Advice needed for son in a mess

nicrobx4

Hi all,
Just after some advice, probably legal advice not really sure.
My son left the UK on a working holiday visa to Australia.
He made an agreement (not in writing) with his cousin to take over the repayment and to eventually keep his then 2 yrs old car. She agreed to pay the finance and upkeep for the car and it would be hers when the finance was paid. Unfortunately she could not get finance therefore it was left in his name. A 0% deal.
This week the car has broken down after being pretty much run into the ground and she says the garage has said its not worth investigating the problem just to scrap it. She says she can't afford to get it fixed and continue the payments. Basically handing the keys to the garage and walking away.
The car still has outstanding debt of 1700, this has happened so don't really need any ' that was a bad idea from the start ' we know it was and are truly in a mess. However if anyone has any advice I would be eternally grateful.
Thank in advance

konark

If car is still in your son's name the debt, garage bill and car are all his.

I find it strange that a 3 year-old car is only fit for scrap.

bigjl

konark wrote: »

If car is still in your son's name the debt, garage bill and car are all his.

I find it strange that a 3 year-old car is only fit for scrap.

Not really.

An uncaring driver that has no interest in a vehicle can ruin it pretty quickly.

Many Fiat 500 TwinAir engines were ruined by careless or ignorant owners as they never checked the oil, they ran dry and seized.

I feel sorry for the OP's son as he has done a family member a favour and they have taken the p@@s.

I would get the car back from the garage and get it fixed. She can't hand over ownership to the Garage as she is not the owner, the finance company is.

It is also not unusual for unscrupulous garages to tell an owner the car is not worth fixing and just to scrap it, they offer to take it of it hands to save hem the hastle and then one of the mechanics fixes it for his own use or to sell on for a nice profit.

Even the finance company can't get the car off the garage if they say they have done work on it and are holding a lien over it for unpaid work and storage.

If they do that then I suspect the finance company will try and get the outstanding balance from the OPs son.

Personally I would have nothing to do with this cousin again.

Anybody the shafts their own family is not worth talking to.

arcon5

Get him to continue payments and find out exactly what's wrong with it. That's all he can do for now

photome

Crap situation, as a parent can you help him out financially

nicrobx4

Cheers guys,
I thought this was the case.
We will sort it together, I was hoping that somehow I could find a way to make her pay for the repairs and damage she has caused.

She has well and truly run it into the ground, it also has a huge dent in the door, the whole situation has totally disgusted me.

agrinnall

Your son could sue her on the Small Claims track, it would be a 'he said, she said' situation but in his favour would be the fact that he was out of the country and she was using the car. The problem is that to do it he would need to be back in the UK so he could appear in court.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

foxy-stoat

What car is it and how much will it cost to fix it?

Who is insuring and paying the VED?

Can you got keep it on the drive/front garden and sorn it until he returns to sort out, keeping up the repayments - or VT the car?

stator

Get the car to an independent garage and get them to take a look at it, then make your decision from there.

Even if the car is unrepairable it is very young so the spare parts would be worth quite a bit, so if you sold it on eBay you would get a lot more than scrap value.

nb73

How exactly has she run it into the ground? Handbrake turns and wheelspins in Asda car park, that sort of thing? Rally use? What?

stator

nb73 wrote: »

How exactly has she run it into the ground? Handbrake turns and wheelspins in Asda car park, that sort of thing? Rally use? What?