car PCP and bereavement

andy2912

Hi
Looking for some help and advice from members before making a decision.
Last month my father passed away aged 87.

Not much in the estate, no property, a bit in the bank.

Anyway nearly 3 years ago he part exchanged his then 3 year old Lexus for a new model, on a PCP lease which personally i think was wrong for the car dealership to do so, if he paid cash not a problem at his age.

Just had a letter from Lexus finance wanting £11890 for settlement :shocked:

Had a quote from Evans Halshaw how much for buying it.. £8600

Do we have to give Lexus the money? Or can they just have the car back with no cost to our family?

On the lease agreement there is a sum of £10900 as final payment. and March 2020 is final payment

Thanks
Andy

[Deleted User]

You can return the car and the balance will be settled out of his estate, if there is sufficient remaining.

If there isn't, they won't chase you personally for the balance.

DrEskimo

Sorry for the pedantry, but PCP is a type of secured loan, not a lease. A lease operates in a very different way.

If the GFV was set at £10,900 and is only 3 months away, I feel like the offer from EH is extremely low. Do you know if the mileage is significantly over what he agreed?

I would certainly get a broad range of quotes from different garages, dealers and online traders. You will get massive variation, so finding a good price takes a little work.

Also have a look on autotrader and see what similar cars are selling for both privately and by dealerships. That will give an idea of what trade in valuations are sensible and which ones are just trying to maximize Thier profit at your expense.

andy2912

Hi thanks for replies, at the end of the day we just want rid of the car, no hassle no fees.
Car has only done 9000 mile, and i see online value of cars is between £13 and £17k but we probably need to spend £2k on bodywork, scratches, wheels and interior etc.

Can we ask Lexus to take car back without any fees etc? And also we are wondering if there is any recourse about Lexus selling PCP finance to an 85 Year old man with onset of dementia?
My mum has never liked driving the car and would prefer something more smaller and cheaper to insure.

fwor

andy2912 wrote: »

Do we have to give Lexus the money? Or can they just have the car back with no cost to our family?

It's not really a family issue as such. The vehicle is an asset of the estate, and the loan is a debt that the estate owes. It's the responsibility of the executor(s) to settle the estate's debts, and that must be done before the remaining assets can be distributed to the beneficiaries of the will (assuming there was a will) or according to the rules of intestacy if there wasn't a will.

You can ask the finance company to charge no fees but, assuming the finance agreement was a legally binding one, I can't see any reason why they should agree to do that.

andy2912 wrote: »

we are wondering if there is any recourse about Lexus selling PCP finance to an 85 Year old man with onset of dementia?

If you can demonstrate that they were made aware of a medical condition which would have affected his judgement then you should make that known to them. Otherwise, they would have had no reason to see it as anything other than an old chap spending his money as he sees fit, surely?

DrEskimo

It must have quite extensive damage to need £2k of work after just 9k miles.

The shortfall isn't a fee. There will be no fees involved
it's just that the car has depreciated faster than the loan was being paid down. Think of the PCP as just a secured loan on the car from a finance company. That's why I brought up the use of the term 'lease' as it confuses matters The dealerships themselves do not handle the credit side of things.

Concentrate on getting the maximum value for the car in its current condition. You want to minimise the shortfall. You could even try a local independent garage and ask them to list it for you on a sale or return basis. For a fee they will keep the car and sell it on your behalf. They can then settle the finance as much as possible from the sale.

Mutton_Geoff

DrEskimo wrote: »

You could even try a local independent garage and ask them to list it for you on a sale or return basis. For a fee they will keep the car and sell it on your behalf. They can then settle the finance as much as possible from the sale.

I'm not sure that would work. Any prospective purchaser who ran an HPI check or similar would see the finance flag. The only way I'd buy a car on finance is to pay the finance company and any balance to the seller. With a SOR via a dealer, this won't happen so I think the finance must be paid off before any other sort of sale can happen.

[Deleted User]

fwor wrote: »

You can ask the finance company to charge no fees but, assuming the finance agreement was a legally binding one, I can't see any reason why they should agree to do that.

Neither the OP, nor any member of the family, is liable for any shortfall.

The OP should simply return the car, and pay whatever they can from the estate (after the funeral and any outstanding tax, pension etc. has been paid), and the rest they can whistle for.

DrEskimo

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

I'm not sure that would work. Any prospective purchaser who ran an HPI check or similar would see the finance flag. The only way I'd buy a car on finance is to pay the finance company and any balance to the seller. With a SOR via a dealer, this won't happen so I think the finance must be paid off before any other sort of sale can happen.

You're generally not allowed to settle the finance. On my first and only PCP I sold it to a dealer and they sent me the money to clear the finance the next morning as they weren't able to do so.

Some 90%+ private new car sales are sold on finance. I had the car on a sale or return prior to selling it to a dealer and it was no issue. Its not uncommon.

Sea_Shell

How are you (the estate) currently insuring the vehicle? Is it being kept off road?

andy2912

Lexus car insurance are letting my mum drive the car as a named driver whilst the insurance is still live with them until march, but have spoken to best car buyers and awaiting reply off lexus , we told them we can't afford the settlement figure and would rather they just took the car away.. let them absorb any costs