Is it legal to charge for repairs but not do them when returning a vehicle ?

born_again

Rollingwheels1 said:

born_again said:

Rollingwheels1 said:

hi all i am excersing my VT right on returning a van, i am the 5th user of a van bought at 90k now going back at 120k, i have taken good care in my time, however when returned the finance company are treating me like the second user, as saying it has not been serviced since 45k miles, i bought from small back street garage, when i questioned it they even said it is company policy and as van is now sold at auction the money they seek will not be forwarded on to the user, this is not right in my eyes, no one available to help !! ??

Time to fill in the blanks.

Some time line of how old the van is, when you bought it etc. Did you take out the finance?

As why do the finance co think you are the 2nd owner, yet you say you are the 5th? Makes no sense, other than people have been selling van on, but the finance co have not been made aware of 3 changes of ownership.

i bought the 2016 plate van in April 2022 i am the registered keeper No. 5,it comes with usual small scratches and dents i buy at 90k miles, i keep it 2 years and return it under VT rights with 120k miles and still with usual small scratches and dents, vauxhall treat me as if i am the 2-3 keeper, my finance was arranged by car money so the bank if you like is vauxhall finance, i told vauxhall i am the 5th keeper not the second as why should i pay for other peoples dents, they say it is company policy end of to charge for dents.

So it was your own finance. PCP? giving wanting to do a VT
Car money are a broker, so any damage will be down to actual finance co T/C & subject to Using the BVRLA guidelines.
Which will not be bothered about who did it.
Danger of buying 2nd hand vehicle on PCP.

Rollingwheels1

Arunmor said:

Do you have photographs from when you bought it?

no photos only 2 documents, 1 says damage to vehicle, other is numbered 1-30 example 3-nsr quarter panel scratch

Rollingwheels1

no when i bought it i was told it had been serviced at 90k, after i have it for 15k i serviced it, it only came to light after hand back Vauxhall say their last record of service is 45k, since then it has been used in normal buy and sell garages not large dealers

Rollingwheels1

So it was your own finance. PCP? giving wanting to do a VT
Car money are a broker, so any damage will be down to actual finance co T/C & subject to Using the BVRLA guidelines.
Which will not be bothered about who did it.
Danger of buying 2nd hand vehicle on PCP.

i bought van on auto trader or aa from garage in nottingham not a problem with that, carmoney is who i was buying it through set me up with Vauxhall, for me it's a van loan to buy a van, but then i see it says VT so thats what i have done, when trying to get another van i found this difficult as credit rating had me personally down for this PCP, it is a van for my business not personal use, i own the business so money either comes form business account or personal account but business transfers van money over to personal account, for me i am self employed and need a van simple does not matter which way it is i still pay, whats the problem !

Mildly_Miffed

Rollingwheels1 said:

no when i bought it i was told it had been serviced at 90k, after i have it for 15k i serviced it, it only came to light after hand back Vauxhall say their last record of service is 45k, since then it has been used in normal buy and sell garages not large dealers

Ah, that's a very different thing.

Nobody in their right mind pays main dealer prices to service an 8yo 120k van...

born_again

Rollingwheels1 said:

i bought van on auto trader or aa from garage in nottingham not a problem with that, carmoney is who i was buying it through set me up with Vauxhall, for me it's a van loan to buy a van, but then i see it says VT so thats what i have done, when trying to get another van i found this difficult as credit rating had me personally down for this PCP, it is a van for my business not personal use, i own the business so money either comes form business account or personal account but business transfers van money over to personal account, for me i am self employed and need a van simple does not matter which way it is i still pay, whats the problem !

So as per @DullGreyGuy. Then as a business loan there is no VT

VT stems from the CCA which only applies to personal finance, if it was a used for work the CCA and its rules on VT won't apply. 

Okell

born_again said:

Rollingwheels1 said:

i bought van on auto trader or aa from garage in nottingham not a problem with that, carmoney is who i was buying it through set me up with Vauxhall, for me it's a van loan to buy a van, but then i see it says VT so thats what i have done, when trying to get another van i found this difficult as credit rating had me personally down for this PCP, it is a van for my business not personal use, i own the business so money either comes form business account or personal account but business transfers van money over to personal account, for me i am self employed and need a van simple does not matter which way it is i still pay, whats the problem !

So as per @DullGreyGuy. Then as a business loan there is no VT

VT stems from the CCA which only applies to personal finance, if it was a used for work the CCA and its rules on VT won't apply. 

Playing Devil's Advocate, is that necessarily the case?

I know nothing about VT, but assuming it comes from the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (legislation.gov.uk), my understanding has always been that the CCA applies in respect of agreements providing credit to an "individual".  See s 8(1).

Nowhere does the Act say that it only applies to consumer transactions and not to business transactions - it only refers to "individuals"

If you look at the Financial Ombudsman's newsletter issue 62 it's mentioned at the foot of page 3.

Talking about s75 it states that it includes "sole traders, small partnerships and unincorporated businesses, as well as ordinary consumers".

62.pdf (financial-ombudsman.org.uk)

I know this thread isn't about s75, but if its true about s75 I assume it will also be true about other provisions of the Act.  (As I say, I know nothing about VT so I suppose there might be some specific exemption I don't know about).

So in as far as VT might be relevant to this thread, I suppose it depends what sort of business the OP has?

Rollingwheels1

no i bought van at 90k with services the last one at back street garage before sale, i had van done another service at my back street garage say 115k miles, then put van back at 120k but when vauxhall checked it they say last recorded service at a dealer was 45k, point here not everyone uses the dealer some back street garages can easily do a service.

DullGreyGuy

Rollingwheels1 said:

no i bought van at 90k with services the last one at back street garage before sale, i had van done another service at my back street garage say 115k miles, then put van back at 120k but when vauxhall checked it they say last recorded service at a dealer was 45k, point here not everyone uses the dealer some back street garages can easily do a service.

Then dont sign a finance agreement that requires main dealership servicing. 

Its swings and roundabouts, mainstream lenders want to preserve the value of the asset and hence stipulate servicing must be by the main dealership. If you dont want to do that then look at other finance providers methods, they may be slightly more expensive but won't have the stipulation on servicing. 

Signing one that requires servicing, then not following the contractual terms and crying about it afterwards just sounds like you didnt bother reading what you were signing up to. If you did then you knew the costs for not following the terms would follow. 

Herzlos

Rollingwheels1 said:

no i bought van at 90k with services the last one at back street garage before sale, i had van done another service at my back street garage say 115k miles, then put van back at 120k but when vauxhall checked it they say last recorded service at a dealer was 45k, point here not everyone uses the dealer some back street garages can easily do a service.

Normally you just need to get it serviced somewhere that is VAT registered, but they can only see what's in the dealer record. So you *should* be able to go and get the back street garage to provide you invoices for all of the services they did. Some unscupulous folk may try and get them to provide invoices for services they probably did too, if records don't go back that far.

In terms of condition you've usually got to return it in reasonable condition, and there should be guidelines for what's acceptable. That should factor in what condition it was in when you bought it.

But for both the onus is on you to prove it; the finance company aren't going to put in any leg work beyond sending it to auction and trying to bill you for what they think the shortfall is.