Buying a car with outstanding finance, anybody done it?

[HamiltonCork]

Hello all,

Just looking for a bit of advice from anyone who's purchased a private car with outstanding finance on it & how the best way to go around this is?

I've agreed to buy a car from someone who from the start has been entirely transparent that the car is on a PCP agreement with Volkswagen financial services. The agreed sale price is circa £500 more than the settlement figure.

From what i've managed to read so far my plan is as follows... please let me know if this is typical / practical or not..

- The seller & I have arranged a collection day next week whereby he will phone VW-FS with me present so we can get the the exact 'settlement figure'.

- I will then make a FPO bank transfer to VW-FS for the settlement figure (using his agreement number as the transfer reference)

- We will then both phone VW-FS again to confirm that they have received the settlement & will send email confirmation to the seller in due course.

- I would then make another transfer for the remaining balance to the seller ( around £500 )

- Complete the V5 sections as usual & I'll tax / insure the car and drive off?...


For what it's worth I don't believe the chap i'm buying the car from is in any way 'dodgy' or that this is an uncommon situation but having never dealt with this side of car buying before i'm a little apprehensive.

Looking forward to your insights

[Tankrizzo]

Although I was the seller so the other way around, that's exactly what I did. Phoned finance co with buyer in attendance, passed phone over, he cleared the finance and the company stated no further interest in the vehicle. Buyer then transferred the remainder via CHAPS, job done.

[HamiltonCork]

Hi Tank,

Brilliant, thanks for your reply & reassurance!

[V6Alfisti]

Ditto, did exactly the same when buying a car a few years back.

[tomsugden]

The only thing I would add is find the phone number of the finance company yourself rather than relying on the seller, it could be his mate he calls.

[HamiltonCork]

Thanks for the replies guys

& good thinking Tom. I’ve already got the bank details / contact number of VW-FS as well as the sellers agreement number (this appeared on the HPI report) so I’m sure this wouldn’t be an issue, although I hadn’t considered a scam could be that elaborate.. thank you for the insight

[Ekona]

When sending money to VWFS via CHAPS it's not always done immediately as they may tell you: The buyer of my old car did it that way at about 0930 in the morning and it didn't clear with VWFS until about 1630. We made phonecalls every half hour or so to check, whilst I was perfectly okay as it wasn't really my money I know the buyer was somewhat panicking about the whole thing, understandably so too tbh.

I'm sure some go through straight away, just don't be surprised if there is a delay.

[Snowdrop_]

Is this a white Golf by any chance?