Clubscene

Hi all,

I recently bought a VW Transporter Van privately and have since been contacted by GE Money stating that €27000 finance is outstanding, I called them and they agreed to sell the van to me for €16000, I am also trying to get hold of the b*****d who owes the finance but it is proving very difficult to track him down.
On the day of sale I did get a signed receipt from the seller saying no finance was outstanding. Do I have any legal right to hold onto the van, or will I have to take the hit?

Regards,
Simon
Republc Of Ireland

OllyK

Are the laws on finance the same in Eire?

GC8

In England you would have good title. In Eire you need to speak to a solicitor immediately.

Clubscene

Im not fully sure. Speaking to solicitors they recon the van is the property of GE Money and they have the right to claim it back. Im just wondering if there is maybe a loop hole in the law I can exploit?

GC8

Export it to England and register it here. As long as theres no lein on the vehicles registration then youll get away with it.

messiah

Sounds like the seller has committed fraud as he's said no finance is outstanding when there is.

Report the focker!

Clubscene

Would I need a UK address to register it? I could always register it in Northern Ireland I suppose and then re register it back down here.

Brit_in_Japan

Not good. Is there not the equivalent of a HPI check in Eire? I wouldn't consider buying unless it had come through all clear on a HPI check.

Clubscene

If hindsight was forsight and all that........... I should have checked I know but I bought it on a Sunday so couldnt at the time. I rushed into buying because it was cheap, now looks like it could turn out to be very expenive if I have to foot the bill. Anybody know if there is anyway out of this nightmare?

Clubscene

BTTT Im gettting desperate.

speedking

It's really annoying that if £15-20k was stolen from a Building Society the police would be crawling all over the place. Sympathise, but your thread title is incorrect, technically its not your van. Surely the finance company has all the relevant contact details and the police could obtain them?

pslewis

Thats ALWAYS the clue .............. nowt is for nowt in this world.

I think it must be chalked down to experience, it's a tough call ... but, looks like you have been had!

Pete

ewanrw

How did you pay ? You can cancel cheques and card transactions then return the van.

ewan

Clubscene

It was paid for in cash . I have all his contact details and have reported the matter to the police, the guy is known to them he has done this before and got away with it, they dont hold out much hope as he is a a traveller. Next step from here is to organise a few big boys to sort him out.

ewanrw

Feckin pikeys.

good luck dude.

ewan

Tiggs

are we allowed to say that nowadays?

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

I watched an episode of Porridge from 1975 the other day on UK Gold and one of the prison guards said he wasn't biased he hated everyone including pikeys, blah, blah, blah

so it is not a new term and if it can be scripted into a BBC tv show then it should be an acceptable term for every day use IMHO

OllyK

No - "feckin" isn't even in the dictionary

mart360

i cant remember how it works, but if the vehicle is stolen and sold on, it remains the property of the finance company, (as they have paid out)

but if this isnt stolen, then i think its a case of they hold title of the item until payment in full,

they may let you keep it, but you will have to pay,

i doubt mr pike y will hold his hands up, expect all sorts of denials etc,

he may even try the reverse, it was stolen from me routine , that way he legally gets his van back?? (you have got the V5 havent you???)

In all honsety, i think it may be bad news


mart

Clubscene

Ive got the VLC form which is in my name alright. The finnce company have agreed to sell the van to me for €16000 even though there is €27000 owed on it. If I pay them it will mean the van has cost me €32000!!! This is a messy situation but I will not stop until I get it sorted. Ive got some very persuasive freinds who will be paying my fraudulant friend a visit soon.

pslewis

The only way around this, with a Pikey, is to sort it face to face.

They do NOT do as the law says, they think they are a law unto themselves - they have their own rules and behaviours (some are actually quite honourable!).

The group will NOT mind you sorting it out with him, even if it involves some heavy lads, they will know he has it coming.

Just beat him up and get your money off him - they will see it as justice and not come looking for you.

Pete

Clubscene

Thanks for your post Pete. The problem is trying to track him down now, the boys are pretty sure they will get hold of him and when they do, I wouldnt like to be in his shoes.

Frosty The Snowman

Well as it's not a lease car, you are named on the registration documents and you bought the car in good faith I would tell them to go and chase the person they lent the money to. Worth a try I think. I certainly wouldn't be paying any money to them until you see something from a court.

It may be that they are just trying to get money out of the easiest target.

Clubscene

Hi Frosty. They told me over the phone that they were gonna reposess the van as it was still their property. I spoke to someone who was in a similar situation before and he told me it was the police who came out and reposessed the vehicle. I really dont know what to do.

Frosty The Snowman

I'm pretty sure that if you can make a good case that you were not aware of the outstanding finance on the vehicle then you have good title to it. As you have a signed receipt saying there was no finance outstanding that should put you in a good position.

How cheap was it? If we are talking only a few thousand then that suggests you weren't in on the deal with the other bloke.

This is all based on English law though and may not hold true in Eire.

Clubscene

I bought it for €5000 and traded in my old van which was worth between €11000-€12000 at the time, so you could say I paid about €16000, which would have been €1500-€2000 underpriced for the Transporter, if that makes sense. I dont know if the the same law applies over here or not.

Frosty The Snowman

Sounds like you do have a pretty good case, especially if this bloke was a trader. You really do need to talk to someone like the Citizens Advice Bureau about this, and make sure you have all the details handy, cos Eire might have completely different consumer credit laws.

Scooby Soon!

cant you say the old van was stolen?

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

This is quite a good cautionary tale - DONT BY ANYTHING OFF PIKEYS, ESPECIALLY IF IT SEEMS LIKE A BARGAIN !!! - it will either be stolen, dodgy or stolen and dodgy.

Good luck in getting it sorted, I think you've got your work cut out.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Oh, and on the 'is it PC to call them Pikeys' matter - Pikeys are not the same as proper Gypsies, they are a seperate lot ( in the past were normally known as Tinkers ) - proper gypsies hate Pikeys because they know they are thieving, conning barstewards like everyone else.

A lot of Pikeys have no Gypsy connections, they are just scammers who use the fact not having a fixed address makes their job a lot easier.