Can I sell my Carcraft/Creation Finance car?

[dorishaslop]

not sure if this is the right place but hoping someone can help... my car has just failed the mot and is going to cost a lot to repair,, only trouble is I haven't finished paying for it yet.. I bought it from Carcraft and it's financed with Creation Finance. I only owe about two grand on it but because I am on DLA I am paying £20 per month... My garage has offered me a runabout for £500 which is possible for me to buy, but can I sell my old one if I haven't finished paying for it... any advice gratefully received. Jan

[my-spirit-soars-free]

What sort of finance agreement is it? What does it say on your paperwork - is it a loan, is a hire purchase, or something else?

[dorishaslop]

I spoke to the finance company and the car is NOT on HP but the loan was taken specifically on the car,, they have told me that the only thing I can do is to voluntarily surrender the car back to them and when it is auctioned (for pennies) they will take that off the balance. then I still pay the rest till it's finished

I have just had a neighbour knock on the door telling me his sister wants to buy it, she is aware there is finance on it still and is happy to buy it and trust that I will continue to pay the balance.

 

What do I do ?????

[sailor sam]

If it's a loan taken specifically out on the car then it must be an HP agreement. How long have you had the car?

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Ell-enn]

Would you get enough from selling the car to settle the outstanding balance ? Ask the finance company for a settlement figure.

 

How long did you take the finance for and how many months have you had it ?

[dorishaslop]

I bought the car in 2007 but when I became disabled and gave up work last year, they let me reduce the payments down from £181 a month to £20. I have £1800 left to pay, I think the original loan was for about £9000. The chap at the finance told me yesterday to make an offer as close as I can to the remainder of the balance, but I told him I couldn't as I don't have any money spare. He wouldn't give me a full and final settlement figure. I am just worried as the MOT runs out tomorrow. The finance have told me to surrender the car to them but have said it won't happen immediately as they need to get the signed forms back from me and arrange recovery. I have parked it in a quiet spot on the estate, and up on grass not on the road. I never for a minute expected it to fail the MOT or I would have begged or borrowed the money to repair it. I already have six points on my licence and can't afford to lose it. what a mess (

[sailor sam]

So how old is the car and what MOT issuers does it have. Also you mention that it is 'parked on the grass, not the road', can you expand on that. Is it taxed?

 

Please Note

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[dorishaslop]

the car is a 53 plate, so I think that's a 2003 registration, forgive me for being so dumb... it failed on a headlight issue, (garage quoted £200 for new lamp) and an oil leak that was deemed Dangerous. mechanic told me that he didn'nt know what the leak was but it would be "expensive to investigat, and that's before the fault is found and repaired)... it is taxed, and I thought it would be safe to park on the grass.... it's about a six foot grass verge beside someones fence hopefully out of sight of passing police cars, (they usually have more interesting things to do round here, like look for druggies), it's not on the main estate road more off to a side road round the back .not easily visible.

[sailor sam]

Grassed verges and other areas which are adjacent to a road can still be regarded as part of the public highway (assuming that the road is adopted). As long as it is taxed, it should be ok. Regarding the MOT... £200 for a new head lamp? I think they are having a laugh. Which suggests to me that you should consider taking it somewhere else for a second opinion.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[dorishaslop]

Thanks for ur advice Sam. I am just worried that as the MOT has expired as of tomorrow I need to be careful,, also I know that the price quoted is high but I do live in the Surrey millionaire belt,, (don't know how I managed to get here, good old council) so two hundred for a headlamp is prob cheap for a ferrari or porche..of which there are plenty around,, the young chap never came back to buy the car so I suppose when I told him about the finance he ran....so I guess I will surrender to Creation and be done with the whole thing. I guess now that they can have the car, maybe I can offer them less per month now and hope they don't get arsey, at least then I can manage to live rather than just survive...it's a bummer when there's just too much month at the end of the money.

[sailor sam]

What make/model is the car?

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[dorishaslop]

Hi Sam, it's a Vauxhall Astra, 1.6 Club. saloon. if that's any help, if not I can give you the reg.

[sailor sam]

Complete headlamp unit is about £60.00

 

http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/headlight

 

Shop around and take the car somewhere else for a second opinion.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[dorishaslop]

I have contacted creation with regard to my Astra which failed the mot, I can't afford to get it repaired and they have told me to surrender it back to them for auction.

What is the difference between surrender and termination, As I see it, if I terminate the agreement, (I have paid well over half the loan) I get off paying the remainder. which is about two grand. Is this right.

I have agreed verbally to surrender the vehicle (well, coerced is a better word) but as yet have not received the paperwork. at present the car is parked down a side road on our estate as I have nowhere to put it on private land so I'm worried that the police will ticket me and I will get more points on my licence.

is it too late for me to voluntary terminate the agreement.?

Jan x

[Linda54]

Please don't volunteer to terminate or surrender your contract/vehicle before speaking to a solicitor (the first 1/2 hour of any solicitor's is free so don't worry about the cost).

 

If they sell the vehicle at auction you will be liable for the difference between what you owe them and what they sell the vehicle at for, which will far less than the actual cost of the vehicle.

 

Get advice before you do anything.

[dorishaslop]

Thanks Linda but I can't afford to keep up the payments or have the car repaired. I am now on disability payment which is tough enough but I also have two dogs with their own health problems. I find it hard to keep the dogs as it is and it would break my heart to have to give them away, which in itself would be difficult due to their problems. As I mentioned I have verbally agreed to surrender the vehicle (and as such I was then going to offer the remaining sum at £1 per month) but if I can terminate without paying the rest would be even better. The actual car is of no use to me now, but creation have told me I cannot sell it on with finance outstanding even though it is not HP. I have had several people want to buy it even knowing that I still owe on it.

[National Debtline]

Hello Dorishaslop.

 

Do you have a copy of the finance agreement? It would be important to try and ascertain what type of finance it is. Some finance agreements are actually still governed by the hire-purchase rules even if they are known by a different name, a typical example would be 'conditional sale agreements'. These agreements should allow you to excercise your rights to voluntarily terminate the agreement. This would limit your liability to 50% of the finance. A voluntary surrender could be a more costly exercise as the finance firm will sell the vehicle and then deduct the sale proceeds from the overall outstanding balance.

 

If the finance agreement is simply a 'fixed-sum' loan then the vehicle actually belongs to you. As such you are free to dispose of it how you wish. Be warned, however, that some loans might have a second contract connected to it known as a 'bill of sale' which can act to secure the vehicle. These are quite rare but if you come across one do let us know, we'll be able to advise further.

 

To get you started here is our fact sheet covering Hire Purchase:

 

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=16_hire_purchase_debt

 

Best wishes,

 

Natinla Debtline.

[dorishaslop]

Hi again, I have found the paperwork, and the heading is : Fixed-sum loan agreement.

 

There is a paragraph regarding exercising the right to discharge indebtedness early which states ..

 

£913 when 1/4 of the agreement term has elapsed, £686 when 1/2 has elapsed and £410 when 3/4 has elapsed.

 

Does this mean that I can terminate and only owe £410. the agreement was over five years and I had definately paid more than 3/4 of it. I point out that for the last year since being made disabled I have been paying £20 per month but still more than 3/4 of the total loan has been paid.

[National Debtline]

Hello again. I believe that particular statement refers to the savings in interest costs you would make by paying the agreement off early.

 

The important aspect here is that your agreement is a fixed-sum loan. On the face of it the money borrowed is NOT secured on the vehicle UNLESS there is a second agreement known as a bill of sale. These are quite uncommon although starting to get a little more widespread as they are often sold via the high street money lending/pawn brokers/cash converting type places.

 

If there is no bill of sale you should be free to dispose the vehicle as you wish. You would also be able to reduce your payments without the fear of having the vehicle repossessed if you are struggling to meet the current instalments.

 

Best wishes,

 

National Debtline.

Edited April 3, 2012 by National Debtline

[dorishaslop]

Thank you sooo much, I think that is all I needed to know, you have put my mind at rest here... I seem to be getting no where with Creation, they keep asking me to wait while they discuss things amongst themselves, but not actually giving me a straight answer. I've now been waiting an hour for them to phone me back yet again, I think that on that basis I will sell it to the young man who is desperate for it for his sister and who already knows about the outstanding finance, and then it is out of my hands and I can re-negotiate a lower monthly payment to finish off the rest of the loan. I don't think I can say fairer than that to them, they know that I am struggling financially and at least a low payment is better than no payment at all.

Thanks again x

[dorishaslop]

Hi, just wondering how I stand for parking my car... it is taxed but failed the mot. can I still park it outside my house? or does it have to be on private land now.

[easyman777]

NO it has to be on private land

[2ltr16valve]

Pretty sure you can, The offense is using a vehicle with no MOT. You can only drive to a pre arranged mot if it has expired tho.

 

As long as the vehicle is taxed and insured - although there may be insurance implications should a claim arise and proof of mot is requested.

 

Remember all, a MOT is only proof the vehicle was considered roadworthy on the day it was done....

[dorishaslop]

thanks 2ltr, I'll keep it out of sight and put it on ebay, bloody thing is giving me nightmares,

[dorishaslop]

I'm still worried about the outcome should I sell the car. Can anyone tell me more about voluntary termination... I had the car over a five year loan, (fixed sum loan not HP) I paid this properly for four years and then got made disabled. Creation let me continue to pay at reduced rate of £20 per month, The original loan was for eleven thousand pounds and I now owe one thousand eight hundred. I would love to be able to terminate and return the car to them and pay no more. Is this at all possible. Creation won't tell me, they keep going round the houses about surrender. They tell me I can't sell it privately as there is a "sticker" on it. I am sooo confused