Ending Car lease, advice sort

Bollotti

Hi,

I have a lease with Mercedes which I am 2 years into a 3 year lease.

Our business is struggling financially at present, and we just cannot keep the payments up.

These were up to date and on time until last month, when we missed a payment.

I have been actively trying to sell the car (with Mercedes permission) for the past 6 months, trying to sell for what is owed £19,500.

I now have a buyer, but the price they are prepared to pay is £1500 less than what is required.

I have asked Mercedes if they can accept this, and we come to some arrangement to pay the balance.

They have flat refused this, and say my only options are to make up the full balance or the car cannot be sold or; voluntarily surrender the car and they sell it at auction and bill me for the difference.

Now the chances are it will sell for less than the £18,000 I have been offered, plus a whole raft of charges will come my way as well.

My argumnent with them is that they are putting me (and them) in a worse financial position by taking this stance.

It really does not make any sense.

I have been to the CAB and they said try Trading Standards, however I am not sure whether this would be the correct way to go.

As things stand I have a willing buyer, who I cannot sell to and instead of having a debt of £1500, it will no doubt be 2 or 3 times this amount going the route they want me to take.

Can anyone advise me on what to do???

This on top of everything else is just the cherry on the pie.

Thanks In Advance

Tixy

Presumably you cannot raise the £1500 from anywhere else? overdraft or anything?

Bollotti

Tixy wrote: »

Presumably you cannot raise the £1500 from anywhere else? overdraft or anything?

My credit is shot, so no options. My bank won't even give me a £1.00 overdraft. They charged me £38.00 last month for being £1.48 overdrawn on a £7.60 direct debit. But that is another story.......

My argument is that they are putting me in a worse financial situation than would have been the case.

RichGold

Bollotti wrote: »

My argumnent with them is that they are putting me (and them) in a worse financial position by taking this stance.

From the point of view of Mercedes you are asking to give them less than you signed for at the start (and less than whats outstanding), then make it up later which is not what was agreed and would be putting them in a worse position by taking your stance. From their point of view you might go Bankrupt in the mean time, which would do them no good, so they wont release the asset for sale until the funds are there.
You're effectively asking them to loan you £1500 secured on your good will.

Bollotti

RichGold wrote: »

From the point of view of Mercedes you are asking to give them less than you signed for at the start (and less than whats outstanding), then make it up later which is not what was agreed and would be putting them in a worse position by taking your stance. From their point of view you might go Bankrupt in the mean time, which would do them no good, so they wont release the asset for sale until the funds are there.
You're effectively asking them to loan you £1500 secured on your good will.

That is exactly what I am asking them, as a loyal customer for the past 15 years.

ExNicotineQueen

Unfortunately loyalty counts for nothing.

Unless you can borrow the £1500 from friends/family or sell some items of worth to make the balance, you are stuck with going down the route that Mercedes have proposed, regardless if it ends up costing you more in the long run because they sold it at a loss.

Bollotti

ExNicotineQueen wrote: »

Unfortunately loyalty counts for nothing.

Unless you can borrow the £1500 from friends/family or sell some items of worth to make the balance, you are stuck with going down the route that Mercedes have proposed, regardless if it ends up costing you more in the long run because they sold it at a loss.

I am more than aware that loyalty counts for nothing, especially with my bank. I think they are using small businesses to pay of the national debt. I speak with many small businesses on a daily basis, and they are all having the same issues, overdrafts taken away overnight, high charges, no leeway etc. etc.

If they go down the route of issuing a CCJ because I cannot pay a (potentially) higher amount than the current £1500, how do you think a judge would view that?

Any legal experts on this?

Can it be argued that they have made the situation worse?

RichGold

Obviously they will make your situation worse.

They aren't there to make it better, help you or even advise you, they are there to sell you something.

Apples2

Surely if you have been driving around in a £30k MB for the last couple of years, you must have been living a reasonable lifestyle.

Hasn't that bought anything you could use to raise the £1.5k?

Plasmas, surround sound, bikes etc,

£1,500 isn't a tremendous amount to find, compared to the alternative, is the easy (and cheap) option.

Bollotti

Apples2 wrote: »

Surely if you have been driving around in a £30k MB for the last couple of years, you must have been living a reasonable lifestyle.

Hasn't that bought anything you could use to raise the £1.5k?

Plasmas, surround sound, bikes etc,

£1,500 isn't a tremendous amount to find, compared to the alternative, is the easy (and cheap) option.

Whoah, your making a lot of assumptions there are you??

chalkie99

Bollotti wrote: »

Whoah, your making a lot of assumptions there are you??

I only see that as one assumption and a very reasonable one too.

What's the answer?