VW finance voluntary termination - excess mileage charge!?

VW finance voluntary termination - excess mileage charge!?

Author
Discussion

tallpaul26

450 posts

218 months

Sunday 17th September 2017
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VWFS will apply charges for anything about the vehicle that they don't define as having met their definition of reasonable condition.

This will include charging for cosmetic damage that doesn't meet the BVRLA definition of fair wear and tear, excess mileage and outstanding maintenance.

NHughes89

4 posts

78 months

Monday 18th September 2017
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Does anyone know if these are enforceable?

ZX10R NIN

27,494 posts

124 months

Monday 18th September 2017
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I'm surprised by this thread, you make an agreement to take a car look after it for however many years & then hand it back with no more than a specific mileage, you then hand it back with more miles but don't want to pay the penalty?

So if at the start of the lease you were expecting to get a GTI but they gave you a GT & expected you to pay the GTI cost would you accept that?

Maybe I'm missing something but if you've agreed to something & you break the agreement pay the penalty because if the dealer did something wrong you'd be looking for money off.

deason

4,190 posts

143 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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ZX10R NIN said:
I'm surprised by this thread, you make an agreement to take a car look after it for however many years & then hand it back with no more than a specific mileage, you then hand it back with more miles but don't want to pay the penalty?

So if at the start of the lease you were expecting to get a GTI but they gave you a GT & expected you to pay the GTI cost would you accept that?

Maybe I'm missing something but if you've agreed to something & you break the agreement pay the penalty because if the dealer did something wrong you'd be looking for money off.
I think you are missing the point.

I think OP (and others) see it that they end the contract early then the mileage contracted is not pro rata.

funkyrobot

18,789 posts

227 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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ZX10R NIN said:
I'm surprised by this thread, you make an agreement to take a car look after it for however many years & then hand it back with no more than a specific mileage, you then hand it back with more miles but don't want to pay the penalty?

So if at the start of the lease you were expecting to get a GTI but they gave you a GT & expected you to pay the GTI cost would you accept that?

Maybe I'm missing something but if you've agreed to something & you break the agreement pay the penalty because if the dealer did something wrong you'd be looking for money off.
How are the people being affected by the emissions cheating getting on?

ZX10R NIN

27,494 posts

124 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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deason said:
I think you are missing the point.

I think OP (and others) see it that they end the contract early then the mileage contracted is not pro rata.
On most deals it'll state your annual mileage so if you do 15,000 in a year & your agreement is 10k you've broken your agreement.

I now see the OP's viewpoint, for me it's a way to renege on the agreement, but if the OP & others can make it work for them more power to them.

ZX10R NIN

27,494 posts

124 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
funkyrobot said:
How are the people being affected by the emissions cheating getting on?
Does that apply to someone who bought a GTI?

Also in europe none of the VAG products were found to be in breach of EU rules. wink

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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ZX10R NIN said:
deason said:
I think you are missing the point.

I think OP (and others) see it that they end the contract early then the mileage contracted is not pro rata.
On most deals it'll state your annual mileage so if you do 15,000 in a year & your agreement is 10k you've broken your agreement.

I now see the OP's viewpoint, for me it's a way to renege on the agreement, but if the OP & others can make it work for them more power to them.
Yes, its exploiting the Voluntary Termination rights that you have under the Consumer Credit Act. Designed to protect people who could no longer afford to pay for a car being hounded for an excessive amount by the finance company but exploited by some people nowadays when (a) they decide they simply want to change the car or (b) they've done more miles than they agreed to and want to legally terminate the contract before it ends. Some people do it to return a car a couple of months early if they've sorted another car ahead of a contract end date (we did that some years ago with no issues)

Finance companies have no choice but to accept the car back but they now tend to put an awful lot of scrutiny on the cars condition to see if they can recover any further money (within published guidelines) or "lean" on the customer to try to force them to pay excess mileage charges.

Technically not enforceable but they do make life uncomfortable for you and hope you crack and pay.


Jefferson Steelflex

1,428 posts

98 months

Wednesday 20th September 2017
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Not my recent experience with BMW, albeit we were well under the mileage.

There were charges for a scuff and a missing piece of equipment of £200 or so, we got a letter from them a week later saying they have waived the charges as the vehicle was in otherwise excellent condition and below the mileage limit by some way (or words to that effect). I think if you've taken the piss they probably do get a bit arsey, but there is some leeway.

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Wednesday 20th September 2017
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Jefferson Steelflex said:
Not my recent experience with BMW, albeit we were well under the mileage.

There were charges for a scuff and a missing piece of equipment of £200 or so, we got a letter from them a week later saying they have waived the charges as the vehicle was in otherwise excellent condition and below the mileage limit by some way (or words to that effect). I think if you've taken the piss they probably do get a bit arsey, but there is some leeway.
Was that a VT?

Jefferson Steelflex

1,428 posts

98 months

Thursday 21st September 2017
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Yep, straightforward VT @ month 41 out of 48. Process went really well, i mentioned on another thread that BCA come and do the inspection and talk you through what they've found, then you have the chance to sign with or without disputing the items.

In our case, we disputed one of the charges (they said the car needed an inflation kit as we had replaced the tyres with non-RFT) and in the end we got the letter through saying they've waived the whole thing. I was expecting a letter with the bill, so was a pleasant surprise.

funkyrobot

18,789 posts

227 months

Thursday 21st September 2017
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ZX10R NIN said:
Does that apply to someone who bought a GTI?

Also in europe none of the VAG products were found to be in breach of EU rules. wink
Why are the vehicles being 'updated' then?

smile

cootuk

918 posts

122 months

Thursday 21st September 2017
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Just had my final statement through after ending my 2yr lease three months early. I've already paid the 55% of outstanding payments, and the BCA inspector missed a poor internal boot panel respray and a scratch on the passenger door top that was on the edge of allowable size.
Prorata I'm 1700 miles over allowance, but only being charged £52 for that. So I'm happy about the handback

ZX10R NIN

27,494 posts

124 months

Thursday 21st September 2017
quotequote all
funkyrobot said:
Why are the vehicles being 'updated' then?

smile
Are they updating the GTI, do you know anyone who's had an update done? Did the car feel any different?

No idea why they're doing it they haven't been found in breach of any euro regs. smile

deason

4,190 posts

143 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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cootuk said:
Just had my final statement through after ending my 2yr lease three months early. I've already paid the 55% of outstanding payments, and the BCA inspector missed a poor internal boot panel respray and a scratch on the passenger door top that was on the edge of allowable size.
Prorata I'm 1700 miles over allowance, but only being charged £52 for that. So I'm happy about the handback
How much was the respray charge?

cootuk

918 posts

122 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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The internal boot sill on the top edge had a few long deep scratches right down to the bare metal. That would be way outside fair wear and tear.
£80 for the respray. Blended well on one side, but unblended on a seam on the other so was pretty obvious, especially as the paint the sprayguy brought wasn't the correct shade and was diluted by eye.
Luckily the BCA inspector missed it somehow. Probably more concerned with bumpers and external panels.
The valet I got was a local valeting company (not car wash place) and was £35. They did a good job cleaning carpets and seats.
I always use waterproof seat covers and rubber mats as myself and friends are out with horses so the interior gets crappy.

daydotz

1,741 posts

160 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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tallpaul26

450 posts

218 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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So, the real answer to whether an excess mileage charge is enforceable after VT is 'nobody knows' because it has never been tested in court.

Personally, if I were deliberately using the VT mechanism to circumvent excess mileage charges under the preceding agreement, I wouldn't like to be the first person to test this!

ReverseTriker

24 posts

82 months

Sunday 1st October 2017
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I'm not sure if I understand correctly, but if I am , I'm thinking this Voluntary Termination could be a massive cost for manufacturers / finance co's.

The grey area is that it's not tested in law that the leaser can be charged the excess mileage charge, and many seen to get away with it.

Fraud may be an issue imo, i'm reminded of the students who bought iphones in credit & sold it to criminals. Students were left with massive bills, run up by crims, but phone and liability was in students name still .

What is to stop Crims getting pcp car owners with lowest 6k milage allowance over 4 yr lease to lend crims their car for cash payment , the crims then minicab it at 50K miles a yr .

VT it after 2 yrs with 100k m , not 12k, car finance co has massive loss.

Or, keep it for 4 yrs, run up 200k miles ,instead of 24K, hand it back, pcp'er is not worth suing as they are penniless with no assets ?

Perhaps the finance co's check the mileage is not excessive when the car is serviced ?

Sheepshanks

32,535 posts

118 months

Sunday 1st October 2017
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ReverseTriker said:
Perhaps the finance co's check the mileage is not excessive when the car is serviced ?
Some check but it would be bit daft getting the car dealer serviced. Would come up if the car needed warranty work though.

Banging a huge mileage on car and then VT'ing it has been a thing with normal HP for years. PCP's make early hand back less likely as you don't reach the halfway point until near the end of the deal.

Sure, the finance cos may get spanked now and again but it'll be one car in thousands.