Son has agreed to buy a car from a work colleague - a 3 year old Polo.
Has sold his own car, we have the money ready to buy the car tomorrow but the colleague has now mentioned that there is outstanding finance on it.
He knows she has bought a brand new car and everything has been done between colleagues like you would amicably and there is absolutely no indication that she is not cosha.
She is saying that once we pay her, she will then clear the finance. This makes sense as she cannot settle the finance until she has the money!
However I assume she could just pocket that money and then ultimately VWFS could repossess the car (its on a PCP ending December)
How best can I deal with this? I have run one of these paid-for car checks and it has confirmed that there is a pcp with VWFS exactly as she says, with an agreement number. I am thinking that what we should do is basically, in some way or another, pay the outstanding balance to the finance company and the rest of the money is paid to her. But I assume the finance company will not give me any information whatsoever so do I take her word on what is outstanding?
Any suggestions?
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Have found this
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/the-car-you-bought-is-still-on-hire-purchase/
I am thinking that if the seller provides a written receipt stating all the purchase details and states that there is no finance outstanding on it (!) then that would cover my son? Bit underhand I know but it would tick these boxes?
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Never Ever sell a car to anyone you know.
Never Ever buy a car from anyone you know
Unless you can afford to lose them as a friend/family/colleague
Especially if there is a known issue (as in this case)
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 12 Jun 19 at 23:06
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I’m the polar opposite, my rationale being that if I sold to a friend or family member then I would be confident that the car was a good ‘un. Likewise when buying from friends, family and other social contacts.
My first car, a Mini Clubman, I bought when I was 17yo from my next door neighbour with whom I played squash several times a week. I bought a further two cars off him. The last car I sold was to a friend in the pub, and the one prior to that ( my bmw 330 convertible) to my nephew.
I could list at least 15 cars which I’ve bought and sold to and from family and friends over the past 30 years...of my 3 Subaru’s two I bought off my brother and one my best friend. I even bought a D plate BMW 520 off my ex M in Law !
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Buying car privately friends/colleague/family should be no issue, as it is your own judgement and you have control of what changes you make to your relationships. We all know those who we would not buy from!
Selling a car to friends/colleague/family is the big no-no. You have little control over the outcome.
Over the years i have happily bought cars from a variety of friends and colleagues, been happy with all of them. The price was always advantageous, and a unmassaged knowledge of the history a bonus.
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It is illegal to sell a financed car without telling the finance company and paying off the loan.
I would stay well clear. There are thousands of cars out there without this problem.
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Assuming the price was right, I’d be more than happy to purchase a car privately from someone unknown on this forum. You can normally pick up a vibe from someone, whether they are a good egg or not, and on several occasions when I’ve bought privately from someone unknown, I can tell by looking at someone’s garden and a limited viewing inside their home whether or not they are the kind of person who looks after their goods and chattels.
That’s in addition to all the paperwork being in order
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Unless the seller can settle it first, the only safe way to do this is for your son to ascertain or confirm the settlement figure himself, then pay her the surplus and settle it directly. These days they could probably sit down together and make both payments online at one sitting, then she knows it's settled too.
I have some experience of dealing with people who are in debt. There are the unfortunate of course, but there is also a breed that thinks it's never their fault when they can't pay. A week goes by, they haven't paid, then the excuse is that they had another bill to pay, or their grandma has died and they have to pay the funeral costs, or someone else owes them some money and hasn't paid, etc. etc. and they seem to think that absolves them.
Chances are it would be fine - she probably wouldn't have voluntarily disclosed the finance had she been dodgy.
All this assumes it's secured. If (possible) she has an unsecured personal loan then it's not your son's problem.
I haven't looked at the links above, but now that your son knows that the car is the subject of an agreement he can't be an "innocent purchaser", disclaimer or no disclaimer, in my amateur opinion.
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It ought to be possible for the colleague to get a settlement figure from VWFS, and then your daughter to confirm that with them and pay it directly to them as you say, with the balance going to her colleague. That’s the way I’d do it. Make sure that you get the V5C (which isn’t proof of ownership), a confirmation from VWFS that they’ve got the funds and released their charge, and a receipt from the colleague setting out the transaction.
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That is a sensible plan and probably what I would do - but for only a car I was particularly keen on and was quite difficult to find via other avenues. For a Polo which is a mediocre car and nothing special at all, it's not worth the hassle. There must be dozens for sale in the local area which don't come with the baggage of outstanding finance.
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At 3 years old or so, if you want a private sale, then quite a lot are likely to be on credit.
I assume people try to sell them privately when they are worth more than the GFV/settlement figure and the PX offer is poor.
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Buying car privately with finance outstanding - zippy
