Purchased a car (private) not knowing it had outstanding finance

javier127

Hi ,

i bought the car a week ago 30/10/17, paid cash (£14000) , i checked the paperwork from the seller and was ok so i thought , when i got home after buying the car , i checked the paperwork again and at this point i noticed in small handwriting in brackets (zuto finance) .

I immediately contacted the seller asking if there is finance outstanding , he said there is a personal loan , by wednesday he told me will send proof the car has been paid off .

I told him i want a legal document from the finance , and that if i don't recieve it by end of the week , i will be returning the car and have my money back , i asked him if he agree's with this .

It is now 06/11/17 , no response and no proof ?

From what i understand , if someone sells a car with finance outstanding , they have committed fraud ?

Was thinking about calling the finance people to see if the car is cleared of finance ?

Any advice would be appreciated .

Shaka_Zulu

Jumping the gun a bit? You have no proof there is any outstanding finance on the vehicle.

You failed to due due diligence prior to the purchase but you could still do it now. The faster you act the better.

pinkshoes

What did the HPI check on the car say?

peachyprice

There's a difference between a personal loan which you then use to buy a car and finance secured against a car. If your seller has a personal loan that is not secured against the car it's none of your business whether he has paid it off or not.

SouthUKMan

From what I can see Zuto is a broker specialising in car finance. Try calling and ask them to search for any outstanding finance based on the car registration - although I suspect they will hide behind data protection, as the finance was not in your name. Which is fair enough - but worth a try.

For peace of mind, given that you believe there could be outstanding finance, buy an HPI check. They cost £10-£15. Small change if you've spent £14K on a car. We live and learn, but such a check should be done before purchasing a car...

Yes, it is illegal to knowingly sell a car with outstanding finance on it. It lawfully belongs to the finance company. However, there is a get out clause which states something like... if you buy such a car in good faith as the seller doesn't tell you about outstanding finance, then you have claim to the car. My understanding is that it's not an automatic right and that you are likely to face a lot of legal tussle.

That said, if there is any outstanding finance on the car, then the seller can simply pay it off and the car then legally becomes yours. I say simply.... that's because as already stated, it is illegal to sell a car with finance, and you would have a right under civil law to sue him. A judge can't argue with the facts. That realisation along with the fact that the seller has £14K in his pocket should be enough to convince him to pay it off.

The slight niggle is that you have paperwork that suggests the car was financed - therefore it could be argued that you had no excuse not to carry out due diligence and do an HPI check.

pappa_golf

HPI check then return to forum

javier127

I did a full vehicle check with experian , day before purchasing vehicle , showed a green tick next to outstanding finance .

bris

You can be an innocent purchaser. There are however some things than can catch you out. One of those things is getting the car under value, knowing it's too good a deal to be true. Was the car cheaper than you would normally expect?


There are other things like knowing the seller, knowing it has finance etc but if you bought the car from a stranger for close to market value then you have nothing to worry about.

javier127

pappa_golf wrote: »

HPI check then return to forum

I did a full vehicle check with experian prior to purchase and came back clear for outstanding finance .

I don't know if experian or hpi are on the same system , but for peace of mind i did hpi check today , also came back clear for finance .

bris

javier127 wrote: »

I did a full vehicle check with experian , day before purchasing vehicle , showed a green tick next to outstanding finance .

Seriously, you knew you it had outstanding finance and you bought it anyway? Good luck with this one, you really don't have much defence now.


Or does the green tick mean it's clear?

javier127

bris wrote: »

You can be an innocent purchaser. There are however some things than can catch you out. One of those things is getting the car under value, knowing it's too good a deal to be true. Was the car cheaper than you would normally expect?


There are other things like knowing the seller, knowing it has finance etc but if you bought the car from a stranger for close to market value then you have nothing to worry about.

I bought the car on gumtree , it has since been removed , but also advertised on autotrader (still active)

For a 2010 car with 28,000 miles , price can vary with the mileage ?

i did a vehicle value check on autotrader , (private £14160) , (dealer £15030 to £16610) , that is based on the year and mileage .

Experian full vehicle check came back clear for outstanding finance .