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Buying Second Hand Car On Finance

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iloveglee | 17:19 Fri 05th May 2023 | Law
11 Answers
Can anyone help me out here. My grand daughter has just bought a car from a dealer. She has signed a finance agreement to pay for it. 9 days after she took ownership of the car, it started to make strange noises, and a light came on. She took it to a garage locally, that the family uses and he said the head gasket has gone and it's not worth repairing.

She has contacted the finance company, as this what she was told to do. They have put a complaint into the dealer to say she wishes to reject the car. They have ignored them. She knows that the law allows her to reject this in the first 30 days, which it still is. She has contacted the dealer, who has said someone in management would get back to her. They have not. She was told, presumably by someone who doesn't know the law that she has to return the car to the dealer. It is not safe to drive, and therefore it is down to the dealer to collect it.

She has forwarded a letter, and the report from the garage as to what the problem is, to the dealer with no response. She is now at a loss as to what to do, and who she should actually be dealing with. I was under the impression that if you have a car on HP is actually belongs to the finance company, although I admit I am not sure as to the actual manner of the finance.

Sadly she did not read the reviews before she used this company. They apparently have form for refusing to comply with their legal liabilities. She has warned them of her intention to take legal advice if they don't respond about collecting the car and cancelling the finance. Is there anything she could do other than what she is doing. The 30 day period to reject is now about 10 days away, and so far she has no real idea if her rejection has been accepted by the dealer.

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Has she bought it on HP or with a personal loan? https://www.freedomfinance.co.uk/faqs/car-finance-faqs/whats-the-difference-between-a-personal-car-loan-and-hire-purchase/
She needs to understand what sort of finance commitment she has.

Tell her to phone the company tomorrow to ask when they are coming to collect the car. She should also send an email so she has proof of contact and a letter of rejection sent by recorded delivery.

She might find this information useful https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/rejecting-a-car/
I think she should visit the dealer and take along her dad, her uncle and her boyfriend.
Question Author
I believe this is an HP agreement, therefore she is not actually the owner of the car, only the keeper. The dealers have apparently got form for basically not complying with their legal responsibilities. They have even been the subject of the bbc programme 'the sherriffs are coming'. Then they changed their name. If only she had read the reviews first, lesson learned.

But she still has a car not worth repairing and currently no car to drive at all. She managed to have a contact on watts app with a young woman, probably just in the office, and she informed her that she has to arrange to get the car back to them, but again this is their responsibility not hers. The young woman did not seem to know this.

Having watched the episode of sheriffs are coming, they don't seem like a reasonable kind of company. In fact, they are cowboys. It seems to me that, if this car is actually owned by the finance company, they should be pursuing the dealer for the money? We're not entirely sure where the finance company fits into all this.
You need to be sure what sort of finance agreement is in place, no good speculating
Question Author
It's definitely a HP agreement
Even if you buy a car on HP it's your responsibility.
The HP company owns your debt, not the car.
Sometimes a baseball bat or similar can work wonders in these situations.

Take out any CCTV first.
Even if you buy a car on HP it's your responsibility.
The HP company owns your debt, not the car.

Yes I think it is her car. I think a vizeet to Citizens advice is warranted because - -
she should try to enforce the coolling off and reject ( she must WRITE)
and then it gets to sue for that AND selling goods of unmerchantable quality

small claims court, keep a paper trail - the law is clearly on her side

I dont think negotiation is gonna work
If you buy a car on HP you are the registered keeper but the HP company is the owner.
That is why the HP company can take possession if the car is sold and payments stop.

"Who is the legal owner on hire purchase (HP)? Hire purchase (HP) is where a payment plan is used to spread the total cost of the car equally across several years. Once you reach the end of the payment plan the car belongs to you. Until then, it's the legal property of the finance company."
https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/car-finance-hire-purchase-explained/#:~:text=The%20finance%20in%20a%20hire,the%20owner%20of%20the%20car.


That's why it is called hire purchase. You hire the car until the final payment is made
Question Author
As an update to this, I'm pleased to say this has been sorted out. With some difficulty. The finance company (it was a HP agreement) wouldn't do anything until they had heard from the car dealer, the car dealer wouldn't engage with the finance company until they had assessed the car.

The car was not safe to drive, and they were insisting that she had the car returned to the dealer. After much to-ing and fro-ing, and some strongly worded e-mail as to her rights under the law, finally the dealer agreed to collect the car. A couple of weeks after they had done so, the finance company contacted her to say that the finance agreement had been cancelled.

Moral of the story is, if you are going to buy a used car, which is fraught with possible problems, buy it on finance on HP agreement. The interest rate may be higher, so in the long run you pay more, but you do at least have their support as the car is legally theirs, so they have an interest in it. Luckily this took place in the first 30 days, so she was allowed to reject it. Had she had it for longer, it would have been more complicated.
god
well done
and thanks for the update

I thought the other side wd be more intransigent

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