Paid Deposit on Car - Turns out it has Outstanding Finance

Ferdasyn

Hi all,

I went to view a car last Saturday at a dealership having seen it on eBay. Everything looked fine, I took it for a est drive and I was happy with it. I was assured their was no outstanding finance on the car 'The car is clear, we make sure all finance is settled and cleared before listing."
I was then told I was to pay a deposit of £300 via bank transfer when I returned home and the car would be sent off to be re-MOT'd and have a service & valet, so it would be ready for me to collect in a few days, where I would pay the remaining £4,540.

Upon returning home, I HPI checked the car myself for a piece of mind. It flagged up outstanding finance with Santander. I text the salesman from the dealership on the Sunday night to confirm, and again I was told 'The car is clear, we make sure everything is settled and cleared, but I will look into it in the morning.'

I then called Santander on Monday and gave them the policy number only to be told there definitely is still interest in the vehicle.

Rang dealership again on Tuesday and was told this is the first time it has ever happened to them, and there must be some kind of mistake - they were looking into it.

Yesterday I rang and was told 'no update as we haven't heard back from previous owner or Santander.'

I rang this morning, (Friday) and told them I was growing impatient, as ideally I need the car tomorrow. I was told their must be an error between their main agency and Santander as this has never happened to them, but they were going back to their main agency today to try and clarify, and they would let me know - stating they can't let the car leave until it is definitely cleared, which is fair enough..

Now obviously this may just be one huge mix up, but my head is telling me to walk away. What are the chances I'd get my deposit back? I can't see any mention of it being non-refundable - and surely the car isn't even the dealerships to sell legallly? I may be over-reacting but I'm just worried I'm being taken for a ride.

Any help or advice is appreciated!

atrixblue.-MFR-.

breach of contract ask for your deposit back!. you were told its clear its not so ask for deposit back.


if the person selling to dealership didn't clear the funds off or the dealership didn't as partX agreement, then it not your problem ask for deposit and walk away. obviously they haven't bought it with dealership finance that will get paid off when you buy it. or they would have said yes it will show as financed but we finance cars to buy them in and it gets paid up when you buy it.

Mark_Mark

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

breach of contract ask for your deposit back!. you were told its clear its not so ask for deposit back.


if the person selling to dealership didn't clear the funds off or the dealership didn't as partX agreement, then it not your problem ask for deposit and walk away. obviously they haven't bought it with dealership finance that will get paid off when you buy it. or they would have said yes it will show as financed but we finance cars to buy them in and it gets paid up when you buy it.

How?

It will be sorted by the point of sale.

Ferdasyn

Mark_Mark wrote: »

How?

It will be sorted by the point of sale.

It will be sorted by the point of sale - I'm probably just overreacting. It will add at least another week of waiting time due to work constraints - It takes me 2 hours to get there so I can only make it at the weekend which is annoying as there are other cars in the area.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Mark_Mark wrote: »

How?

It will be sorted by the point of sale.

OP asked if it was HPI clear when putting down deposit, they said its clear OP then checks and its financed at that point he is entitled to refund as the dealership said it wasn't financed at point of signing the deposit sheet so breach of contract.


also reasonable amount of time what reasonable amount of time do you give them to sort the issue out? 3 days 3 weeks 3 months.


if the dealership wanted to it could be sorted within a 48 hours its not that hard to call finance company pay it off and get the customer on the road.

shaun_from_Africa

Mark_Mark wrote: »

How?

It will be sorted by the point of sale.

It doesn't matter if it's sorted by the time the OP collects the car or if it was sorted one day after they agreed to buy it. The fact remains that part of the contract stipulated that the venicle was free of outstanding finance, something that was incorrect, hence the contract was breeched.

motorguy

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

if the dealership wanted to it could be sorted within a 48 hours its not that hard to call finance company pay it off and get the customer on the road.

It sounds like theres a mistake / error further back down the line - why would the dealership want to ring up and pay off someone elses error??

motorguy

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

It doesn't matter if it's sorted by the time the OP collects the car or if it was sorted one day after they agreed to buy it. The fact remains that part of the contract stipulated that the venicle was free of outstanding finance, something that was incorrect, hence the contract was breeched.

Yeah everyones an internet lawyer these days.

O/P - two choices - either wait, or ask for your deposit back.

No need to go in declaring "breach of contract" - you'll just look like a tool - if you want your deposit back, just tell them you dont have time to wait.

motorguy

Ferdasyn wrote: »

It will be sorted by the point of sale - I'm probably just overreacting. It will add at least another week of waiting time due to work constraints - It takes me 2 hours to get there so I can only make it at the weekend which is annoying as there are other cars in the area.

Yes, annoying but you did the right thing insisting the HPI record is clear, prior to purchase.

spacey2012

The Finance company will only clear the HPI entry when they are paid in full.
Without knowing the value, it could be £5k + the OP is better demanding the deposit is returned as the garage tried to sell a car they have no title to.

OP Lucky escape by doing a HPI, never trust a car dealer !

atrixblue.-MFR-.

motorguy wrote: »

It sounds like theres a mistake / error further back down the line - why would the dealership want to ring up and pay off someone elses error??

this is a dealership error, they should be limiting the inconvenience to the buyer, get to the bottom of it quick and do what you can to get the car out the gate.


if the finance was part of that cars part x deal pay it off get it out.


if they didn't check HPI when they took it in and person who sold it didn't pay it off, then pay it up take the previous keeper to court.


if its their own finance well that explains the HPI.


it doesn't take this long to get to the bottom does it?


if they want to hold the car give the OP opportunity to choose another car or refund deposit, not leave in him limbo waiting.