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Hi, I'm going to be VTing my current car and have read through the VT guide, just wanting to post here to confirm what I think and to get any further advice. I will try to be as detailed as possible, sorry if this becomes a long read.
The car.
It is an ex demo, it was driven by a sales rep and had approx 3300 miles on when I purchased it as well as alloy wheel damage (refurbished) and a dent in the A pillar (neither of these documented before purchase as far as I'm aware).
Agreement mileage 10k per year.
Maximum mileage 44145.
Current expected mileage 35323. (Shown online on my account)
Current actual mileage 50798.
Approx excess mileage fee, at 9.6p per mile, £1485
Excess mileage info.
At the time of purchase (December 2017) I was doing under 8000 miles per year commuting and had an annual mileage of 10000 put on the contract, though I'm sure I was never asked about my mileage and the sale was practically done by email, I was silly enough to skim through the agreement, printed the final page, signed it, then sent it back by email.
Since then I've moved house, changed job and now have a minimum of 12000 miles per year commuting. I've previously contacted Skoda financial services asking for an increase in mileage allowance to 60000 and offered to pay a higher monthly payment, but this was refused.
In the contract it states:
Termination: Your Rights.
You have a right to end this agreement. To do so, you should write to the person you make your payments to. They will then be entitled to the return of the goods and to half the total amount payable under this agreement, that is £15,605.49. If you have already paid at least this amount plus any overdue instalments and have taken reasonable care of the goods, you will not have to pay any more.
I've paid well over 50%.
Based on the VT guide, excess mileage wouldn't come under reasonable care as long as there is no fault due to the mileage, It was last serviced in July 2020 and was recommended that I replace all the brake pads and discs, I had those replaced in December 2020.
It was then MOT'd in August 2020, I was reminded about the brakes, but the car passed the MOT with nothing else mentioned.
The VT guide also mentions 140a of CCA 1974 regarding the hirer asking the lender for a higher mileage, and whether the lender had been unfair with their response.
Damage info.
Front end stone chips, my commute is entirely on the motorway, in my opinion stone chips are unavoidable when gritting and salt spreading happens, so I shouldn't be charged for these should I?
Some, or maybe all the alloy wheels were scuffed and refurbished before I collected the car, though it was still obvious to me that they were damaged, the refurbished sections also started to look like they were corroding within the first 12 months of ownership.
I have since scuffed the alloys myself, one of the alloys has also been damaged by a tyre company using a lever, which has left dents in the wheel.
I also think some of the diamond cut edges on the alloys, that havn't been scuffed, have started to show signs of corrosion.
2 days after collecting the car I noticed a dent in the passenger side A pillar, I had a video of the car the day I collected it and I believe you can see the dent due to the way the light reflected as I walked past the car. I contacted my sales rep and he assured me that this would be repaired free of charge the next time the car went in, it was then never repaired and I honestly forgot about it, the dent is still there.
There is also a plastic trim around the fog lights, the passenger side trim has had the paint flake off, this was supposed to be replaced under warranty, but as with the dent it wasn't done (I've had issues with this dealership, I even had the car in for a service and 2 front tyres previously, they had the car a full day, contacted me when the car was ready, all they had done was wash the car and I wasn't charged anything, I had to book the car back in again for the service, but I went elsewhere for the tyres!)
The driver's side rear door has been opened into a wall by a passenger back in 2018, causing a crease near the edge and a paint chip on the edge. I never had this repaired.
The driver side tail light has previously been smashed in a carpark in 2019, I had this replaced at cost to myself.
I have emails from the sales rep at the time stating the a pillar and fog lamp repairs would be done free of charge or under warranty, despite them never being done.
As the car is technically used and there is damage from before my ownership, is it down to the finance company to prove what damage was caused by myself? I am happy to be honest and state that the door was damaged during my ownership, though I could ask the finance company to provide official quotes for repair rather than just a breakdown of costs.
I have thought about starting the VT, wait for the finance company to comeback with costs due to mileage and damage, then offer half, while mentioning that excess mileage doesn't come under reasonable care as well as section 140a and that the car was used and damaged when I bought it.
IF they accept half, then it avoids the faf of going to court and should save me some money at the same time.
Apologies for the length of this post, but I feel like the more information you have, the better your response could be.
I accept I could be totally wrong and could be liable for everything, but that's why I came here.
Thanks in advance for any help and guidance you can offer me.
The car.
It is an ex demo, it was driven by a sales rep and had approx 3300 miles on when I purchased it as well as alloy wheel damage (refurbished) and a dent in the A pillar (neither of these documented before purchase as far as I'm aware).
Agreement mileage 10k per year.
Maximum mileage 44145.
Current expected mileage 35323. (Shown online on my account)
Current actual mileage 50798.
Approx excess mileage fee, at 9.6p per mile, £1485
Excess mileage info.
At the time of purchase (December 2017) I was doing under 8000 miles per year commuting and had an annual mileage of 10000 put on the contract, though I'm sure I was never asked about my mileage and the sale was practically done by email, I was silly enough to skim through the agreement, printed the final page, signed it, then sent it back by email.
Since then I've moved house, changed job and now have a minimum of 12000 miles per year commuting. I've previously contacted Skoda financial services asking for an increase in mileage allowance to 60000 and offered to pay a higher monthly payment, but this was refused.
In the contract it states:
Termination: Your Rights.
You have a right to end this agreement. To do so, you should write to the person you make your payments to. They will then be entitled to the return of the goods and to half the total amount payable under this agreement, that is £15,605.49. If you have already paid at least this amount plus any overdue instalments and have taken reasonable care of the goods, you will not have to pay any more.
I've paid well over 50%.
Based on the VT guide, excess mileage wouldn't come under reasonable care as long as there is no fault due to the mileage, It was last serviced in July 2020 and was recommended that I replace all the brake pads and discs, I had those replaced in December 2020.
It was then MOT'd in August 2020, I was reminded about the brakes, but the car passed the MOT with nothing else mentioned.
The VT guide also mentions 140a of CCA 1974 regarding the hirer asking the lender for a higher mileage, and whether the lender had been unfair with their response.
Damage info.
Front end stone chips, my commute is entirely on the motorway, in my opinion stone chips are unavoidable when gritting and salt spreading happens, so I shouldn't be charged for these should I?
Some, or maybe all the alloy wheels were scuffed and refurbished before I collected the car, though it was still obvious to me that they were damaged, the refurbished sections also started to look like they were corroding within the first 12 months of ownership.
I have since scuffed the alloys myself, one of the alloys has also been damaged by a tyre company using a lever, which has left dents in the wheel.
I also think some of the diamond cut edges on the alloys, that havn't been scuffed, have started to show signs of corrosion.
2 days after collecting the car I noticed a dent in the passenger side A pillar, I had a video of the car the day I collected it and I believe you can see the dent due to the way the light reflected as I walked past the car. I contacted my sales rep and he assured me that this would be repaired free of charge the next time the car went in, it was then never repaired and I honestly forgot about it, the dent is still there.
There is also a plastic trim around the fog lights, the passenger side trim has had the paint flake off, this was supposed to be replaced under warranty, but as with the dent it wasn't done (I've had issues with this dealership, I even had the car in for a service and 2 front tyres previously, they had the car a full day, contacted me when the car was ready, all they had done was wash the car and I wasn't charged anything, I had to book the car back in again for the service, but I went elsewhere for the tyres!)
The driver's side rear door has been opened into a wall by a passenger back in 2018, causing a crease near the edge and a paint chip on the edge. I never had this repaired.
The driver side tail light has previously been smashed in a carpark in 2019, I had this replaced at cost to myself.
I have emails from the sales rep at the time stating the a pillar and fog lamp repairs would be done free of charge or under warranty, despite them never being done.
As the car is technically used and there is damage from before my ownership, is it down to the finance company to prove what damage was caused by myself? I am happy to be honest and state that the door was damaged during my ownership, though I could ask the finance company to provide official quotes for repair rather than just a breakdown of costs.
I have thought about starting the VT, wait for the finance company to comeback with costs due to mileage and damage, then offer half, while mentioning that excess mileage doesn't come under reasonable care as well as section 140a and that the car was used and damaged when I bought it.
IF they accept half, then it avoids the faf of going to court and should save me some money at the same time.
Apologies for the length of this post, but I feel like the more information you have, the better your response could be.
I accept I could be totally wrong and could be liable for everything, but that's why I came here.
Thanks in advance for any help and guidance you can offer me.
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