buying a car - showing as outstanding finance

slippers4x4

hi
i've seen a car online which i'm interested in, i've ran the VRM through hpicheck first and its coming back with outstanding finance. I've rang the seller and he states that the outstanding finance was paid off last week and that hpicheck.com hasnt yet update ? he if i go to view the car he will ring VW finance to prove this and he will also show me the paperwork. is this enough ? could there be more finance on the car that i dont know about ?
the problem with HPIcheck is that it wont tell me how much or with whom the finance is though so i can be sure of what he's telling me.
should i be satisfied with his offer to contact VW or are there any checks i can do myself? thank you all

slippers4x4

sorry for spelling and grammar errors, done in a rush, thanks again

mattyprice4004

Dealer or private?

gazfocus

I would have thought its fairly common for sellers to pay off the finance just before selling the car, but, you're definitely right to be cautious.

If it were me, I would maybe phone hpicheck and ask how often their records are updated and go from there.

I don't think I'd ever risk buying a car that's showing outstanding finance unless you 100% trust the seller and the car is a good deal. There are plenty of other cars out there.

Ultrasonic

Are you in a rush to buy a car? If not I'd get the seller to chase getting the outstanding finance marker removed, and once they tell you it has been, check again independently yourself.

facade

If you really want it, pay a deposit and tell the seller that you will be round to collect with the balance the instant that HPIcheck shows it is clear.

Then he can chase it.

Don't the finance company send a letter stating that they no longer have an interest in the vehicle when you pay off the loan?

SLITHER99

Done the mistake once!

I bought a car from a mate who assured me he would use the money to pay off the finance. Even his wife was full of assurances. I was younger and a bit more naive.

I went to sell it a year later only to discover the HPI check showed it still having finance. The mate's plan was to just keep paying the monthly payment and use the sale cash for something else.

Long story short, things got hot pretty quick and in that sort of situation, who you thought was a mate isn't your mate for long! Basically he decided after a few months as it wasn't his car anymore, why should he keep paying out for the finance?

In the end, the only thing we could do is voluntary termination. Despite several assurances of the mate pay me back, mired with "Nah you've done mileage on it now, it's worth less now!" I got the grand sum of zilch. I was out about £2k - basically the price I'd agree with a buyer. Of course his wife being a vindictive old cow had already spread some rumor and BS making me the bad guy and trying to screw them around. Odd how nobody wanted to hear the other side, but there you go.

So yeah - a mate of 10 years can do that to another mate! So imagine how trustworthy a stranger would be?

slippers4x4

its a private sale

yes good idea to contact the hpicheck people tomorrow (monday) and see how long it takes for their records to be updated. he sounds genuine enough. its a one owner VW car still with VW finance on it of around 4k, supposedly paid off last week. thank you I value the replies

wba31

when ive done HPI checks before Ive got the name of finance company and the reference number.
I bought an Accord few years back and the HPI check showed a marker. Rang the HP company and they advised all was clear, they would update the HPI check and send me an email to confirm in writing the car was cool. Sure enough they did that and all was ok...
Have the rules on what the HPI check shows changed..?

EDIT: just remembered - my dad got the HPI check done for me at his work (big car dealership) so not sure if they see additional info to Joe public...

slippers4x4

wba - you are right, how did i miss that !! doh !

it does include the name of the financing company which in this case is VW finance so the story rings true.

I have contact HPIcheck and they advise that their system should take no longer than 48 hours to update from the point that they are notified. it all depends how long its takes the finance company to release the data.
you can do free re-checks on the same reg for 30 days so i'll check it again in a couple of days to see if anything has changed

yes i could try phoning VW finance later on but not sure if they'll release details to me ?

wba31

slippers4x4 wrote: »

wba - you are right, how did i miss that !! doh !

it does include the name of the financing company which in this case is VW finance so the story rings true.

I have contact HPIcheck and they advise that their system should take no longer than 48 hours to update from the point that they are notified. it all depends how long its takes the finance company to release the data.
you can do free re-checks on the same reg for 30 days so i'll check it again in a couple of days to see if anything has changed

yes i could try phoning VW finance later on but not sure if they'll release details to me ?

When i called about the car i was interested in, i advised that i was looking to buy the car, and just wanted to know if there was still HP on the car. The HP company (Lloyds/Blackhorse i seem to remember) advised me that there was no outstanding balance, and the email they sent to me confirmed that they had no interest in the vehicle.
When i sold the car 1 year later, the new owner conducted a HPI check and nothing showed up at all