Voluntary Termination of HP agreement

pcrockatt

Hi guys,

I was hoping that I could gather some advice about the voluntary termination that I am currently undergoing with Honda Finance Europe Plc. I have paid over 50% of the amount owed and am not in arrears.

My 2007 Honda Civic Type-r has been collected and 'an independent inspection of the vehicle has been completed'. This shows 'a higher than reasonable amount of 'fair wear and tear' for a car of its age and mileage'.

They are saying that the value of my car in a good standard would be £7,220, but mine was valued at £6,500 - thus leaving me a liability of £720!

Before the car went back I paid £600 getting the wheels refurbished and a dent repaired/painted, so this is quite painful for me and I believe the car is in great condition!

I was hoping someone had any suggestions of what I could do? How to word a letter in response?

Any help is appreciated. Many thanks

Phil

Clive_Woody

pcrockatt wrote: »

Hi guys,

I was hoping that I could gather some advice about the voluntary termination that I am currently undergoing with Honda Finance Europe Plc. I have paid over 50% of the amount owed and am not in arrears.

My 2007 Honda Civic Type-r has been collected and 'an independent inspection of the vehicle has been completed'. This shows 'a higher than reasonable amount of 'fair wear and tear' for a car of its age and mileage'.

They are saying that the value of my car in a good standard would be £7,220, but mine was valued at £6,500 - thus leaving me a liability of £720!

Before the car went back I paid £600 getting the wheels refurbished and a dent repaired/painted, so this is quite painful for me and I believe the car is in great condition!

I was hoping someone had any suggestions of what I could do? How to word a letter in response?

Any help is appreciated. Many thanks

Phil

First you need a breakdown of what the issues and what repairs they claim are needed and their associated costs. You can then start the dispute from there.

pcrockatt

Thanks, I was thinking about this because I read it on another thread. The reason I questioned myself was because they haven't mentioned repairs, just the value of the car.

[Deleted User]

fair wear and tear will be a difficult one to argue,your idea of whats fair etc may (obviously does)differ from theirs

ILW

The fact that the car has had a dent repaired will decrease its value.

pcrockatt

woodbine wrote: »

fair wear and tear will be a difficult one to argue,your idea of whats fair etc may (obviously does)differ from theirs

Any ideas?

ILW wrote: »

The fact that the car has had a dent repaired will decrease its value.

They are not aware of this and it's impossible to tell. It wasn't a huge dent, whole door was painted.

standupguy

It looks like the Finance company is trying to mitigate their losses and have put this gambit to you to see if you will cough up.

A used cars value varies dependant on the person doing the valuing - there is not one definitive valuation for your car.

They cannot argue about value - as Clive says they can only argue about specific issues or faults with the car that would not be considered fair wear and tear and these must each be explained to you to justify any excess money they are asking for.

A proper repair does not detract from fair wear and tear.

Ask them to send you a copy of the independant report with details of any issues with the car which is not considered fair wear and tear together with written estimates of the costs required to bring the car to a reasonable standard.

I think they will forget all about chasing you for more money as they will be aware they are on very thin ground and are basically just trying it on - some people they write to like this will just pay up so worth a try on their part.

jonjamie1970

Agreed, some companies try it on at this point, you should take this up as a task and do as standupguy suggests, get the full report and then if they indeed even send it then start from there. Have you got the original report on file when they collected, theres always the possibility the person collecting did some damage ?

I had a BMW M3 and the guy collected it on a Friday, purely so he could keep it for the weekend before taking it to auction, he told me this but I made sure the forms looked ok.

ILW

standupguy wrote: »

It looks like the Finance company is trying to mitigate their losses and have put this gambit to you to see if you will cough up.

A used cars value varies dependant on the person doing the valuing - there is not one definitive valuation for your car.

They cannot argue about value - as Clive says they can only argue about specific issues or faults with the car that would not be considered fair wear and tear and these must each be explained to you to justify any excess money they are asking for.

A proper repair does not detract from fair wear and tear.

Ask them to send you a copy of the independant report with details of any issues with the car which is not considered fair wear and tear together with written estimates of the costs required to bring the car to a reasonable standard.

I think they will forget all about chasing you for more money as they will be aware they are on very thin ground and are basically just trying it on - some people they write to like this will just pay up so worth a try on their part.

depends on the definition of proper repair. A seasoned trade buyer will run a magnet over bodywork to check for filler, if the door has not been replaced this could be a reason for downvaluing. The slightest colour differences between new and old paint will make a car much harder to sell.

Cenerally any accident damage is not classed as wear and tear, even if repaired.

You do need to see the report though.

Hax

Also worth considering is that most contracts allow for a certain number of miles being done. If you have exceeded the values in the contract then this will also detract from the value of the car.

pcrockatt

standupguy wrote: »

It looks like the Finance company is trying to mitigate their losses and have put this gambit to you to see if you will cough up.

A used cars value varies dependant on the person doing the valuing - there is not one definitive valuation for your car.

They cannot argue about value - as Clive says they can only argue about specific issues or faults with the car that would not be considered fair wear and tear and these must each be explained to you to justify any excess money they are asking for.

A proper repair does not detract from fair wear and tear.

Ask them to send you a copy of the independant report with details of any issues with the car which is not considered fair wear and tear together with written estimates of the costs required to bring the car to a reasonable standard.

I think they will forget all about chasing you for more money as they will be aware they are on very thin ground and are basically just trying it on - some people they write to like this will just pay up so worth a try on their part.

Thanks, I have done this after a few people I have spoken to said the same thing - that they were just trying it on.

ILW wrote: »

depends on the definition of proper repair. A seasoned trade buyer will run a magnet over bodywork to check for filler, if the door has not been replaced this could be a reason for downvaluing. The slightest colour differences between new and old paint will make a car much harder to sell.

Cenerally any accident damage is not classed as wear and tear, even if repaired.

You do need to see the report though.

I'm not sure if filler would have been needed as it wasn't a huge dent.

Awaiting the report now.