Car finance

Lindsey76

My father took a car on finance on August 19th 2015; sadly he passed away on August 22nd only having driven the car once,; he also paid a cash deposit. My mother is the sole executor of his will, and the car finance is the only sole asset he has. The car dealer will not do anything and have passed us to the finance company, who in turn have passed the issue to their solicitors and bereavement team. The options they are offering us are for them to take the car back, auction it off and pay off what they can, Or we somehow pay off the debt and do what we want with the car.

My huge arguement is I simply want the deposit back for the car, and for the debt to be cleared. The circumstances are exceptional and I jus want someone to do us a decent turn. My mother doesn't drive and the car is of no use to us; nor does she fully understand what is happening presently.

If I somehow clear the finance, then try to sell the car without too big a loss, how do I legally sell a car that isn't mine or my mothers? HELP!!!!

dzug1

To legally sell the car your mother will need to get probate


Sad though it is your circumstances are not exceptional


The big advantage of the finance company taking back the car is that's the end of it. Even if they make a loss, they can't come back to you for the difference. (Assuming he really has no other assets)


One straw to clutch at - was there life insurance with the loan? I suspect not, but check

Lindsey76

Thanks. However my dad technically isn't the legal owner either as it's on finance, he is just the registered keeper surely. so how does that work?

Double_V

First of all so sorry to hear about your loss.
And it's sad that he only drove once. He must have been excited though.
Once again sorry.

Anyway, how much was the deposit ?

I could be wrong, but do we not have 14 or 28 days to change our mind ?
Meaning we can hand it back and get our deposit ?

If not, then just return the car and walk away. They will not come after you. But you might lose the deposit.

If you can see the paperwork. Check in there if there is something about 14 days to return. etc.

Thanks

Keep_pedalling

This is a secured dept, and the security is the car. If the deposit made up a substantial portion of the purchase price then the better option may be to pay off the dept then sell the car, but if the deposit was small then it is probably better just to hand the car back.

If the finance company get more than the cost of the loan then that would be returned to you, but that is not likely to happen if sold at auction.

Keep_pedalling

Double_V wrote: »

I could be wrong, but do we not have 14 or 28 days to change our mind ?
Meaning we can hand it back and get our deposit ?

The contract with the dealer is binding you have no cooling of period there. Might be possible to cancel the finance, but that would require the executor to pay it back in full.

nom_de_plume

Did your father go to a dealership and did he sign the finance agreement on their premises?

Also, would you share the model, age and mileage of the car and the sums involved? If so someone here could probably advise whether it is better to just hand the car back or to keep it and sell it on yourself.

getmore4less

Surpringly it is relatively easy to sell a car in these circumtrances as long as you can get the finance cleared.

A dealer may take it off your hands at the right price.
Private sale might be easier to get the keeper changed first(but that adds a keeper).

Depends what the numbers on the finance and deposit look like.

g6jns_2

Lindsey76 wrote: »

My father took a car on finance on August 19th 2015; sadly he passed away on August 22nd only having driven the car once,; he also paid a cash deposit. My mother is the sole executor of his will, and the car finance is the only sole asset he has. The car dealer will not do anything and have passed us to the finance company, who in turn have passed the issue to their solicitors and bereavement team. The options they are offering us are for them to take the car back, auction it off and pay off what they can, Or we somehow pay off the debt and do what we want with the car.

My huge arguement is I simply want the deposit back for the car, and for the debt to be cleared. The circumstances are exceptional and I jus want someone to do us a decent turn. My mother doesn't drive and the car is of no use to us; nor does she fully understand what is happening presently. Neither you or your mother have any liability for the debt.

If I somehow clear the finance, then try to sell the car without too big a loss, how do I legally sell a car that isn't mine or my mothers? HELP!!!!

If the car is the only asset your father had then his estate is insolvent. In which case the standard advice is to do nothing. Did he have no bank accounts or anything else? It is strange that he could get finance without somevsortnof credit historyIf so then you should just tell the finance company the situation and they will have to stand the loss and take the car away. Please tell us more?

getmore4less

If it was a big deposit there may be equity in the car even with the finance.

As has already been requested, details of the car and the money situation will clarify if it even worth trying to sell it or just hand it back.

G6JNS

getmore4less wrote: »

If it was a big deposit there may be equity in the car even with the finance.

As has already been requested, details of the car and the money situation will clarify if it even worth trying to sell it or just hand it back.

The OP has already said that they have refused that.