Advertising whilst on PCP and PCP ownership

Tij87

I completely understand that I cannot sell a car with finance is still owing, such as on a PCP arrangement.
However, am I allowed to advertise the car online for a private sale and then, if I find an interested buyer, pay the settlement figure to the finance company before selling the car on to my private buyer? Or am I not allowed to advertise it even whilst it is still on a PCP?

If I were to sell a car this way then I am a bit confused about the amount of owners that would be shown on the cars documentation? If I take ownership of a car on PCP am I registered as the first owner or am I the second owner (the finance company being the first?). Ie, if I were to see my PCP through to the end and then pay the full final payment, would I be considered the first owner or the second?

For a number of reasons, I need to change my car 17months into a 3 year PCP deal. Selling to online car buyer sites puts me in a small negative equity. I would like to see if I could get a little bit more via private sale and pushing the sale out of negative equity if possible. But I dont really want to fork out the full settlement figure unnecessarily unless I have to and if I know I have a buyer. 

Do buyers of private sale cars generally buy there and then when they view a car, or would they be happy to come back 24hours later once I had settled the finance?
My current settlement figure is circa £19.7k - online car sites offering circa £18k - Cheapest similar spec car advertised online is £22.5k - I was hoping that if I advertised at the £19.7k that might just tempt someone away from the dealerships and buy mine instead thus getting rid of my negative equity or reducing the amount of negative equity a little bit? Im still £4 or £5k away from reaching voluntary termination figure. 

Thanks in advance

DrEskimo

You can, but remember that it adds an additional layer of uncertainty that may restrict the amount of buyers. There was a thread on her recently about buying a car with outstanding finance and the OP suggested it wasn't something they would bother with again...

You could always settle with a personal loan and then pay that down with the proceeds from the sale. Even if you do end up just trading it in. In essence all you are doing is transferring it from a secured loan to an unsecured loan.

I'm assuming you are using finance for the next car, but downsizing? Therefore you could pay down the loan and keep what you need to purchase the next car.

Tij87

Thanks for the reply. 

Actually no we aren’t downsizing. Currently in an A Class hatchback and it just isn’t big enough for us now we are a family of four. We are changing to a Tesla M3 but going to run through my ltd co as a company car due to the incentives in place for electric vehicles. Even if we make a small loss of the amount owed on the A class, we are still better off in the long term with these savings I think.

Would it seen as any additional hassle to a buyer? I’m not asking them to pay the finance company, I would do it if they wanted to buy? I appreciate that I could take out a loan now and be no worse off even if traded in - but I don’t really want the borrowing and credit checks against my name unnecessarily if it’s not going to sell anyway

motorguy

Theres no issue with it.  I wouldnt put it in the advert, but i'd let any prospective buyers know theres finance owing and you would arrange for them to pay the finance company directly not you.  Thats easily done.

I've bought cars with finance owing in the past and cleared it directly with the finance company.  Wouldnt have an issue doing it again.  I've also sold cars and had the buyer clear the finance, again, no issues there.

You say "i'm not asking them to pay the finance company"?  Have you funds now to pay it, if so, why not clear it now?  If you dont then you must get them to pay the finance company directly not say "i'll clear it for you" - that will definitely make any prospective buyer run a mile.

It could be "seen" as extra risk and hassle by a prospective buyer thus its up to you to make it as easy as possible for them.