A couple's money issue - help please!

succuba5

I would like to get your thoughts on a money question that is causing a rift between my two friends who are a couple.

The couple have bought a car together and were able to get £3000 off the price of the car using the swappage scheme. The car that they traded had been bought by the girl before the two had got together and she had it for 18 months before they met and he started driving it as well. They had driven the girl’s car together for 5 years before it finally gave up but during that time there had been a number of problems that arose with the car and the couple shared the cost of fixing these as they were both using the car.

The problem arises in that the guy has put £5000 down as the deposit and obviously wants the girl to pay half, however she is saying that because she had the car that gave them £3000 off that she shouldn’t pay the full half as they would have never got the £3k off otherwise.

She is happy to still pay him money towards the £5k that he is putting down but perhaps only £1000 instead of £2500
He thinks that because he has paid towards the upkeep of the car that the £3000 saving is a joint saving and shouldn’t be factored in to it. In addition to that they would have only got £100 if they’d sold the original car as it really wasn’t worth anything.

Sorry that this is long but this is causing arguments between the two and they need to get it solved.

What do you think? Is the girl right or the guy? Or do you have another solution?

Person_one

I think they shouldn't buy a house together!

I can see the girl's point that the £3000 is her contribution. He may have put petrol in the car occasionally but did he tax and MOT it and pay for repairs for the whole 18 months? If there'd been a huge MOT bill would he have wanted to pay half of that? If not he really has no grounds for saying that the car is half his.

However, if the car is truly for both of them, I can also see how its fair to split the REAl cost of it and consider the £3000 a lucky windfall.

However I thought a car could only belong to one person, with one name on the logbook. Who will actually own it and therefore get it if they split up?

LJM

if they are together as a couple then i think it should be joint money in but then saying that it was her car originally and she bought it it and she is correct saying that if it wasnt for her having said car they wouldnt have got the money off then let her put in what she can afford. it is a hard one as being in a couple to me means sharing everything and not arguing over money at the end of the day it is a car as person_one said what would they do when it comes to the house would they disagree over that and then children, where do you draw the line

Wow

I think the guy should just pay for the car himself and give it to her as a present if he loves her.:)

But thats just me.:)

brians_daughter

Now me and my oh have seperate finances and i agree with independance, but this to me sounds a little silly. If they are a couple then joint assets should be just that - joint! If he has used the car, and paid towards the tax, insurance, MOT and service costs then she was happy for the car to be a joint asset...but now she can maybe make/save a few quid its suddenly hers? Sorry, she cant have it both ways!

If on the other hand she has paid all tax, MOT, servicing, insurance etc then it is her car and her call to make...

When me and my partner got together we both had cars, we only needed 1 so we sold the cars (mine for 3k less than his) and bought a car together. we paid 1/2 of the finance, insurance, tax, mot etc each as it was a joint asset - he didnt ask me to pay 3k more cause i put 3k less than him down on the car! Mind you...he nows better than to ask lol

aliasojo

succuba5 wrote: »

He thinks that because he has paid towards the upkeep of the car that the £3000 saving is a joint saving and shouldn’t be factored in to it. In addition to that they would have only got £100 if they’d sold the original car as it really wasn’t worth anything.

She didn't have a £3000 asset, she had a £100 asset. I don't see how she can expect to trade her £100 asset for a £2500 discount tbh.

Why the heck didn't they sort this out first before buying the car? Looks like neither of them are blessed with comon sense tbh.

Birdy12

How much is the car that they're going to buy?

The guy is putting down £5k and wants the girl to pay £2.5k but is that to him (as 50% share of his deposit) or to the cost of the car also?

All repairs etc since they got together, I assume were paid jointly?

The way I see it is that the scrapped car was originally bought by the girl so to my mind the £3k gained from the scrappage scheme should be considered as her deposit. If the guy is putting down £5k why doesn't the girl match it and put down an additional £2k? Or am I missing something here?

FWIW - If they're arguing now about who should put what in what over a car, I don't hold out much hope for them in the future...

Birdy

NB are you the girl or the boy in this?;)

*Louise*

Out of interest -who will be the car's registered owner??

smartpicture

On balance, if they'd been together under 2 years or so, I would say that the value of her car should be hers. But given the length of time they've been together, it shouldn't come into it.

But - do they both earn around the same amount of money? I don't think it's fair to go halves if one person earns twice as much as the other, it should be in proportion to their earnings.

Also, it does matter whose name the car goes in, and that's worth something extra.

flea72

she hasnt put £3k towards the deal, she has used her car as a bargaining tool with the salesman

if she had managed to wangle £3k off the price of the car, just from gift of the gab, or fluttering her eyelashes, would she still view it as though she has contributed £3k towards the price of the car

your friend is in the wrong

F

cheepskate_2

If they are having so much difficulty with this one, then I think they are not compatable with each other and should just split now as it will happen later.

In my view the guy should pay all and keep the car in his name as soon there will be a dispute on ownership, me thinks