Dealer extended existing pcp to accommodate new car order without consent. Now stuck!

[Medders100]

First time post, and I’m in need of a bit of help! Back in May I ordered a car through a Skoda dealer who promised deliver before September when my existing PCP expires. In July they said that it might not be August , maybe late September and suggested extending my pcp for 3 months. We discussed but I did not consent. In the next communication they said they had done it ‘just in case’ – I wasn’t that bothered as I didn’t realise what it really meant.

Last week they emailed to say the car has been delayed and will be an additional 12 weeks, and that I could cancel the order if I wanted and they’d return the deposit. I found a car at another dealer that was available and at a good price, so I cancelled and put the deposit down on the new one.

When I spoke to vwfs about cancelling the extension so I could hand back my current car in Sept as planned, they said that the agreement was non reversible and that if now have to do a voluntary termination to hand back in sept. It was then that I began to wonder how the dealer had managed to extend the pcp agreement without any official consent from me! I’m not prepared to do a VT as I work hard to keep a good clean credit report, and I don’t feel that I should be at a disadvantage for this dealers ‘mis-selling’. They have subsequently said ‘you’re not our customer any more, so we’re not helping you’, which I am astounded by.

Vwfs are pretty useless and the new dealer have sent them an email on my behalf to try and cancel it but with no luck.

I’m really at a loss about what I can do . I feel really annoyed that a dealer with no official authority from me can alter a credit agreement in my name, but I can’t then reverse that! I really don’t want to VT but I can’t afford 2 finance payments whilst this all plays out. Vwfs just said raise a complaint and it’ll take 8 weeks.

Sorry it’s so long, but I’m in a bit of a quandary!

[Kati]

R0b jaguarsuk des8 ... any ideas?

[Medders100]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[R0b]

Hello,

Before we get into the legal side of things, I'm going to say something which you might disagree with - I am pretty astonished that you have allowed the dealer to extend the PCP on your behalf and now something goes pear shaped you don't like it and now want to get out of it. If you didn't consent to the dealer extending your PCP, then why didn't you object at the time? It never ceases to amaze me that scenarios like this still happen.

One thing you need to remember is that consent does not require you to physically say yes or not, it can be done through your own conduct.

Anyway, back to the legal issue, the starting point is to check your contract. A PCP agreement is a fixed term agreement and in most, if not all standard terms and conditions, you either have pay the balloon amount or return the car. I don't think I have ever seen a finance company extend a PCP agreement beyond the fixed term, usually because there are no clauses in the agreement that allows for such a situation. Have you received confirmation from VWFS that the PCP agreement has been extended?

Leaving the extension point to one side, you've also said that your PCP expires in September so from my perspective you have two options which is either to VT or return the car at the end of the fixed period. If you return the car at the end of the fixed period you are liable for any damage to the vehicle plus excess mileage. You wouldn't be able to complain that the damage charges are unfair and you certainly couldn't argue that you are not liable for excess mileage because its written in the contract - no ifs or buts.

I'm not sure what you mean that you will be disadvantaged if you VT but going down this route to my mind seems the more appropriate since your liability will be limited and you will have exceed the 50% payment mark. That way, you can then go and get the car that you want and be done with it all.

If you really feel strongly about this, then make a complaint to VWFS and ask them for proof that you consented to the extension of the PCP for 3 months and/or where in the contract terms and conditions it allows for an extension beyond the fixed term. You can complain regardless of whether you VT or continue to pay through the extension.

As for mis-selling, you need evidence of that and if it was said to you verbally, then you are unlikely to have any hope of proving that you were promised a replacement vehicle before your PCP expires. Any important statements or agreements should always be put in writing either on the order form or in an email and if there is any reluctance from the dealer to do that, then alarm bells should be ringing in your ears.

[Medders100]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it.

It may not surprise you that I do disagree with what you have said there. This is is my first PCP (and new car) and I am by no means an expert buyer. They way that this was explained was so flippant that I thought it was just normal practice and that it would be totally flexible and it was basically a bit of a buffer if the car didn’t arrive in time. Plus although we discussed it I had never actually agreed to it, although it sounded plausible at the time due to the apparent flexibility it would offer.
We hadn’t agreed on what we were going to do with the existing car (due to a bit of negative equity) so I don’t know what their plan was if the car arrived in October with say only a 4 week delay? Maybe force me to do a VT then?

The extension clause may well be in the original finance agreement, and I guess that’s my fault for not reading it thoroughly, but for those of us not legally trained it’s a bit of a mind boggling experience.

I did get a letter from vwfs, but there were no additional terms or any mention that the extensions was irreversible.

I have raised a complaint, and emailed the dealer principal so I’m hoping to get a resolution.

Thanks again for your response.

Matt

[R0b]

I completely appreciate that this might be your first PCP and I certainly don't expect you to be an expert on the matter. Please don't think I was having a go at you for the sake of it, we tend to see a lot of similar scenarios on here where a lot of reliance is placed on what the dealer says but never end up having any evidence to back it up, or that they just let things carry on without raising an issue.

Contracts are personal to the parties involved and unless it explicitly states that someone else has an interest, then no other third party is entitled to rely on that contract except where someone acts as an agent on behalf of one of those parties which appears to be the case in your situation. The thing is, you have admitted that the dealer sent the email 'just in case' but depending on when this email was sent, may cause you difficulties in claiming that you never consented to it. As I mentioned in my last post, if by your conduct, you did nothing to object when the dealer sent that confirmation to you, then a court may infer that you were deemed to have consented and it becomes more difficult for you to argue that you never did in fact consent to the extension.

That said, you could have an action against for compensation if the dealer entered into that extension and it was subsequently found by the court that you never consented or gave authority for the dealer to do that on your behalf. That compensation is likely to be the 3 month extension that you paid for, which would be the loss to you.

Assuming you have no issues with the condition of the car or have kept within the agreed total mileage over the contractual term, then you could hold on to the car until the end of the period and the fixed PCP period and then return the car, subject to VWFS not objecting on the basis of the agreed extension. Otherwise you will need to VT and you might want to get your skates on because the right to VT is available at any time before the final payment becomes due and as soon as that payment is due, your right to VT is then lost. As above, this seems to be the smartest and safest way and most lenders these days are pretty slow in having the car collected, or in some instances they refuse to collect if you don't pay them a fee. This is where you could drag it out until your new car is ready or simply cancel your order and move on to someone else who is capable of supplying you what you want.

If you have a copy of the agreement, feel free to upload it with your personal info redacted and I'll happily look over it for you.

[Medders100]

Thanks Rob, really appreciate your advice.