Outstanding Finance, pitfalls?

Outstanding Finance, pitfalls?

Author
Discussion

beck1234567

Original Poster:

31 posts

157 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2011
quotequote all
I'm looking to buy a car that has nearly 16k of finance owing on it. I'm going to be paying the money straight to the finance company, and a small amount to the owner.

The finance company only take a CHAPS payment, so I'm going to have an uneasy couple of hours before the payment is cleared. What are the pitfalls of this, I guess the owner could do a runner or refuse to hand over the car. Bloke seems ok, but you never know.

Am I being too cautious and what have others done in this situation? Is there anything I can do to cover myself? Perhaps get the owner to write out a receipt saying I will be given the car once the outstanding finance has been paid off?

Thanks in advance.

TonyTony

1,880 posts

159 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2011
quotequote all
Save yourself alot of potential trouble and buy a car that has no outstanding finance? smile

beck1234567

Original Poster:

31 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
Anyone else have any experience of this?

Gizmo!

18,150 posts

210 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
It's a PITA on both sides.

The OH's car is technically for sale but it's worth a touch less than the redemption fee. Which is fine, but the finance company will only accept the payoff from her, and only by cheque. So the buyer would have to give us the money, then wait while she posts the cheque to them, then get the keys when it's received and the finance company confirm they're clear.

Basically the buyer and seller have to trust each other...

cptsideways

13,551 posts

253 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
Swap Passports or similar while the deal is going through

beck1234567

Original Poster:

31 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
cptsideways said:
Swap Passports or similar while the deal is going through
Interesting option

beck1234567

Original Poster:

31 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
Gizmo! said:
It's a PITA on both sides.

The OH's car is technically for sale but it's worth a touch less than the redemption fee. Which is fine, but the finance company will only accept the payoff from her, and only by cheque. So the buyer would have to give us the money, then wait while she posts the cheque to them, then get the keys when it's received and the finance company confirm they're clear.

Basically the buyer and seller have to trust each other...
That's the problem, and you never really know who you are dealing with, although with a CHAPS transfer, the wait will be a couple of hours rather than a few days.

SteveS Cup

1,996 posts

161 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
cptsideways said:
Swap Passports or similar while the deal is going through
You need some sort of security / deposit like this I think.

I take it the car is stupidly cheap / rare / rare options / sought after to make it all worth while from the buyers prospective?

I'd be asking the seller to get a loan / credit card to pay off the finance, cash to seller to clear the 2nd debt.

insanojackson

5,746 posts

245 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
beck1234567 said:
Interesting option
passport agency policy is that once your passport has been out of your safe custody/lost etc then it has to be returned and renewed, this is to prevent id theft, far from being a daft option, its a none starter

beck1234567

Original Poster:

31 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
insanojackson said:
passport agency policy is that once your passport has been out of your safe custody/lost etc then it has to be returned and renewed, this is to prevent id theft, far from being a daft option, its a none starter
The more I thought of it the more I thought about identity fraud!

beck1234567

Original Poster:

31 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
The Crack Fox said:
Plus some of us have 2 passports...

What car is it ? Are there others without the paperwork / hassle ?
It's an e class with a shed load of options. It's not dirt cheap either. About the going rate, has full MBSH and only one owner and dealer. Address where I saw it is the address on the V5, so nothing on that side is ringing any bells. I'm just trying to be as prepared as I can be.

rob.kellock

2,213 posts

193 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
When I bought my Porsche 996 (privately) there was outstanding finance on it. The seller would only release the vehicle when he received faxed confirmation from the finance company that the balance had been settled. I also received confirmation from them in this regard. I also paid the balance of the purchase monies to the seller electronically.

I was quite happy to do this but it helped that I trusted the seller completely, he was a friend of a number of friends - even so your mind does wonder for the couple of hours it takes for everything to be finalised that the seller had both the car and my money!


Shmee

7,565 posts

214 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
I sold my previous car with a similar amount still owed on it and did exactly the same thing with the buyer where he paid the money before I handed the car over to him.

It has to be a trust thing, and only you can really judge if the other person seems legit. Perhaps you can see if they have a job that shows them up on LinkedIn or that kind of thing to make sure you know as much about them and their honesty as possible?

Colonial

13,553 posts

206 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
I just sold my car with outstanding finance.

Simple.

He did a direct deposit to the finance company on my computer, I called up 5 minutes later, amount had cleared.

He gave me the rest.

I gave him the keys.

As long as the outstanding finance is less than the value, then it's no big drama at all.

Terminator X

15,108 posts

205 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
Only done this once before re a DC2 ITR, with a chap that used to be a dealer ... he told me what the outstanding amount was, I then called Finance Co to confirm that (super suspicious!). I did one cheque for the finance in name of Finance Co & another to the owner for the smallish balance - owner gave me a receipt for the full amount along with bill of sale. He then let me drive off with the car (trust) whilst I trusted him to pay the finance albeit I could see when the cheque was cashed so would have chased it up if I hadn't seen it cash within a few days. PITA tbh so haven't done it again.

TX.

Edit - 1st post!!

Minel

479 posts

174 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
I did this with my Mazda2 which was on PCP.

Sold the car, deposited the money in my bank with buyer present, rang the finance company, paid up the outstanding amount and kept the difference.

GSP

1,965 posts

205 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
I was tempted to buy a bike with outstanding finance but steered clear for various reasons in the end.

Seemed easy enough to sort out though, seller just rings the finance company and you pay the finance... the only thing they could do is say they arn't selling the vehicle once you have paid off their finance. They you beat them to death.

GreatGranny

9,128 posts

227 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
Terminator X said:
Only done this once before re a DC2 ITR, with a chap that used to be a dealer ... he told me what the outstanding amount was, I then called Finance Co to confirm that (super suspicious!). I did one cheque for the finance in name of Finance Co & another to the owner for the smallish balance - owner gave me a receipt for the full amount along with bill of sale. He then let me drive off with the car (trust) whilst I trusted him to pay the finance albeit I could see when the cheque was cashed so would have chased it up if I hadn't seen it cash within a few days. PITA tbh so haven't done it again.

TX.

Edit - 1st post!!
Over 4 years for the 1st post!

Was the wait worth it?

jdw1234

6,021 posts

216 months

Wednesday 4th May 2011
quotequote all
If the seller is nice, meet at a bank in the morning. Make the chaps payment to finance company and transefr balance to seller.

Then have a pub lunch or similar.

After, ring the finance company and ask that they inform HPI immediately that there is no finance outstanding.

Then do the usual V5 stuff and drive home.


Terminator X

15,108 posts

205 months

Thursday 5th May 2011
quotequote all
GreatGranny said:
Over 4 years for the 1st post!

Was the wait worth it?
Indeedy smile

TX.