Car Finance - Voluntary Termination

[Lulu22810]

Hi

I'm in a little bit of a predicament. We bought a car on HP just over 3 years ago. The car was 5 years old at the time and we got it on a 60month HP plan (something that we have learned from and will not be doing again!).

The timing chain has snapped on the car, which means the repairs will cost anything up to £3000! We are trying to find a way to keep our costs down and not get into financial trouble....as we would need a loan/credit card to pay for the repairs aswell as continuing to pay the finance....all in all £8000 worth of debt, which is ridiculous!

One of our options is to pay for the repair and then voluntarily terminate the finance. We've asked for more information from the finance company but they have said if there is negative equity on the car then we would need to pay it....is this correct? I was lead to believe if you had paid 50% of the finance they wouldn't charge you. We have paid 65%.

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Has your timing chain actually snapped and damaged the engine? Have you had a quote from a couple of garages for the work that needs doing?


( welcome to the forum btw )

Tagging R0b on the finance/VT bit

[Lulu22810]

BMW have initially said it's the timing chain that's snapped. They quoted £2000 just to strip the engine and have a look and anything up to £7000 if we needed a new engine! We've got it in a garage at the moment and they are going to partly strip the engine to see how much damage has actually been caused, so we're hoping that the £3k is the worst case scenario

(thanks for the welcome!)

[Amethyst]

£2k just to look ? ffs. Is the car running / useable just noisy or is it kerputt ?

Have you checked your model BMW isn't on a recall list for the timing chain issue? ( https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-...aker-1.2869493 ) or whether it was changed before you got it etc?

[Lulu22810]

No it's completely dead! Which provably isn't a good sign at all! When you try to start the engine it's making a noise like it wants to start but then it's just not kicking in.

[Amethyst]

See what your local garage think... what made them think it was the timing chain? were there noises before it went ?

( I think on the VT it will come under not taking reasonable care so you would need to get it fixed before returning or it might be better financially to fix it and keep the car until you've finished the payments.)


( different car but this was my timing chain before I had it changed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MvI4Nqk1fs )

[Lulu22810]

That's what we were thinking. We were also thinking get it fixed keep it a few months and then get rid. It cost us a bit of money last year to get fixed too, so I think it's time to get rid. If we did do Vt we'd get it fixed first before handing it back, but I'm not sure on charges etc. From what I've read they can't charge you, but it's not really clear.

It took it a while to start up in the morning and it sounded really rough, it drove for a bit then when I was setting off from lights it just completely died and wouldn't start again.

[R0b]

They are talking out of their backside in relation to paying any negative equity. You are right that your liability is limited to 50% under the agreement, they cannot reclaim for any compensation or damages for breach of the agreement.

[Lulu22810]

Thank you Rob! We did think that! Nothing we've read mentions anything like that. But I didn't have the policy to hand so I'm going to dig it out, just to see if there's any clauses.

But I've been on the consumer credit act and from what I can understand they can't do it! But wanted to check in with people. I think she was just trying to put us off doing it as it'll cost them money in the long run!! I've messaged the cab aswell.

[Amethyst]

Thanks R0b ... being BMW they are likely to try and possibly affect credit file as per the mileage cases ?

[R0b]

Yep, probably a real risk so that is something to take into account when disputing any charges. Unless you are prepared to take the matter all the way to court, you may wish to consider paying up.

You should also look at the link below which is ongoing and gives you a flavour of what to expect shoudl you dispute it.

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...-mileage/page3

[Lulu22810]

Can they dispute the extra mileage if it's HP? I thought that was just on PCP.

thanks for that link though, will have a little look at that

[R0b]

Hire purchase and PCP agreements are pretty much identical. The only difference is the way in which the finance is calculated. A PCP agreement is essentially a variation of a HP agreement. Normally under a true HP agreement there isn’t any excess mileage charge but lenders have recently begun to incorporate clauses into them. If the agreement doesn’t mention excess mileage then no they wouldn’t be able to come after you.

[Lulu22810]

Thank you!! I really need to get my paperwork out and double check for any of these clauses. It's Motonovo finance so I'm pretty sure there'll be some kind of disclaimer in there from some of the things I've read today.

[ostell]

If the timing chain had snapped then you certainly wouldn't be able to even start the car!