I want to buy a car that has outstanding finance - advice please!

AndWooo

I have done a HPI vehicle check on a used car from a private seller. The only issue it came up with was that it had outstanding finance on it. I'm not totally sure what this means. I understand that the finance company can reclaim the car from me (if I buy it) if the outstanding balance is unpaid however this seems strange to me as the finance wouldn't be mine.

Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated. I know I need to contact the finance company to see what is outstanding but any other explainations would be helpful!

I'm hoping that the seller plans to pay off the finance with the money I would buy the car with but obviously this can't be assumed!

Thanks in advance of helpful advice!!!

s_b

of course it might be paid off
more importantly if car advertised and its not paid off and seller knew this is it the kind of person you want to deal with ?
seriously?
think in terms of use and abuse of car, servicing etc because its normally a case of up you
this is why i never ever buy repossessions because they always turn out to need lots spending on them

withabix

Ask the seller what the settlement figure is and ask him if you can pay it to the finance company yourself and give him the 'change'.

Get a bank draft made payable to the finance company and one for the balance to the seller.

If he says no, walk away.

TrickyWicky

withabix wrote: »

Ask the seller what the settlement figure is and ask him if you can pay it to the finance company yourself and give him the 'change'.

Get a bank draft made payable to the finance company and one for the balance to the seller.

If he says no, walk away.

Seconded. If the seller doesn't want the finance cleared then the car will still belong to them and could be reposessed leaving you car less for a large amount of money you paid out. You have probably already thought all this through anyway but just want to hear it from others.

easy

withabix wrote: »

Ask the seller what the settlement figure is and ask him if you can pay it to the finance company yourself and give him the 'change'.

And the seller could tell you anything, and still pocket most of the outstanding balance.

The seller hasn't been honest with you in the first place, it isn't his car to sell. He should pay off the finance BEFORE he sells it. If he can't do that, it isn't your problem. If you pay him some money and he doesn't pay off the finance, it becomes your problem.

Don't touch this car with a bargepole !!!!! There are plenty of second-hand cars out there for sale, move on to one without this added issue.

Notmyrealname

AndWooo wrote: »

I have done a HPI vehicle check on a used car from a private seller. The only issue it came up with was that it had outstanding finance on it. I'm not totally sure what this means. I understand that the finance company can reclaim the car from me (if I buy it) if the outstanding balance is unpaid however this seems strange to me as the finance wouldn't be mine.

Basically until the loan is paid, the finance company own the car and not the person selling it to you. Therefore they can reclaim the car if the loan isn't paid.

Your option if you really really want it is to pay off the finance yourself and give the remainder to the "seller".

Do not give the full amount to the seller and trust them to pay it off.

forgotmyname

Its not your loan but its not the sellers car to sell to you either.

You need to find out who the finance company is and find out how much they owe on the car and ideally pay the finance directly then any balance to the seller.

If you give the seller the money they may vanish with your money, The finance will come to you when you register the car and take it back.

If they are selling it as they cant afford the payments then look closely, Could they afford to service it properly?

Heard storey's years ago of people putting filings in engines and gearboxes when having cars repossessed. They may run for a few miles before they start to wear out rather rapidly.

So repossessed cars are really an unknown quantity. Why are they selling it?

tigeress289

Simple answer here is to walk away, dont even think about it. You could be on t.v crying that you lost your money. Problem here is you checked, which I have to say, was a good thing. But in law, you know there is outstanding finance. Please walk away, as the seller cannot pay for it and will not pay off any outstanding owed. Chances are his already defaulted and the car is marked for repo. As already rightly pointed out,the chances of it having been serviced and loked after, is very low. There are few bargains out there, without problems.

dibuzz

tigeress289 wrote: »

Simple answer here is to walk away, dont even think about it. You could be on t.v crying that you lost your money. Problem here is you checked, which I have to say, was a good thing. But in law, you know there is outstanding finance. Please walk away, as the seller cannot pay for it and will not pay off any outstanding owed. Chances are his already defaulted and the car is marked for repo. As already rightly pointed out,the chances of it having been serviced and loked after, is very low. There are few bargains out there, without problems.

That may not be true.
My son had a lovely BMW sports estate on finance and decided he wanted to clear his debts before saving for a house.
His car had been well looked after and serviced properly.
The buyer paid in cash which son took straight to the bank and paid off his finance.

I have to admit I thought the buyer was very trusting and would be wary of doing the same myself but just because it is being sold before being paid off doesn't mean it's not been serviced or looked after properly.

Horseunderwater

If you did go ahead then the finance company must agree to it in writing. But personally I'd not touch it with a barge pole. Most sellers doing this are dishonest. And I'd hate to think that you got caught that way.

tigeress289

I have this all the time on here, we give an overall view, yes I know that some people pay the outstanding finance off but they are like chickens teeth. Most people on here have not got a clue how easy it is to be ripped off. When it happens they realise just how little they can do about it. The OP asked a question and the majority agree, stay clear. No one is interested in the odd genuine seller. Its the genuine people who are left with nothing when the car gets taken away. This is big business and there are big losers. Advise still is "STEER CLEAR".Untill you have experienced courts and baliffs, you might have another take on it.