Voluntary Termination?

Voluntary Termination?

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Discussion

northandy

3,495 posts

220 months

Sunday 5th May 2013
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mercGLowner said:
I am at the stage where I now want to VT my Mini Cooper Auto. There is only 6 months left to run on the 4 year PCP finance deal, but the settlement figure is £9100 and the CAP/Glass's valuation is about £7500. Am wanting a new vehicle which is suitable to insure for my 17 yo son.

I spoke to the relevant department at BMW/Mini financial services yesterday, the lady was rather cold in her tone and was quick to point out that a VT mark would be put on my credit file and that it would most certainly mean that BMW would not offer me any preferential Finance rates in the future, including the headline subsidised APR rates. Whilst I am not planning to buy another BMW/Mini in the near future, I am a little concerned about the wider effect of having a 'VT' mark against my name for credit purposes.

I know that officially VTing does not adversely effect your credit rating, does it in practice? I am hoping to move house next year and the last thing I want is to have a mortgage application declined for an unknown reason.

Loads of information on the Internet/Google, but I am slightly nervous and am actually considering just biting the bullet and seeing the deal out to the end in November.
Its not legally allowed to affect your credit rating, i have vt'd my last two through bmw and my current one is financed through bmw on their 4.9% deal, the last deal went through instantly with no issues.

I check my credit history fairly regularily and nothing has ever appeared for the two vt.

Even on handing back never had any damage charges, although the cars were well looked after.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

244 months

Sunday 5th May 2013
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BE57 TOY said:
Contract hire is a lease and you can't VT a lease.

Ah, but this is PistonHeads - according to a later post he was able to replace the cars and didn't have to pay the outstanding charges. rolleyes

BE57 TOY

2,628 posts

146 months

Sunday 5th May 2013
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Deva Link said:
Ah, but this is PistonHeads - according to a later post he was able to replace the cars and didn't have to pay the outstanding charges. rolleyes
It wasn't a VT then.

A broker may pay off outstanding rentals to sell a new deal, but the commission would need to be particularly high or the remaining payments particularly low, or a mixture of the two.

Still not a VT though!

mercGLowner

1,668 posts

183 months

Sunday 5th May 2013
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northandy said:
Its not legally allowed to affect your credit rating, i have vt'd my last two through bmw and my current one is financed through bmw on their 4.9% deal, the last deal went through instantly with no issues.

I check my credit history fairly regularily and nothing has ever appeared for the two vt.

Even on handing back never had any damage charges, although the cars were well looked after.
Thanks, good to know when someone has first hand experience. I have no doubt that Mini finance have made a good old profit from me regardless of how much the car is now worth. It is in good nick, although two of the alloys have slight kerb damage and there are a couple of scratches on the bonnet and by the boot lip.

northandy

3,495 posts

220 months

Sunday 5th May 2013
quotequote all
mercGLowner said:
Thanks, good to know when someone has first hand experience. I have no doubt that Mini finance have made a good old profit from me regardless of how much the car is now worth. It is in good nick, although two of the alloys have slight kerb damage and there are a couple of scratches on the bonnet and by the boot lip.
You get fairly detailed guidelines on damage, kerbed alloys is one they do look for though. I had one and got it repaired for £60 when they guy collected it he said it was a standard £75 per wheel. He was taking it straight to the carshop northampton, bmw never even saw it, it was down to the collection guy. I made sure it was spotless inside and out which helps i think.

My 2 had both covered 70k plus so had plenty of stonechips, i touched up the worst but they were happy otherwise.

I did get excess mileage charged (pro rata) but knew that was coming so had put money aside.

Bear in mind with the last i bought new, so finance pre approved even though i had a car already financed they knew i wasnt part exing.

Mo D

261 posts

154 months

Sunday 5th May 2013
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For what its worth, I did the VT on my 330d. Paid the £900 to settle the fincnce early (at 24months into the agreement, I VT'd at 21 months). Someone came to inspect the car, found 8 fault (scratches on every side, the front, the side, even the rear the car, including a dent on the side of the car due to a parking ding, plus nerves wheels on every corner.

I expected to receive an invice from BMW, in the region of £1,000 ish.
To date I havent received anything, apart from a letter to say the finance agreement has been settled.
To be fair, I asked the guy if my car was in reasonable nick compared to the other cars he collects, he said yes, and better than some.

So it wasn't too bad at all for me, much better than expected, BMW have been very good in all this imo for me.

I also heard the same line re VT and your credit report, its nothing to worry about, from what I've read previously, so I think the above poster is correct.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

244 months

Sunday 5th May 2013
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Mo D said:
I expected to receive an invice from BMW, in the region of £1,000 ish.
To date I havent received anything, apart from a letter to say the finance agreement has been settled.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, it's not clear if they could enforce extra charges on a VT anyway.

romeogolf

2,056 posts

118 months

Sunday 19th April 2015
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Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but can't find anything more recent.

To those who VT'd in excess of previously agreed mileage, were you charged? Did you contest this and was it upheld?

There's a lot of second-hand information but I can only see two cases of "it was me" scenarios, one in which there was no charge and a second where there was an excess mileage charge based on pro-rata mileage.

Any others who can add their direct experiences?

Trailhead

2,628 posts

146 months

Sunday 19th April 2015
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From a contract law point of view, the mileage is pro rata and charged if you are in excess.

This is common sense too, or anyone planning on handing a car back at the end of the agreement would VT a month before the hand back date to negate excess mileage charges.


ETA

The CCA states VT does not affect any liability under the agreement which has accrued during the period of said agreement. Ie. Mileage charges.

Edited by Trailhead on Sunday 19th April 14:16

romeogolf

2,056 posts

118 months

Sunday 19th April 2015
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Hi Trailhead - Have you been in a situation where you have used VT? Lots of people have given conflicting advice on here so I'm looking for direct experiences.

Trailhead

2,628 posts

146 months

Sunday 19th April 2015
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romeogolf said:
Hi Trailhead - Have you been in a situation where you have used VT? Lots of people have given conflicting advice on here so I'm looking for direct experiences.
No I don't speak from personal experience, but from the legal standpoint. There is no case law on this (yet) and it seems to be a matter of will power in whoever wins the "argument". Some finance companies are more aggressive than others in recouping mileage after a VT. No one can give you a definitive answer on this.

northandy

3,495 posts

220 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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romeogolf said:
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but can't find anything more recent.

To those who VT'd in excess of previously agreed mileage, were you charged? Did you contest this and was it upheld?

There's a lot of second-hand information but I can only see two cases of "it was me" scenarios, one in which there was no charge and a second where there was an excess mileage charge based on pro-rata mileage.

Any others who can add their direct experiences?
I was about 15k over (job change part way through) I did write a couple of letters stating the reference to the CCA but got responses that argued it was payable. I took the view I knew I was over and knew what the deal was, so paid up it was about £700 ish.

Patch1875

4,893 posts

131 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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Alfa finance tried to charge us even though we hadn't gone over the total mileage but the average was over, phoned them up to complain and they took it of with no argument along with some of the damage charges they hit us with.

Think they were just at it.

Gio G

2,945 posts

208 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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OP - no I was not charged. I suspect it all depends on the finance company, whether they come after you for excess mileage and whether their respective agreement with you allows them to charge you.

I was always under the impression that under VT, you paid no more, that was your right, as long as you paid the amount (usually half way point) within the agreement. If the car is in reasonable condition on handing back, you would have no problem.

Who did you finance with?

G

mpaxton78

1 posts

104 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
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I'm considering returning my 09 Mini Cooper S under VT as to quite honest I can see it heading towards a point of costing me a small fortune on a car where I owe considerably more than it's worth thanks to my local steeler doing me a "good deal" when I wasn't really thinking straight - yes my own fault I know!

I've already checked with Mini / BMW FS and I'm able to hand it back with no penalty which is great, however I am concerned that I may be hit with a bill for repairs.

While I understand that the car still needs to meet the BVRLA criteria of "fair wear and tear", meaning I need to get the wheels refurbed and some minor damage to the bumper sorted I am not clear on what is acceptable in terms of the mechanics.

Issues I have at the moment:
1. Loosing Coolant / Possible Thermostat failure
2. Knocking sound from under the car (Roll bar bushes?!)
3. Turbo is noisy when starting from cold and gives a "little roar" but settles after a few seconds of driving but does suggest its failing

While none of these things are in any way good, I would consider that on a car which is 6 years old these could be classed as "wear and tear" but as none of them have completely failed yet ... so the question is which if any of these must I fix before returning the car under Voluntary Termination to avoid a hefty bill in return

Sorry for the lengthy post but this has been playing on my mind for a while now and I really need to work out what to do for the financial best.

Th