a chance.
For what it costs I would go with the small claims court for a total refund as the car was obviusly not of saleable quality.

Chris_yard

How much would I be looking at for a small claims ???

Chris_yard

After 30 minutes of being on the phone to the fiance company, I am, slowley, making a bit of progress. Well I sort of understand why the dealer was telling me I would be paying £6000. The finance company have said that if I can find a car with the same value as my current car (£2000) they will just change the details of the agrement and I will just continue paying as before until I reach the original value of the loan !!!! If I was to go for the car of £4999 then it would be like starting a new loan with the old loan stuck on top, thus the £6000. I think i will be contaning the CAB for some advice on smalls claims later, I might even email Watchdog !!! :-)

poundsaver

I might be wrong but doesn't the finance company have some liability for this fiasco? Google whatconsumer and then look for consumer guides - buying a car.