Car Finance Settled by dealer - where do i stand ?

[sp44rky]

Hi ,

im considering what to do in my current situation before i make a move , so thought that i would check on here first.

i have had a car finance agreement for just over 6 months . (4 Year term)

My situation changed and i needed a more economical model , so went back to the dealership . Found a car i wanted, sorted out what would need to be done ,

figure + negative equity figure .
(PREVIOUS CAR SETTLING AND REFINANCING)
signed up for this. Got to the day before the deal was confirmed and recieved a call from the dealership saying they had forgetten about the negative equity loan.

so when this was sent off to the finance company. they declined it and said id have to find the money for the negative equity

I wasnt able to do this , so said to just forget it.

i was told to keep the vehicle until the balance settled more. (Neg eq) .

a few days back i went to a different dealership and enquired and explained the situation and that the previous offer was very low and that i thought id get a second opinion.

(HERES THE INTERESTING PART )

They ran a HPI search and checked the database and couldnt find an agreement (ACTIVE).

So a call to the finance company confirms that no agreement is active in my name and none on the vehicle. The agreement was settled end august 08.

Where do i stand with this , Could i return the car or what options are available to me ???????


AS FAR AS I UNDERSTAND IT , THE AGREEMENT HAS BEEN SETTLED AND ID HAVE TO SIGN UPTO ANOTHER ONE IF THEY WANTED THE FINANCE TO CONTINUE. WHICH ID HAVE TO AGREE TO ??


your help would be greatly appreciated.

[speedqueenbob]

I would have thought that somehow they would catch up with you....

If you did do anything now with respect to the agreement in your favour it could be looked upon as fraud as you knowingly carried out actions which were fraudulent even if you did not make the mistake you were aware of it.......

I find it very unlikely that the dealership has cleared your finance off as several safeguards would have to be passed before they clear finance off. Check to make sure it is not a personal loan which isn't tied against the car and therefore would not show on HPI as a lot of finance houses now do this to get around the revised Credit Consumer Act.

Lastly remember that if a mistake was made by someone trying to help you they WILL get sacked for it if you try and profit out of it......

Can your conscience handle that?

[aj84]

Oh yes! If an Audi member of staff who sold me my car would get sacked...conscience would be just fine :- )

On another note... it could be just a delay - I know when I cleared the finance of a car I had... it took about a week to show up on their systems as cleared even though they had the balance paid off on screen

Even HPI check I think has a delay - for instance, doing a check before buying, then buying on finance..takes a while before it gets updated that you've got a car with finance on it.

Just my thoughts anyway

On another note, have you tried to haggle at all? My previous cars usually had a little neg equity and the dealerships usually fiddled with the pricing - whether it was slightly upping the buy in value for yours (remember they would generally under price it a bit just to make it their worth while - you can tell when you get a number of opinions on how much its value is!)
And at the same time, discounting the new car to the margin they are allowed (again, usually priced a bit more than its worth)

In my Volvo life - I had 4 volvos over 3 years...each of them were taken back with all finance cleared despite the neg equity so I know they can do something ... obviously if we're talking about a massive amount then fair enough

[sp44rky]

Lastly remember that if a mistake was made by someone trying to help you they WILL get sacked for it if you try and profit out of it......

The particular dealer wasnt into helping out , all he seen was the chance to rip me off. Even the second dealer said he was being really hard on what the car was worth. to the tune of about £1500 . Same brand, different dealer.

so i don't have much simpathy really,

The car was on the finance companies system. But it has been cleared. I enquired about a settlement figure, and they say the agreement that i had isnt active(Has been settled). No others on the system either ???

I don't want to Steal the car or anything like that.

Just , Lighten my finances if it were possible.

thats why i have came here to check first.

The guy at the dealership must have settled it before checking everything out, which isn't my fault ! And if the agreement isnt active, it isnt legally binding anymore ????????? Can someone shed some light on this ?

[speedqueenbob]

Fair do's now you mention Audi you have a point....

You'll find that if you are swapping car with neg eg but staying with same brand they can normally help you out as they can retail their way out of it.

Yes you are correct that figures can be manipulated to help(sic) you, but in todays climate dealers are finding it increasingly harder to fund the neg eg portion of it.

What you need to do is ask for written confirmation by fax or post that the finance house has no further interest in the car in question. This will then enable you to decide what to do next as the car is yours??

You run the risk of been sued by a. the dealer who made mistake b. the finance house. It depends who wins the argument between them as to who is liable for the loss(probably the dealer) bear in mind that the dealer probably has its own legal dept and will spend a huge amount through legal fees etc to claw back a small amount as its a point of principal....

The least its going to do is put you in a stronger negotiating position than you were before.

I suggest you get a bit of legal advice if finance has been settled and then approach the dealer.

Good Luck and keep us informed

[ReasonableRon]

I can't see any difference between this and the dealer depositing money by mistake into your bank account. It's not your money. Period.

Hard to see how this could be defended in court IMHO.

[sp44rky]

I can't see any difference between this and the dealer depositing money by mistake into your bank account. It's not your money. Period.

I understand what you are saying here , The only difference is that there is a financial Agreement involved that has been settled.

I don't want to keep the car anyway , im not into conning people .

The only issue i see was the fact that i had a financial agreement that tied me to the car ( Normal) , but now that agreement is cleared and INACTIVE.

I think at worst , i would put it to the dealer that i want a better deal/different deal (monthly payment & different car ) .

I don't have a criminal record and don't intend on getting one, so i'll seek advice as to what is possible and whats not.

[raydetinu]

To be fair I think you should contact the dealer and explian what you have uncovered, and get them to look into it! When they get back to you at least you will know where you stand.
Are you still paying by DD or have they syopped?

[sp44rky]

Not upto the DD time as yet.

Dealer is best bet i think, I'd just rather get it over and dealt with.

Atleast i will be in a better position to get some sort of deal this time.

Seen as id prefer to be certian im within the law and not get myself into anything i don't fully know about.

[aj84]

You could even use this to your advantage (maybe) and say... look, you're telling them about it thus covering THEM and ensurng they still have a job after they made a c-up.
So... why dont you do me a better deal?

if that makes sense!