Help with car situation. What to do

Cholas

Hi All,

Wondered if anyone could help with my current situation and offer some advice.

Last September I took out a deal for a new car, signed in for a 36 month PCP deal for £335 a month. Since the new year my situation has changed drastically and I need to cut costs.

I've done what is necessary, moved my phone over to a cheaper tariff, cancelled my gym membership for home workouts, moved into cheaper rented accommodation, cancelled subscriptions to Sky and Spotify and saved myself a few hundred pounds a month.

My biggest bug bear is my car, being stuck with this deal with no apparent way out. I currently owe approx £15k to the finance company, but the car is worth a little under this, £12k at the most. Although I could get £15k if sold privately.

Unfortunately I don't have access to this sort of money to take this as a loss at the moment, and I'm not sure who would buy the car with outstanding finance on it. So I need some advice. Has anyone been in this situation before and what are my solutions to clearing this debt?

Many thanks in advance.

Chopper_Read

Sell it private with the buyer paying off the finance instead of paying you?

jaydeeuk1

Does you insurer give a brand new car in event of a write off in 1st year? Is there a cliff nearby? Is a new car worth significantly more than old car value plus excess?

Not sure where I'm going with this (prison, probably)

rochja

Any regulated loan agreement (your PCP deal should be included) is covered under the Consumer Credit Act, and allows you to hand the car back and walk away after your payments have equalled 50% of the total amount payable in the contract. Contact the finance company that organised your loan for the exact amount.

jaydeeuk1

rochja wrote: »

Any regulated loan agreement (your PCP deal should be included) is covered under the Consumer Credit Act, and allows you to hand the car back and walk away after your payments have equalled 50% of the total amount payable in the contract. Contact the finance company that organised your loan for the exact amount.

£335 * 18 = £6030

OP has paid probably 6 * £335 = 2010

Difference of £4k to make up. If WBAC only offer £10k, its still cheaper to go with someone like them.

Anyway, 2nd post had the answer, sell it privately. If buyer pays off finance it will be less risky for them than giving you the cash and you paying it off. What car is it, OP? If you think your car is worth £12 - £15k 6 months later, thats a f*cking expensive PCP. What is the final guarenteed value? My £13k toyota IQ 1.3 was £190 a month for 3 years/no deposit.

Cholas

Thanks guys, very much appreciated. I will look into selling it privately this weekend.

DantheMan

You should be able to explain to the finance company that you can no longer afford the car and they'll probably just take it back and sell it at a premium.

Have you done excessive mileage on it?

Any damage to it?

Most finance companies should have measures in place whereby if you phone and tell them you can't afford to pay the £335 a month, they have measures to eithr reduce the payment or get the car back.

Cholas

DantheMan wrote: »

You should be able to explain to the finance company that you can no longer afford the car and they'll probably just take it back and sell it at a premium.

Have you done excessive mileage on it?

Any damage to it?

Most finance companies should have measures in place whereby if you phone and tell them you can't afford to pay the £335 a month, they have measures to eithr reduce the payment or get the car back.

I will have a word with them. No excessive miles or damage. I've spoken to them about extending the agreement to reduce payments but unfortunately they can't.

forgotmyname

If he hands it back now, If thats possible wont they just flog it at auction and send him the bill and possibly debt collectors after?

Worth £15,000 in a private sale? What is it?

Auction may struggle for £10k or £11k, So they bill him for £4000+

7, 14 or 28 days to pay. No payment = pass it onto collections.

DantheMan

forgotmyname wrote: »

If he hands it back now, If thats possible wont they just flog it at auction and send him the bill and possibly debt collectors after?

Worth £15,000 in a private sale? What is it?

Auction may struggle for £10k or £11k, So they bill him for £4000+

7, 14 or 28 days to pay. No payment = pass it onto collections.

Assuming no payments have been missed or late i don't see this happening.

Have a few friends that switched the car 3 times on finance, just brought it back, said they couldn't afford it and swapped to a different one, they went from Qahqui to Clio to one of theo Mini jeeps, no additional money was required of them and different dealers on all 3 cars, simply brought the cars back and said they could no longer afford to pay it and gave it back to the dealer.

The dealers normally don't have a problem with this as you've paid for a car for x amount of months and they can still sell it off the forecourt as a nearly new model and still make £££ on it.