Voluntary termination on PCP

[Roops]

HI there
i am looking at Voluntary Terminating my Nissan Pulsar on PCP. However, my mileage is around 110k on a 12,000/year agreement. Also,my check engine light is on as well, as a few rust marks on the roof. That seems a manufacturer issue, but when i approached Nissan about it, the claimed it was wear and tear on the car!!! However, the rust is along the line where the roof meets the window??

However, i have already paid 51% of the cars total value back. The car i bought was brand new, and when the check engine light came on, it had just recently come back from service with Nissan directly , but as the mileage was out of the 60k warranty mileage, i was told i had to pay for the full repairs! However, after dealing wit he number of other dealers, the light doesn't affect the running of the car, just cruise control and stop/start options are affected.

The bonnet has quite a number of marks on it, but how about the check engine light, will that be part of unreasonable care??? With excess mileage, would this difference be a massive problem?? What are my options on this, as the contract is due to come to an end on September? The front of the car on the drivers side, has a scuff on it as well.

1. Excess mileage
2. Check engine light
3. Rust
4. scuff marks

Not asking for much here, am i

If anyone has any information that would help, i would appreciate it.

[Roops]

rob, please help

[R0b]

but how about the check engine light, will that be part of unreasonable care??? With excess mileage

In relation to the above, you said that:

after dealing wit he number of other dealers, the light doesn't affect the running of the car, just cruise control and stop/start options are affected

So I think you have answered your own question.

You have quite clearly abused your PCP agreement and given that you have only just met the 50% mark in comparison to the mileage, I can only guess that you've been using the car for a business purpose i.e. a taxi service or you've simply travelled a huge number of miles which for a consumer is almost unheard of.

That said, I can't offer anything more than what I've already mentioned to others on here and what's in the guide. The excess mileage is a contractual term which, if in breach, allows for the recovery of damages (except when you VT). Lenders will therefore argue you've taken unreasonable care of the car but my opinion is that it is up to them to prove. Taking reasonable care of the car suggests physical care and just because you exceed the agreed mileage does not automatically mean you have been negligent beyond the usual wear and tear. Your obligation is to simply do what is reasonably expected of a person who is in possession of it e.g. servicing the car, carrying out repairs or replacement parts as necessary etc.

However, given the amount of miles you've done if Nissan did try to take you to court you are probably already on the backfoot since you would have to persuade the judge that despite the mileage, there is no correlation between the number of miles and the duty to take reasonable care of the car unless it can be proved you have been negligent beyond wear and tear. Sure the financial value of the car is substantially less, but pure economic losses (which are financial losses caused without physical damage) is not recoverable generally.

As for scuff marks, thats subjective so I can't help you there.

In terms of the rust issue, if you have written confirmation that Nissan are arguing that the rust is wear and tear then you can use that against them if they try and charge you for it - they can't have their cake and eat it. Otherwise the onus was on you to pursue that if you weren't happy with their response.

[Roops]

Hi Rob regarding the mileage i actually travel 130 miles a day for 6 days a week to and from work. Initially i had bought the car for the missus but she didn't like the drive hence i took over. With regard to the rust issue, i don't have anything in writing from Nissan dealership to say its chips/wear and tear but i did report it to them directly and hence have a reference number of sorts from them which should allow them to view the history of the issue. With regards to going to court, with PCP my understanding is that once 51% of the vehicle has been paid off, then its a non starter. With regard to the engine light, when i did complain to Nissan about it (as the car had just come back from service with them, they explained as the warranty was only valid for 60,000 miles, and the check engine had come on after that (85,000 miles), but they would charge me for the labour (£ 600) but discount the part required (£75) by 25%..as a gesture of goodwill. However, if i were to get rid of the check engine light, the only issue would be the rust and check engine light, and would, in your opinion, challenge this to take it as far as court??

[Roops]

Hi rob regarding the mileage i actually travel 130 miles a day for 6 days a week to and from work. Initially i had bought the car for the missus but she didn't like the drive hence i took over. With regard to the rust issue, i don't have anything in writing from Nissan dealership to say its chips/wear and tear but i did report it to them directly and hence have a reference number of sorts from them which should allow them to view the history of the issue. With regards to going to court, with PCP my understanding is that once 51% of the vehicle has been paid off, then its a non starter. With regard to the engine light, when i did complain to Nissan about it (as the car had just come back from service with them, they explained as the warranty was only valid for 60,000 miles, and the check engine had come on after that (+/-8,000 miles), but they would charge me for the labour (£ 600) but discount the part required (£75) by 25%..as a gesture of goodwill, slap in the face i thought at the time. However, if i were to get rid of the check engine light, the only issue would be the rust and check engine light, and would, in your opinion, challenge this to take it as far as court??