Purchased a car with outstanding finance on it

[Howard1111]

Hello guys,

 

I've gotten myself in a real pickle, and was wondering if anybody could offer any advice on what do.

 

So a few months back I eyed  a British registered vehicle abroad ( seen at a small time dealership still within the EU) for a really good price (less than 70% of it's current market value within the UK) . Before I bought the vehicle I performed a vehicle smart advanced check ( for which I paid 10 £ pounds for, comes with a 30 000£ guarantee) and it stated that everything is okay with the vehicle, not scrapped, not imported, no outstanding finance, etc. Since the cars interior was in bad shape, service was outstanding for a while, plastic broken underneath, worn out tires, it's right hand drive ( in a left hand drive country) and since the background check showed nothing wrong, the price seemed to make sense to me. I bought it,  obtained the V5C form, insured the vehicle and took the vehicle back to Britain. For about 3 months now I had been driving with no issues or whatsoever, until I decided to visit an dealership to find out if I could part ex it, and what value it is. At the dealership they performed a quick check, and notified me that the vehicle still has outstanding finance on , they phoned up financial services and confirmed that this is not an error. The outstanding finance on the car is the full amount (more than 15 000 £), which they did not disclose to me since I am not the one the contract was written against, but I sort off put the two and two together with when the vehicle was purchased by the previous owner and when it was sold. 

 

So I've gotten in touch with the financial services, explained the situation and they've sent me this innocent buyers questionnaire which I filled in truthfully/with all the requested documents. I am currently waiting to hear back from their solicitors...

 

Has anybody dealt with a situation like this? Is my car going to get confiscated? 

 

Also, should I ( or a solicitor) get in touch with the people from Vehicle smart and attempt to make a claim? - the thing is , vehicle smart has explicitly stated in their terms and conditions ( financial checks done trough Expiration)that the car must have been purchased within the UK and must not have been purchased for a 'stupid amount of money' which is less than 70% ( which I did). This seems to disqualify me if I attempt to make a claim, but at the same time it does not make any sense, because the car is a British registered car, the check should have uncovered that there is outstanding finance on it, even if it was located in another country.

 

This has been a real headache for me , dealing with fraud investigators, and not being able to do anything with the car...

 

Cheers,

[king12345]

Did you contact the vehicle smart advanced check company?

You said they cover up to 30k, so read their t&c and if all ok, give them a ring.

Record all calls!

[Howard1111]

 

54 minutes ago, king12345 said:

Did you contact the vehicle smart advanced check company?

You said they cover up to 30k, so read their t&c and if all ok, give them a ring.

Record all calls!

I haven't contacted them. I did read their t&cs ( which are experian t&cs, since they use them to do background checks) , and what the only 2 points I won't be able to meet are :

1) The car must have been purchased within the UK

2) The car must have been purchased for amount no less than 70%

 

which I think is bs, but So I imagine that's what they will tell me and say, "no, not happening"

[king12345]

Indeed, the car was purchased outside the uk, so no joy from that front.

Got to play the innocent buyer card.

[Howard1111]

 

25 minutes ago, king12345 said:

Indeed, the car was purchased outside the uk, so no joy from that front.

Got to play the innocent buyer card.

 

But surely that's bs.. Doesn't matter where I bought the car from, the information represented should be the same/accurate nonetheless since the car has a complete history within the UK, where the finance had been taken out on. 

[king12345]

Sure, I'm with you on that, but I'm also sure that they won't be. 

They will point at their t&c and say that you agreed to them when you paid for their services.

I hear more and more of these hpi checks not picking up existing finance, what's going on?

Have they struck a deal with traders?

[Howard1111]

12 hours ago, king12345 said:

Sure, I'm with you on that, but I'm also sure that they won't be. 

They will point at their t&c and say that you agreed to them when you paid for their services.

I hear more and more of these hpi checks not picking up existing finance, what's going on?

Have they struck a deal with traders?

 

So worst case the finance company takes the car and I can't get anything from the Vehichle smart people...

[king12345]

Not really, you have proof that you are an innocent buyer as you had an hpi check done.

So theoretically you should keep the car and pay nothing more. 

[Howard1111]

On 16/05/2019 at 14:09, king12345 said:

Not really, you have proof that you are an innocent buyer as you had an hpi check done.

So theoretically you should keep the car and pay nothing more. 

 

Hopefully! 

 

I they do allow me to keep the car without having to pay for the rest of it, would I be able to part ex it or sell it later if I decided too?

[king12345]

Yes, if everything works out the car would be yours and free from finance.

Edited May 20, 2019 by king12345

[Howard1111]

15 hours ago, king12345 said:

Yes, if everything works out the car would be yours and free from finance.

 

 

Okay, thank you for the input king! You have been helpful.

 

if anybody else has any advice, please do not hesitate to do so.

 

I'll let you guys know how it turns out....