Car Finance

vkhanna

Hi, I brought my car from Carcraft in October 2005. Initially when I saw the car, it had a sign on it saying that you would pay £220 per month for 5 years. Even this amount at the time was a little optimistic for my budget, but I really needed the car and so agreed to the sale.

I was then told that they were getting the card ready, during which time we would need to meet with one of their representatives dealing with the finance aspect of the agreement. We were then taken into a small, confined room (very interrogative) where this representative finally appeared, over-doing his friendliness and carrying a huge wod of paperwork under his arms.

He then produced the contract. He started describing the benefits of the cover we would get with the car and really started painting the brightest picture ever, drawing us into a false sense of ease and security. He then put an asterix where we were supposed to sign. It was then that we happened to look at the sum they were asking us to pay - it had jumped from £220 to a massive £370. What was going on here? We questioned the representative who then said that the cover he was describing was subject to this monthly charge.

At this stage, he then produced a second contract; this one asking for us to pay £320 - we then questioned what was the reason for the false impression created outside implying we would be paying £220 - he said that this did not provide any cover and showed us a third option £270. By this stage, we were so frustrated and led to think that we had to have some form of cover, that we finally signed this contract. We now know why we were placed in this claustrophobic and tiny confined space - how else would they attack their victims.

I don't know how, but they managed to convince us that we would need at least the extra £50 cover per month. We were extremely pressurized to opting for this agreement and left the room feeling something was not right about the whole encounter.

So here I am now. I am paying an extra £50 a month which is unnecessary and highly irrelevant. How can I get rid of this? I only want to pay the £220 which I brought the car for - that was a stretch of my budget and I have not benefitted whatsoever from paying an extra £50 a month - except for the fact that my wallet is lighter!

When I tried to call Carcraft, they told me I had only 30 days from the date of purchase and that there was absolutely nothing I could do to eradicate this extra cover. Carcraft referred me to the finance company and the finance company referred me back to Carcraft?

Does anyone know what I can do? I really grudge paying this extra amount as I do not need this and it is a total waste of money - how can I pull this situation back after being pressurized into signing one of the four agreements which was produced to me that day?

I would be grateful if anyone could help me? I'm paying the extra £50 for an NAC warranty.

Kind Regards

vkhanna

thank you for your reply albertross, the car is a Vauxhall Astra and I think the APR is 18%.

sm9ai

I hope it was a brand new car for that price.

Anyway, what you will also probably find is that the APR will depend upon your risk. If you hae a good credit rating you can probably get a lower APR.

A11yson

How long is the warranty valid for - is it for the whole 5 years??

vkhanna

Hi sm9ai,

I wish it was a brand new car, 6 months old from new.

Hi A11yson,

I think the warranty is for the five years not really sure. I will have another look at the terms and conditions.

Is it possible to get the payments reduced?

A11yson

I had a quick look on the Carcraft website, and the warranty is obviously one of their own products and grossly overpriced for what it is. I also saw a couple of blogs from other people who have complained about the same as you. Try contacting the OFT to find out whether they could be mis-selling a 'warranty product'. Whilst it is not regulated under the FSA - this has been tied in to your finance agreement - are you paying interest on the £50 as well?? You have contracted to pay the monthly amount and would be unable to change this without re-financing. This would mean that you would have to pay a fee for getting out of your current agreement, and my guess would be that it could be expensive. You would also need to do this on a personal loan which means you couldn't then VT the car later - see below! Once you have paid 1/2 of the total amount payable, you are entitled to hand the car back and voluntarily terminate the agreement. That is an option - but not for a very long time. My unqualified advice would be to kick up a real stink with the finance company - threaten Watchdog, OFT claiming pressurised mis-selling of finance,and anyone else who cares - and you may find that they agree to refinance without the warranty for you!!! Good Luck!! Pob Hwyl!! Keep us posted!!!