[Blacktemplar]

Hoping someone can offer some advice.....

Just over a year ago my daughter bought her first car - a tidy wee 2011 120i coupe. Unfortunately she's a tad headstrong, and did a deal with the devil in the form of Arnold Clark, on a 5-year HP agreement with maintenance.

Wind forward a year and she now has a baby, and in both practical and economic terms the 120 doesn't suit. She still owes £9K on the Bimmer but wants to get rid of it. I have an older Golf she can have that's been SORNed and just needs a little work to put back on the road, so she just wants to flog the Bimmer for now.

So what's the best route?

- AC have offered her a paltry 5K trade in and she can pay the balance off with them
- WBAC say it's worth £5.5K but will doubtless reduce that for every tiny blemish
- Autotrader suggest selling for £6.6k
- if she can sell sell it privately, can the balance of the maintenance contract be transferred?

Given the short time she's had the HP, can she sell privately and pay off the balance direct to the finance company (Santander), or can she only sell back to AC?

Not really sure what the score with this sort of setup, so would appreciate any advice.

PS anyone want to buy a tidy little 120i ?

[NISFAN]

Is the HP agreement AND the maintenance both with Santander? Or Maintenance with AC? I assume the maintenance was a one off payment which was added to the financed total?

Always a good idea to call the finance company and ask what options you have, plus to get the settlement figure (which I hope for your daughters sake is lower than the £9k outstanding). Your daughter will have to be the one that calls for obvious reasons.

[Blacktemplar]

Maintenance with AC, finance with Santander. I've suggested she goes to speak to Santander to see what her options are

[NISFAN]

Hopefully the maintenance will stay with the car in that case, assuming it's not possible to cancel it. But yes phone the finance company and ask for settlement figure and options.

[MashinBenzin]

Once all the numbers are in place, I'd suggest private sale. It does involve more work, but she'll be hundreds or a thousand+ better off.

As an example of a roughly similarly valued car, albeit not a comparable model...I was offered £4750 for my 2009 320d as a trade-in against my current car, which was lifted to £5000 after a lot of pushing. WBAC were somewhere in the £3xxx range - I never showed them the car, this was the online estimate. I sold it for £6850 after a couple of weeks on Gumtree/Autotrader.

Take some good pics, use Gumtree, and re-upload the ad every single day without fail.

[DB118D]

She can sell to whoever will buy the car for her asking price. You'll need to make any buyers aware of the outstanding finance and that you will be paying it off straight away when sold.

The buyer can pay their share to Santander direct with you topping it up on one phone call I'd imagine

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by DB118D

She can sell to whoever will buy the car for her asking price. You'll need to make any buyers aware of the outstanding finance and that you will be paying it off straight away when sold.

The buyer can pay their share to Santander direct with you topping it up on one phone call I'd imagine

I agree, that's how I would do it.

When she is talking to Santander, it might be worth establishing if the loan can be paid off using cash in a branch. This possibility means that she'd be able to sell to a cash buyer (cash and V5C/keys change hands at the bank).

[MrChumley]

Strictly speaking you can't sell it until the finance is cleared because you don't own the car.

You also run the risk that someone makes a fraudulent payment, leaving you owing the full amount to Santander and no longer having the car or the buyer's money.

I think the better option is getting them to pay Santander direct and when Santander confirm the funds are cleared, you pay the balance and hand over the car.

Alternatively, take out a cheap loan to clear the finance and then pay it off when you've sold the car.

[betty02]

Sticky situation selling a car on finance. I had this a few years back when I financed a car.

In the end I ended up getting a loan to pay off my balance (the loan was also a lower APR, and my payments were cheaper, plus i knocked 6 months off the term)

Once my car wasn't showing on a HPI check i sold the car privately. I tried selling it advertised with finance and that it would be paid off, or they could call the company direct etc but it put of lots and lots of people. Once cleared I sold it within 4 weeks for above the balance and job was a good'un!

It is illegal to sell, and if the finance company see the car advertised, or if someone calls them to say it's for sale you face deep doo doo!Mate of mind stuck his on ebay and a potential seller obviously did a check, found his finance company, called them and they called him with some legal bits and then a court case letter! This was a few years back now but you never know!

[Blacktemplar]

Thanks to all for sound advice - pretty much reflects where my head is at as well. Get a cheap loan, pay off finance, wait for HPI checks to clear and then sell privately.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by betty02

Sticky situation selling a car on finance. I had this a few years back when I financed a car.

In the end I ended up getting a loan to pay off my balance (the loan was also a lower APR, and my payments were cheaper, plus i knocked 6 months off the term)

Once my car wasn't showing on a HPI check i sold the car privately. I tried selling it advertised with finance and that it would be paid off, or they could call the company direct etc but it put of lots and lots of people. Once cleared I sold it within 4 weeks for above the balance and job was a good'un!

It is illegal to sell, and if the finance company see the car advertised, or if someone calls them to say it's for sale you face deep doo doo!Mate of mind stuck his on ebay and a potential seller obviously did a check, found his finance company, called them and they called him with some legal bits and then a court case letter! This was a few years back now but you never know!

This is nonsense! Plenty folk sell cars with finance on them and do it all above board and openly. I've done it several times, with BMWFS and independent finance.

[betty02]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

This is nonsense! Plenty folk sell cars with finance on them and do it all above board and openly. I've done it several times, with BMWFS and independent finance.

Honestly it is illegal to sell on finance. As said mine was a few years back and haven't had finance since, but if things have changed then I stand corrected.

I also had offers thousands below my asking price because of the whole finance blurb. Once I loaned it and paid it off I got my asking price within 4 weeks.

Doing a quick google it is still showing as illegal to sell a car on finance! I'm by no means saying it doesn't happen, but personally if I went to view a car and was showing as finance on HPI I wouldn't bother!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by betty02

Honestly it is illegal to sell on finance. As said mine was a few years back and haven't had finance since, but if things have changed then I stand corrected.

I also had offers thousands below my asking price because of the whole finance blurb. Once I loaned it and paid it off I got my asking price within 4 weeks.

Doing a quick google it is still showing as illegal to sell a car on finance!

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.u...anding-finance

It's illegal to knowingly do so without telling the buyer, but not to do so in an "above board" manner.

[betty02]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.u...anding-finance

It's illegal to knowingly do so without telling the buyer, but not to do so in an "above board" manner.

Ironically just finished reading that link. That's certainly changed then! Little more leeway for the OP's daughter then!

[rossm]

Originally Posted by Blacktemplar

Thanks to all for sound advice - pretty much reflects where my head is at as well. Get a cheap loan, pay off finance, wait for HPI checks to clear and then sell privately.

Taking a loan to pay off the remaining finance will also log against your daughters credit history and may affect future credit scoring even if it's paid off soon afterwards. This may lead to creditors offering less-than-preferable rates in future or being turned down altogether if there are multiple credit applications in a short space (eg finance for the next vehicle)

If you can cover the payment for her then this would be the best option.

[Blacktemplar]

Originally Posted by rossm

Taking a loan to pay off the remaining finance will also log against your daughters credit history and may affect future credit scoring even if it's paid off soon afterwards. This may lead to creditors offering less-than-preferable rates in future or being turned down altogether if there are multiple credit applications in a short space (eg finance for the next vehicle)

If you can cover the payment for her then this would be the best option.

I knew she was going to be an expensive child......

Hopefully madam has learned something in all of this. Go PCP.....

I think she's seeing Santander to see what they can do - hopefully transfer the balance to a lower-rate personal loan & pay off, then sell the Bimmer privately and use the proceeds to buy something more practical.

[MrChumley]

Originally Posted by betty02

Ironically just finished reading that link. That's certainly changed then! Little more leeway for the OP's daughter then!

What's changed? The link is pretty clear:

..there are two things you must do before you can legally sell it:

Inform the finance company and ask them for the “settlement figure” they’ll need from you to pay off your loan in full.
Pay off the settlement figure, plus any early repayment fee and administration fee the lender might charge.

As long as you don't hand the keys over until the finance company confirm the funds have cleared you should be OK, but I agree a lot of buyers will be put off.