Withdrawing from car finance during cooling off

matthewwallis

Hello just picked up a new car on finance from a dealership 6 days ago. Haven’t been without a car for a few weeks prior I’m not sure I really need and want to exercise my right to withdraw whilst I’m in the cooling off period. 

I’ve spoke to the finance company and they say that’s fine but 1) I’d still owe them the money and 2) I’d have to keep the car, does this seem right? I’m not sure how it would all work. 

The car from the dealership was purchased all over the phone/email. The car I’ve got was already on its way the dealerships when I first enquired. 

Just looking for some advice from people who may know more about the process than me. 

Thanks in advance 

MEM62

The car purchase and the loan are separate issues.  If you withdraw from the finance deal that does not cancel the car purchase and you will need an alternative way of paying for the car.   

Ebe_Scrooge

As above, you can withdraw from the finance agreement if you wish, but you'll need to repay what you borrowed (plus any accrued interest).

In terms of the car, if you decide you no longer want it then you can sell it - once the finance has been settled.

It may be possible to combine the two operations - either the dealer you bought it from, or the likes of WBAC, will often take the car off you, settle the finance and give you the difference if the car is worth more than the outstanding finance.  Of course, if the car is worth less than the outstanding finance, you'd have to cover the shortfall.

DullGreyGuy

matthewwallis said:

Hello just picked up a new car on finance from a dealership 6 days ago. Haven’t been without a car for a few weeks prior I’m not sure I really need and want to exercise my right to withdraw whilst I’m in the cooling off period. 

I’ve spoke to the finance company and they say that’s fine but 1) I’d still owe them the money and 2) I’d have to keep the car, does this seem right? I’m not sure how it would all work. 

The car from the dealership was purchased all over the phone/email. The car I’ve got was already on its way the dealerships when I first enquired. 

Just looking for some advice from people who may know more about the process than me. 

Thanks in advance 

Cooling off is a statutory requirement for financial services but it is unrelated to the car. So if you dont want the loan you can cancel it and just repay the monies in full now and avoid the interest. 

Cancelling the purchase of the car is independent to the loan, assuming you bought it in person you'd need to read the T&Cs to see what cancellation rights, if any, you have and speak to the dealership 

martinbainbridge1975

if you bought the car without seeing it may be covered by the distance sales regulations which from memory gives 14 days cooling off period

DullGreyGuy

martinbainbridge1975 said:

if you bought the car without seeing it may be covered by the distance sales regulations which from memory gives 14 days cooling off period

its without having gone in store, at any point, not just not seeing the particular car you are buying.  Dealerships hold very limited stock compared to all the iterations available

macman

Is this a 'new' new car or a new used car?
If the former then bear in mind that, even with just a few miles on the clock the car will take a substantial depreciation hit. If the garage were to buy it back off you then it's now a used vehicle, one previous owner, and their offer, or anyone else's, will reflect that. Depends on demand for the particular model, but could easily be 10-15% already.
If you really think that you can just return the car because you've bought it on a whim and not incur any costs, then you're being naive.

Grumpy_chap

martinbainbridge1975 said:

if you bought the car without seeing it may be covered by the distance sales regulations which from memory gives 14 days cooling off period

It would appear as though this was not a distance / remote sale:

matthewwallis said:

Hello just picked up a new car on finance from a dealership 6 days ago. 

The car from the dealership was purchased all over the phone/email. The car I’ve got was already on its way the dealerships when I first enquired. 

That reads to me as though the OP collected the car "picked up a new car" and therefore would not be a distance sale even if all the advance activity ahead of collection was done remotely.

molerat

Grumpy_chap said:

martinbainbridge1975 said:

if you bought the car without seeing it may be covered by the distance sales regulations which from memory gives 14 days cooling off period

It would appear as though this was not a distance / remote sale:

matthewwallis said:

Hello just picked up a new car on finance from a dealership 6 days ago. 

The car from the dealership was purchased all over the phone/email. The car I’ve got was already on its way the dealerships when I first enquired. 

That reads to me as though the OP collected the car "picked up a new car" and therefore would not be a distance sale even if all the advance activity ahead of collection was done remotely.

If absolutely everything was done at a distance and the only thing done in person was picking the car up then it could still be considered a distance sale in the same way as Argos click and collect is considered a distance sale.

DullGreyGuy

Grumpy_chap said:

martinbainbridge1975 said:

if you bought the car without seeing it may be covered by the distance sales regulations which from memory gives 14 days cooling off period

It would appear as though this was not a distance / remote sale:

matthewwallis said:

Hello just picked up a new car on finance from a dealership 6 days ago. 

The car from the dealership was purchased all over the phone/email. The car I’ve got was already on its way the dealerships when I first enquired. 

That reads to me as though the OP collected the car "picked up a new car" and therefore would not be a distance sale even if all the advance activity ahead of collection was done remotely.

Click and collect is covered by distance selling regs because you have already committed to the purchase before having the opportunity to inspect the goods. Reserve online type services arent because you pay in store after having a chance to inspect the goods. 

Grumpy_chap

molerat said:

If absolutely everything was done at a distance and the only thing done in person was picking the car up then it could still be considered a distance sale in the same way as Argos click and collect is considered a distance sale.

DullGreyGuy said:

Click and collect is covered by distance selling regs because you have already committed to the purchase before having the opportunity to inspect the goods. Reserve online type services arent because you pay in store after having a chance to inspect the goods. 

You are both correct, but I also very strongly suspect that the process of buying the car and collecting is managed by the Dealer to avoid "click & collect" applying, specifically to avoid the purchase falling under CCR for remote purchases.

Once the friendly and personable representative from the Dealership welcomes you in, offers a coffee and takes you into the office to complete the paperwork, you can be rock solid certain that the paperwork dealt with at that time will be sufficient to include something that ensures the transaction certainly does not fall within the remote sale qualification.  

This also panders to our own desire to be treated as special when making a large purchase such as a new car and we can walk away with a lovely warm feeling about the service we received.

The analogy with Argos (or any other click and collect service) is not one that extends well to a car purchase in practice, though can extend as a technicality.