Car loan help required

jinger_2

I am enquiring on behalf of my in-laws. Sorry if this is a long post.

In Jan 2006 they bought a Mitsubishi L200 truck from a local dealer on finance. Since they bought the truck they have had no end of problems with it which has resulted in bills totalling around £4000 (so far). In December 2008, more problems arose and the truck has been off the road since. It is believed that when the head gasket was replaced, it wasn't done correctly and has caused a lot of damage to the engine although they can't really prove it. It now needs a complete engine rebuild and several expensive parts replacing and they're looking at another £3000 or more bill to sort it.

The thing is, they can't afford to have it fixed as they still have to pay for the finance on the truck.

They've been to CAB, contacted the Consumer people who advised them to write to the finance company, explaining the problems and to quote the Supply of Goods (implied terms) Act 1973 (as amended) and to ask the finance company what they're going to do about it. They wrote back stating poss fair wear and tear etc and to get an independant report stating the problems now experienced. We wrote back stating it wasn't fair wear and tear, the truck had done no more than 58,000 miles which we consider to be pretty good for a 5 year old vehicle, (plus father in law doesn't drive like a mad man!). We also advised them we has someone look at the vehicle and advised them of the findings. The finance company have written back basically saying tough luck, they've still got to pay for the vehicle.

The finance company are refusing to let them sell the truck. They can't get a loan from elsewhere to pay the truck loan off (they still owe £5000 on it) so they could sell the truck as is.

My in-laws don't know what to do now and are at the end of their tethers (and so am I!). Short of dumping the truck at the finance company's door and throwing them the keys with a few rude words thrown at them for good measure, does anyone know what else we can do?

standupguy

If they have a trail of dated copy letters, documentation, bills etc proving the issues and contact with the Finance Company about the issues dated from soon after they received delivery up to the present day then they may have more success with any claim.

If not, it is likely that little can be done.

If it is a regulated HP agreement and they have paid half of the hp price total on the agreement then they can return the vehicle to the Finance company (with nothing more to pay) under a voluntary termination but it has to be roadworthy and in a reasonable condition for its age and mileage otherwise they may reject the vt or charge them for the cost of any repairs required

jinger_2

My in-laws have all the paperwork related to any work done on the truck apart from confirmation of what exactly was done when the head gasket was replaced. (The garage had refused to supply a breakdown of the work done, only a bill which to me is a bit suspect.). The finance company have been supplied with copies of all paperwork but they're still washing their hands.

I am aware they can't go down the route of a voluntary termination on the HP agreement as it's not at the moment in a road-worthy state.

So it's likely they're stuck with a vehicle they can't do anything with and are still going to be paying for it.