Voluntary termination- HP finance

sunfloweranonymous

Really stuck! 
So my husband bought Automatic Ford Galaxy 2 years ago on HP finance (Black horse) to be used as Taxi. The car started to have so many issues since last 5 months, effecting our living as he uses it as main income. We are now struggling with our monthly outgoing and getting into debts. 
We finally decided to voluntary terminating the car. The issue is that the DPF is removed, we got it remapped but sadly it didn't work, due to this there is engine light on the dashboard. The car starts to smoke when in use.  We found out about remapping in Europe but for that it will cost another 2K which is not possible in our current circumstances. The car has finance outstanding of 10K. The cars current value is around 3K so we are trapped in a bad situation. 
Our worry is that if we go forward with the VT, are they going to ask us for the repairs and excess cost for car not being road worthy. Please share if your experience and knowledge! 

Exodi

sunfloweranonymous said:

Our worry is that if we go forward with the VT, are they going to ask us for the repairs and excess cost for car not being road worthy. Please share if your experience and knowledge! 

Yes of course they will. Your contract will require the car to be returned in reasonable condition, accounting for fair wear and tear.

Towing a car onto their forecourt that has an engine warning, starts to smoke when in use and is no longer road-worthy would not only mean you will be charged for the necessary repairs, but they are also less likely to shop around for the best price than you might be.

How long is the agreement for? Have you paid off half the finance? If not, could you use that money towards the repairs? I don't think VT is the magic wand to fix this.

Ayr_Rage

Were the finance company aware that this vehicle was for commercial use?

You will not be able to just dump the faulty vehicle back to them, they will expect it to be in an appropriate condition for it's age.

Whatever you owe on finance will be recovered by them, one way or another.

Mildly_Miffed

sunfloweranonymous said:

Really stuck! 
So my husband bought Automatic Ford Galaxy 2 years ago on HP finance (Black horse) to be used as Taxi. The car started to have so many issues since last 5 months, effecting our living as he uses it as main income. We are now struggling with our monthly outgoing and getting into debts. 
We finally decided to voluntary terminating the car. The issue is that the DPF is removed, we got it remapped but sadly it didn't work, due to this there is engine light on the dashboard. The car starts to smoke when in use.  We found out about remapping in Europe but for that it will cost another 2K which is not possible in our current circumstances. The car has finance outstanding of 10K. The cars current value is around 3K so we are trapped in a bad situation. 
Our worry is that if we go forward with the VT, are they going to ask us for the repairs and excess cost for car not being road worthy. Please share if your experience and knowledge! 

Many of the normal consumer rights do not apply as this was a business purchase.

Removing the DPF renders the car illegal and unroadworthy. And, yes, it will smoke more - because the filter's entire job is to remove the particulates which make the exhaust opaque (and kill people).

There is no way you can just walk away from a £10k debt secured against a car that would only be worth £3k if it was not unroadworthy.

born_again

sunfloweranonymous said:

Really stuck! 
So my husband bought Automatic Ford Galaxy 2 years ago on HP finance (Black horse) to be used as Taxi. The car started to have so many issues since last 5 months, effecting our living as he uses it as main income. We are now struggling with our monthly outgoing and getting into debts. 
We finally decided to voluntary terminating the car. The issue is that the DPF is removed, we got it remapped but sadly it didn't work, due to this there is engine light on the dashboard. The car starts to smoke when in use.  We found out about remapping in Europe but for that it will cost another 2K which is not possible in our current circumstances. The car has finance outstanding of 10K. The cars current value is around 3K so we are trapped in a bad situation. 
Our worry is that if we go forward with the VT, are they going to ask us for the repairs and excess cost for car not being road worthy. Please share if your experience and knowledge! 

How did it get through the 6 month MOT's with no DPF?

fatbelly

Sounds like you are in a mess and it might be worth popping over to debt-free wannabe