Outstanding finance on a car I'm looking at...

Dagon

I'm looking at a car in the UK. I always carry out an HPI check before buying. When I asked the seller about this, he changed the subject and offered me a better deal..

Then when I asked for VIN, V5 and MOT numbers for the HPI check he told me:
"When you do an HPI check you will notice there is an outstanding charge on the car for around £4800, this is what i owe on the vehicle. As soon as i get the money from you i will pay it off and get a new hpi check sent to you to show it has been cleared. I have got the money to clear it now but it is in a high intrest account and i don't want to loose it. If you want to talk or are worried about this give me a call on [XXX] or give me your number and i will call you."

Walk away?

But I really like this car

kdevitt

I believe in this situation you can make out a draft/cheque for the £4800 made payable to the finance company and pay the balance to the guy.

Dagon

But he's selling the car for about £4200. So finance would still be owed, and as soon as I import and change ownership, then it is me who owes the money, right?

It's a bit too dodgy geezer for my liking...

byte

Well, if in doubt, it's probably best to leave it.

Trust your instincts!

Dagon

He's offered to clear it if I show I'm serious about the purchase... hhmmmmm....

drdre

dragontell him once the money is cleared and he shoes you a recipt then buy it if you like it.

as once its cleared nothing can happen to you

Dagon

True. But it's kinda shattered my faith in the seller... the whole question of "what if" - what if he had intentions to move the the outstanding finance along to me? Was he really going to pay it straight away?

And if not, then are there other aspects of the car he's also been lying about? It has just passed an MOT test (with 2 previous recepts as well), so it's in good enough nick... and he *has* given me all the info necessary to carry out a HPI to check other things like mileage, etc.

Ronanom

How long does a HPI check take and what numbers do you need to do such a check?
Who do you contact for a HPI check?

Dagon

It is instant! Long as you have a credit card Just go here:

https://www.hpicheck.com

Put in the reg of any british car, then it will ask you for additional details, e.g. V5 number + date, MOT number + date, VIN, chassis...

If the seller refuses to give you all that stuff, walk away! The HPI check is vital before booking a flight to view your dream machine.

Dagon

Hhmmm.. thinking of giving this guy another chance now. Will see if he clears it.

LikeOhMyGawd!

Dagon wrote:

Hhmmm.. thinking of giving this guy another chance now. Will see if he clears it.

There's one born every minute:rolleyes:

Dagon

Update:
Now he's going to pay ME to take the car. Then it's up to me to pay any outstanding finance. Sounds like the best option - just gotta check and make sure the amount isn't any more than he says hehe...

I would have walked away long ago if the car didn't seem to be in really good condition, and also it's a rare car (SSIII Celica with Beams engine). It's just been through an MOT as well, and I've checked that out online and it's fine, the dates he gave were correct. I've heard the MOT over in the UK is quite strict, so the car must be in OK condition.

spockety

I think you're nuts, this story is craaaazy!

WHY is he paying YOU?
Why doesn't HE just clear his outstanding finance?

PauloMN

I'm with Spockety on this one, I wouldn't go near that deal with a barge pole.

As far as I'm concerned, if something is not someone's to sell, they shouldn't be selling it.

Seriously, walk away. It would be complicated enough if you were living in the UK also, but buying the car over there, bringing it here and then running into legal problems would be a nightmare.

Dagon

I reckon he doesn't have the cash TBH, and *maybe* he was going to clear it after I paid for the car. But that's a maybe..

Still, a mate of mine said before "judge the car, not the seller", and I think that's good advice. This guy might have money problems, but if the car is good then that car is good!

As for him paying me. Well basically:
- He owes £4700 on the car
- He gives me the car free + gives me £700 in cash
- I pay the £4700 outstanding finance on the car directly myself (I don't trust this fella with cash, so I'll do it all myself on the day I get the car, just to have it legal!!)

He's happy, I'm happy. From what he tells me, he's in a bad state financially. Just made redundant and his wife is pregnant. He's basically desparate to sell asap. How much of this is true is anyone guess, but again, I'm not going to judge the seller. It's the car I'm interested in, and it has a HPI check, genuine low miles and looks amazing. Also, recent MOT it passed (check this online).

HHmmm..... crazy stuff eh?

Dagon

Don't worry, I'm going to personally contact the finance company and find out what the story is with his loan before I go near it.

LikeOhMyGawd!

Dagon wrote:

I reckon he doesn't have the cash TBH, and *maybe* he was going to clear it after I paid for the car. But that's a maybe..

You are surmising a lot

Dagon wrote:

Still, a mate of mine said before "judge the car, not the seller", and I think that's good advice.

This is dangerous advice.

Dagon wrote:

As for him paying me. Well basically:
- He owes £4700 on the car
- He gives me the car free + gives me £700 in cash
- I pay the £4700 outstanding finance on the car directly myself (I don't trust this fella with cash, so I'll do it all myself on the day I get the car, just to have it legal!!)

He's happy, I'm happy. From what he tells me, he's in a bad state financially. Just made redundant and his wife is pregnant. He's basically desparate to sell asap. How much of this is true is anyone guess, but again, I'm not going to judge the seller. It's the car I'm interested in, and it has a HPI check, genuine low miles and looks amazing. Also, recent MOT it passed (check this online).

HHmmm..... crazy stuff eh?

Yeah, bonkers:rolleyes:
If you really must have this car then make sure the finance agreement was berween him and the finance company and is not someone else's agreement. The whole thing is just a bit too iffy but why not give it a punt and see what happens, eh?

And having a UK MOT says nothing about how good the car is. On mainland UK private garages can issue MOTs. Many private garages are cowboys. Remember MOTs are only a certificate of basic roadworthiness and nothing more than that.

PauloMN

"Judge the car, not the seller" is all very well, but in this case, you are buying the guys debt, and he's in a different country to make it all the more complicated.

It's easy to be swayed by a nice car, and jump straight into a deal. I've done it myself (not anything with outstanding finance though thankfully). The fact that you've posted about it here and asked for advice means you have reservations about it - that's you head saying to your heart "hold on a second here, something smells bad about this deal".

I'm all for listening to the heart about something, as long as the head doesn't have any major problems with it!

It is not recommended to buy a car with outstanding finance, end of story. Honestly, I'd advise against it, but if you go for it, I hope it all works out.

sneakyST

i agree on the MOT. An RAC inspection would be better

Dagon

But the outstanding finance will be checked out and cleared by myself, so I'm not really buying a car with outstanding finance, I'm being paid to take it

Ronanom

If you buy a car on ebay they give you the option of checking the vehicle history - hpi check i presume?

Is this the same as going to www.hpicheck.com?

It's only £6.99

ando

I think your having a bit of a blond moment, I've been there, only last week infact I nearly traded my car in for something I don't really want. From where I stand, someone that hasn't seen how nice the car is and from hearing this story of how dodgy the character sounds, I'd walk away. It sounds to risky to me

Dilbert75

There are thousands of cars for sale at any one time. Surely there's another one that would satisfy your requirements without having a big question mark over it?

Dagon

Guys you are right.. I'm going to walk away from this one. Plenty more fish in the sea.

Definitely seems like too much of a dodgy character and I'm not willing to take the risk. In truth, when you go to buy a car privately you are at risk. What protection do you have if the person becomes aggressive or tries to rob you, or uses force? You have no comeback whasoever if something bad happens, so it's not a risk I'm willing to take.

spockety

Glad to hear that.. when buying things like cars it can be incredibly difficult to use your head over your heart when you see something you like.

As others have pointed out, there are thousands of cars on sale. I think if you are willing to have a little patience, the exact same spec/condition/model car will crop up again within a very short time. Hopefully without any question marks hanging over it.