Buying a car purchased using PCP - Personal Contract Purchase

contact.me

Someone is selling a car that they purchased on PCP. They are selling me for the same price of their final settlement amount.

1. Why would someone sell a car purchased on a PCP for the same price that they have settled it in the final settlement amount ? Why would they take that effort to do it ? What benefit do they get for doing that ? Why can't they just close it and move on ?
2. What is the best payment method to pay ? The seller is asking for a faster payment service via bank transfer. I don't suspect them. But what are the other safe faster transfer methods (like debit card to bank account transfer method or something similar which will be very quick and fast).
3. Should i take care of something (or precautions) while purchasing this car ?



thanks

tonyh66

Run away it's a scam of some kind.

contact.me

tonyh66 wrote: »

Run away it's a scam of some kind.

I need something more than this please ? Can you explain what kind of scam this could be ? Kindly note that this is a private car sale.

neilmcl

contact.me wrote: »

Someone is selling a car that they purchased on PCP. They are selling me for the same price of their final settlement amount.

1. Why would someone sell a car purchased on a PCP for the same price that they have settled it in the final settlement amount ? Why would they take that effort to do it ? What benefit do they get for doing that ? Why can't they just close it and move on ?
2. What is the best payment method to pay ? The seller is asking for a faster payment service via bank transfer. I don't suspect them. But what are the other safe faster transfer methods (like debit card to bank account transfer method or something similar which will be very quick and fast).
3. Should i take care of something (or precautions) while purchasing this car ?



thanks

I think maybe you're misunderstanding what they're trying to do. It sounds like they want to get out of the PCP and they're asking you for the amount to settle the finance. I think it's as simple as that.

You pay them, they settle and you keep the car. Personally I'd want to be paying the finance co. directly rather than the seller and in either case you need to get evidence that the finance co. no longer has an interest in the car.

contact.me

neilmcl wrote: »

I think maybe you're misunderstanding what they're trying to do. It sounds like they want to get out of the PCP and they're asking you for the amount to settle the finance. I think it's as simple as that.

You pay them, they settle and you keep the car. Personally I'd want to be paying the finance co. directly rather than the seller and in either case you need to get evidence that the finance co. no longer has an interest in the car.

That's right. That is what they asked me to do - i pay and they clear the finance. But i insisted them that it is illegal for anyone to sell their car while it is on finance (because while i did the HPI, it clearly showed all details of finance). I told them about this. The seller understood my concern.



They cleared the settlement. Showed screenshots of all final settlement. Seller showed proof of payment email. I called the finance company, they said they still have interest in the vehicle. I told the seller about this. And after 2 days of her actual payment to the finance company, the seller notified me about the notification /acknowledgement that they received from the finance company. I then called the finance company and they acknowledged me that they no longer have any interest in the vehicle.



Now they want a transfer method which will transfer money immediately / same day. They were happy with the bank to bank transfer (intra bank transfer). But they want the same day payment method (CHAPS- Same day payment). I hope that is safe for me to do. Kindly advise on payment method. The payment amount is over 13k. (over 13,000 GBP). The seller has clearly said to me that they won't give the car to me unless they see the money in their account.



I don't want to end up in a situation where the money goes away from my account and for some reason it doesn't reach the seller account the same day. I will eventually end up walking away with nothing after the money left the account.


Regards

neilmcl

Well if they've already settled the finance then what's the issue about this. It's just any other private sale. Just repeat the HPI to make sure that the finance is clear then pay as normal.

There's nothing wrong with using a bank transfer, particularly if the amount is going to be above £10,000. I'd want to do it in person though with the buyer to make sure the funds are transferred and you take possession of the car. Make sure to get a receipt from them.

Penelopa.Pitstop

You do bank transfer, seller checks he/she received it, you do change of owner online at DVLA page, buy road tax, buy new insurance or change from previous ar and it's done. If you read HPI guarantee, you have to do it by electronic methods, cash payment is not accepted.

contact.me

Thanks everyone for your inputs....

Arklight

contact.me wrote: »

That's right. That is what they asked me to do - i pay and they clear the finance. But i insisted them that it is illegal for anyone to sell their car while it is on finance (because while i did the HPI, it clearly showed all details of finance). I told them about this. The seller understood my concern.



They cleared the settlement. Showed screenshots of all final settlement. Seller showed proof of payment email. I called the finance company, they said they still have interest in the vehicle. I told the seller about this. And after 2 days of her actual payment to the finance company, the seller notified me about the notification /acknowledgement that they received from the finance company. I then called the finance company and they acknowledged me that they no longer have any interest in the vehicle.



Now they want a transfer method which will transfer money immediately / same day. They were happy with the bank to bank transfer (intra bank transfer). But they want the same day payment method (CHAPS- Same day payment). I hope that is safe for me to do. Kindly advise on payment method. The payment amount is over 13k. (over 13,000 GBP). The seller has clearly said to me that they won't give the car to me unless they see the money in their account.



I don't want to end up in a situation where the money goes away from my account and for some reason it doesn't reach the seller account the same day. I will eventually end up walking away with nothing after the money left the account.


Regards

There is no safe way to pay £13k to someone you don't know for something you don't have via bank transfer. It's not especially safe for the seller either. They could be selling you a stolen cloned car, you could be paying via a hacked bank account. You could be about to scam one another in a perfect yin and yang of motor based fraud. Which is why they aren't so many private sales nowadays.

At very least ensure you have done a full hpi check and make sure someone goes with you who knows how to find all the VIN numbers.

https://www.hpi.co.uk/guides/guarantee.html

When paying ask to see the seller's debit card and make sure that the name on the card and the account number matches the account you are sending the money to. Don't be afraid to ask for photo ID as a backup.