pspencer

I've found a car that I really like. Made an offer and then got the AA to run a few checks on it. It's come up as having outstanding hire purchase on it. I've contacted the vendor and he's told me that the previous owner (he bought it at the beginning of the year) bought it on HP, but that's all been paid off. The guy he bought it from was a friend, so he didn't bother running any checks. Both the current vendor and previous owners are doctors (and therefore reputable????).

What's the chances of this just being a computer error? What are the risks of me going ahead anyway? Is there anything I can do to get round these risks? How about asking for a further discount and a letter from the vendor indemnifying me against any losses that may occur due to HP issues? As I said, I really like the car and it's very reasonably priced, so I don't know what the chances are of getting any further money off.

Cheers,
Phil.

Steve vRS

Don't chance it.

The finance company could still reposes the car off you and you'd loose your money.

There are always plenty of cars for sale.

Steve

PS Is this why the car is so cheap?

STI SPUD

Phil,

I had this same situation a few years ago on a BMW. Contact the HP company with the vehicle registration and IF the finance is clear they should write to you to confirm it. I found HPI really helpful, they gave me the HP campany name , address etc - it was Lombard and they were even more helpful. If you don't or cannot get anything in writing you should walk away imo.

Good luck

Rachel

RB5320

I would be very careful. It may be that the finance is clear, but the records are out of date. Can the vendor give you the finance company details so that you can ask them?
If the car is still on a finance agreement then it effectively belongs to the finance company, regardless of letters from the vendor (I think).
Basically, if the finance has been cleared it should be easy enough to find out - ie by contacting the finance company. If there is still finance on it then I would assume that the previous owner has no intention of paying it off, in which case I would stay clear. There are plenty more cars around.

Steve

Scoobybits

our company deal with finace companies and insurance companies all the time and they do make errors regular check it out first??it might be genuine but you need it in writing from them not the current owner otherwise you could loose out,pays to be cautious but it could be an error good luck!!

Vanker

firstly everyone lies to some degree yes he maybe a doctor but then so was the guy that killed all those grannies. Stay away from it.

chiark

I'd go down the route Spud suggested.

Until you get satisfactory responses in writing, do NOTHING! Don't set your heart on this car, as it could turn out to be an expensive mistake! (I bought a car with my heart when my head was telling me it was a pile of ****e and that I should walk away... Head knew best )

JayCole

Exactly the same thing happened when I bought my P1 a few weeks ago. The HPI check came back as it was owing finance. Turned out the the financne co had not informed the HPI co that all finance had been paid off.

I spoke to HPI and they got it all sorted and I bought the car - Letter through post as confirmation too. Lady @ HPI co said it does happen every now and agian as finance co do not always inform when they are meant too.

pspencer

Thanks for all the advice.

I've since been in contact with the original owner of the car and he gave me the details of the finance company (First National/Lombard). I contacted them and found out the finance finished April 2002 and they hadn't bothered taking the car off the outstanding finance list. So no problems. It would have been nice if the AA could have told me the name of the finance company and details of the loan, but apparently the data protection act doesn't allow that.

So assuming the AA inspection goes OK, I should have my first Impreza tomorrow evening.

Cheers,
Phil.

JayCole

Funny that - First National were the ones I had prob with too