HPI check found outstanding finance! advice plz

laggass

Hi there, i know this is an obvious no no and a walk away situation but was just hoping for a bit of advise as have already paid £200 refundable deposit.

Basically i rang a car garage regarding a car i was interested in, they told me all the info i needed which made me happier to go ahead with the purchase. To make sure that the car was not sold to anyone else they took a REFUNDABLE (their words spoken to me down the phone) £200 holding deposit. Anyways i ended up going to the garage and taking the car for a test drive and liking it, i was going to go ahead any buy the car but due to it not being taxed and the V5 still being no delivered to the garage (car had only been there a day) i opted to wait till the car could be taxed.

I later decided just to do a HPI check online and found the car to have outstanding finance, so i called the finance company and they confirmed there was outstanding finance. I have since spoken to the garage and they have said they will have their finance department look into the matter and get the balance cleared before i purchase the car.

The garage in question purchase most of their stock from leasing companies on the cheap (high milage) after the original owner has finished the lease term, is it possible that as the car has only just arrived and the V5 is still in the post that the finance just hasnt been settled yet or is it more likely best to avoid at all costs. In which case what are my options if they decide to play hard ball on getting a refund?? Can i request a transcript of my phone call to them from my operator as proof?

Many thanks for any help offered :cool:

austin

possible options:

1 - walk away
2 - demand a reduction equal to the finance owed off the price you agreed to pay for the car.
3 - ensure you witness the car company pay the finance off in full.

i would go with no.1 though

topdaddy_2

austin wrote: »

possible options:

1 - walk away
2 - demand a reduction equal to the finance owed off the price you agreed to pay for the car.
3 - ensure you witness the car company pay the finance off in full.

i would go with no.1 though

A reduction wont be much help as the agreement is not purchased when the car is. If the creditor wants it, its theirs.

colino

You do realise that most cars for sale on a forecourt are financed don't you? Ask the trader what the nature of the finance is and tell him you will do the deal if you can drive away with a clean HPi report if your worried.

forgotmyname

If its a larger trader and you have proper reciepts then no problem. If its a small dodgy looking outfit then run away.

KayJay

This happened to me as well.
I paid £1000 deposit on a car and did a vehicle check online to find out that there was outstanding finance. So I call My Car Check who were brilliant. The man explained that most garages have a 'unit stocking loan' from a finance company so they do not own the cars themselves. When you pay and get all the paperwork, the dealer contacts the finance company and they remove the marker and give you a report to say so.
So in my case all was well.

laggass

cheers for replies people,

i just rang the garage again after not hearing back from them regards the outstanding finance and spoke to a guy that seemed to know what was actually going on. He informed me that the car had previously been purchased from their garage by another person on finance but later changed his mind and the garage is currently in the process of cancelling the agreement and getting the money back to the finance company.

does this sound believable/real? or is he spinning me a story to put me off asking for a refund

Thanks

Nodding_Donkey

It sounds feasible but I would wonder what put the other guy off the car.

macman

Do you want the car or not? Whether there is finance on it or not is not relevant as long as you receive evidence that it is cleared before you hand over any more money.
On what basis is your deposit 'refundable' though? Paying a deposit is normally confirmation of a contract to purchase.

laggass

the deposit is refundable on the basis that over the phone i was asked if i wanted to place a "refundable deposit" this was stated about 3 times during the conversation so there was a verbal confirmation of a the deposit being refundable

i do want the car just dont want to buy it and get stung down the line for something thats not my fault