Car has been switched off and can't get a response

fionau1125

Hi All,

I took out Car Finance on a vehicle nearly a year and a half ago.

At the time me and my partner both had stable jobs but we needed a car quickly to get to work and back as there were no buses on my work route and a taxi there and back would be too expensive.

We took out finance with a company (won't name and shame them just yet) and they seemed all fine and above board and they took us on even though we had poor credit from past issues.

Anyway, we lost our jobs in October and have really been struggling financially, we have nearly been on the verge of repossession but we have managed to come to a sensible arrangement. I was on my way back from an interview and going to collect the children, when i got back in the car it wouldn't start, nothing worked. I rang the partner to say there was something wrong but as we only have one vehicle he couldn't get to me straight away so i contacted the AA who to my shock were there in 15mins. They looked everywhere then all of a sudden spotted a device, the device was a imbolizer/tracker.

I contacted the car dealer and he said to ring the car finance company. I contacted them and then they said that the car had been switched off due to none payment. I was confused!!! I asked them to explain...they said that when i took out the finance that there was a statement saying the car would be imbolized if no payment was received and this was all explained to me at handover....IT WAS NOT! All i was told was that there was a tracker on the vehicle for insurance purposes which was fine. But still i signed it so there is no argument with them.

Anyway, my payments are £320 per month and we missed Octobers payment but i told them straight away when i lost my job that we are going to struggle to make payments, i offered them my £35 per week child benefit until i get a job......this was no good! They wanted full payment before they would switch the car back on.

We sold our television and some family jewelery and managed to get the car back on but it want off again in November and again in December, we managed to borrow off family a small loan to get the car back on.

I got a temp job just after Christmas which is paid per hour.

The car is off again! I had offered before the car went off £75 per week until i get a permanent job but there email response was FULL PAYMENT TO REACTIVATE THE CAR! i put together my wage, the tax credits and child benefit and have made the full payment but we only have £50 to last us until next Friday now.

I have rang them to say i have made the payment but i can't get through and when i do get through and give my reg they slam the phone down. I have sent 7 emails all have been ignored and my car is still off....beacuse i am a temp i get paid per hour so if i can't get to work then i don't get paid.

The car is still off and they won't respond, they won't give me complaints details or procedures, i really don't know what to do, i am so upset.

Please help and be gentle.

LittleMissGiggles123

Are you able to arrange a car share or public transport to get to work?


I don't know how car finance etc works, but can you give the vehicle back? Like I said, I don't know how it works, but you really can't afford this car. £320 per month is a lot of money, even for somebody in a reasonably well paid, permanent job.


On the complaints side of things, I would suggest writing to them with your complaints & give them time to respond. I know this won't help you immediately, but if you want to take the complaint further anyway then it's best to have it all in writing, as it's very easy for them to deny any knowledge of phone calls.


I hope you are able to sort this soon. You must be so stressed at the moment.

ghostfinder

http://www.getmecarfinance.co.uk/payment-box.asp

Think you may have this type of thing fitted to your car.

Did they not inform you at all when you took the car?

National_Debtline

Hi Fiona

LittleMissGiggles is right that it’s a good idea to complain in writing at this point, in case you need to escalate the issue to the Financial Ombudsman Service in future. You could check for any details of a complaints process on the company website.

Options for giving the car back will depend on what type of finance agreement you have as there are few different types, it should say on the credit agreement. If the creditor has already issued a default notice it could also affect your options.

James
@natdebtline

[Deleted User]

Can you remove the thing from the car?

FireWyrm

OK, I'm confused. The information posted upthread is quite clear. Each time you make a payment, you get a code which authorises the box for the next month. This means you must have known about this before hand?

Unfortunately, you have entered into a contract. You dont own the car and in return for much lower interest rates on the finance, you have agreed to abide by the rules and this box. The only option really is to either pay the car off and have the box removed, keep up payments, or just accept the fact that the car is off the road. They are not going to give you the code without payment and that is rather the point of this type of financing (although it is a new one on me). In effect, the car is it's own security against the loan and it is pretty clever if you think about it. I know that doesnt solve the immediate problem, but I dont see where the finance company has misbehaved.

Perhaps an SOA might be in order so we can help you assess other ways of making the payments by simply cutting back on spending.

jaydeeuk1

What car is it, how long is left on the finance etc

I'd forget about paying the car back and use the money you can get together to get a bus or something

The box will be connected to the ecu, or if the engine isn't turning, then the ignition, and most likely have some sort of data connection, much like a phone, and a gps tracker too should they want to recover the vehicle. Unlikely it will be as simple as unplugging the box as they might have modified the ECU (so I doubt its a toyota or lexus), but at worst just reconnect it again.

fionau1125

Thanks for your replies.

No we do not type in a code every month to activate the car.

There is a small GPS device conected to the Relay and Starter Motor and they appartently send a signal to the device and it shuts down the ignition.....no code needed!

We were never told about this, we were told that there was a tracker and that is all. I didn't have a problem with a tracker being on there as it would lower the insurance, at no stage did they say what else it did.

We are stuck with the car for another 4 months before we can hand it back.

I have been emailing them all day for them to reactivate the car as i made a payment......12 emails, 22 calls and they slammed the phone down on 4 of those. I managed to speak to someone a few moments ago to ask for there company reg number, they asked what for and i told them i was putting in a claim against them. The gentleman laughed and said hold on, then it sounded like an office full of laughing, he then said do what you want!

2 minutes later the engine i get a email saying your car is now active.

I give up!

Thanks for all your help anyway guys and girls. Greatly appreciated.

fionau1125

To FireWyrm

There is no code!

We never type in a code, they send a signal appartently to a box connected to the ignition and it shuts everything down.

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle as well.

jaydeeuk1

If it just fits between the starter motor and relay then it should be really easy to just bypass it, or inside there will probably be a simcard, just remove it.

Are you sure you can hand it back in 4 months? What about any late payment charges they added?

Indout96

I had never hear of this until I watch one of the job swap programs on C4 or C5 a couple of weeks ago. Guy normally selling Ferrari ect was sent to a small garage in Wales where they ran this type of finance, if you stop paying they just turned the car off, if you failed again they took the car back. It was on £3 to £4k type cars and was to help people in the area which had low wages to get on the road.


OP - From reading your post I am not sure if you have paid Decembers or January's payment ? the only thing I can think is that they are expecting you not to be able to make the next payment which from your post you will not be able to so trying to get in front as per a pre payment gas / electric meter.