Hi all.
I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice?
I am buying a 2001 fiat punto from a fiat dealer I am also paying to have an arbath body kit fitted.
The sales man told us the price of the kit and the car which we were happy with. After much niggling they cam up with a finance package that I liked the look of. Inspected the car on friday and am due to pick it up tomorrow night(the 31st).
One of my friends who is a bank manager offered me a slightly more attactive loan, with no set up costs and no penalty for settling early.
I phoned the dealership to tell them I had found a better offer and didn't want the finance, they obviously were not happy and started to tell me that they had done a deal on the body kit as I was taking out finance with them, However finance had not been mentioned when he told us the price on the body kit, although the saleman knew we were going to take some kind of finance out.
What I want to know is. Are they trying to pull a fast one to get me to take the finance out? Am I still within my rights to say I don't want the car (leverage, I still actually want it) even though I have inspected it and the body kit has been put on?
I have no copy of any finance agreement only a car order form which lists everything I ordered this form has no mention of the finance on it.
any advice on how to handle this situation best would be appreciated.
Ross
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IMHO if you've signed an order form you can't back out now without penalty. However, how you pay for it is your business and if there's no link on the order to a finance deal, and you haven't signed any finance forms, lay it on the line to them.
At least, that's the moral and probably the legal position.
But what do I know?
:o)
Terry
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It sounds as thought you have ordered a car and you have to go thru with that; it sounds as thought you have discussed finance but haven't signed anything. the car costs £???? and so long as you pay that then you can drive away. Does the garage have your signature on ANY piece of paper which is an agreement to take finance? If not, get the other loan, pay the bill and drive off. Good luck! I'm with Terryb on this one
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Sounds like this guy is taking kickbacks from every man and his dog ...
Is this legal in the UK?
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Ian. Commission dear boy, commission Never Never ever call it 'kickbacks'. A fact of life for secondhand cars always is the commission paid by the finance company to the trader. Quite substantial in some cases in the order of 2- 4 per cent. Is repayable to the finance co. by the dealer if the loan is repaid early. Some franchise outfits have their in house finance arrangements were other considerations apply.
Is why Ross D seller is not happy about him taking the cheaper loan from his banker. I am surprised however that they have done the fitting of the kit without a signed agreement for finance.
Bfn Phil I
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It depends WHEN you signed the finance agreement with the dealer. Under the Finance \ Consumer Credit Act, you have a 7 day 'cooling off' period to turn down their finance.
That said, the dealer could argue the cost of the body kit was conditional on you taking their finance.
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doesnt the old trick still work
i) buy a car on finance from dealer
ii) negotiate a very cheap price, but agree to a stupid APR (dealer thinks youre a mug and rubs his hands in glee at all the commission on the loan - while he has next to no profit in the actual sale price)
iii)immediately after picking the car up take up your consumer credit rights and use the cooling off period to reject the finance and repay the loan in full to the finance company
hey presto youve bought a car with no profit in it for the dealer
similar sort of thing should apply here, check the true legal position of the cooling off period (clue here - dont ask dealer for advice) and if you can cut out of the loan after picking the car up then maybe thats a way ahead - you can always loan the money somewhere else cheaper
(c) my business stuidies lecturer when at college
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Your suggestion would only work if the car was released to you within the cooling off period. Plus, if you 'reject' the loan within the cooling off period, you wont have to pay anything back to the finance company since you aren't using their credit. You'd have to deal with the dealer.
There's also the slight problem of who'd be so scrupulous as to pull the trick you suggest?
I know some dealers are wide boys but don't think we have to act like it too.
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Forgot to add, if you do arrange the finance and cancel it, you will still have a credit search footprint on record ie Experian \ equifax etc.
Too many of these in a short time, especially if you haven't taken up the credit, could result in a poor credit rating which could affect you next time you really do want it.
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Your suggestion would only work if the car was released to you within the cooling off period. Plus, if you 'reject' the loan within the cooling off period, you wont have to pay anything back to the finance company since you aren't using their credit. You'd have to deal with the dealer.
Surely not?
If you collect the vehicle within the cooling off period, the dealer will have been paid by the lender.
You cancel the loan agreement and repay the original loan amount to the lender.
The dealer isn't a party (directly) to the loan agreement. They've already been paid for the car.
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Just to contradict myself. What is this cooling off period you are talking about?
See www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/asktheexperts/credit/week41...l - states that cooling off period only applies if you sign the agreement at home. Not at the dealer's premises (which of course will nearly always be the case).
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If you invite any firm into your home, you have no cooling off period under the consumer credit act. However, if there is finance involved you have 6 days cooling off.
If you sign a credit agreement on someone else's premises ie the dealer's, you do have a cooling off period re the finance.
As for the previous comment the finance would have been paid to the dealer within the cooling off period, not necessarily. The transfer of funds could take upto 7 days depending when the agreement was signed ie last thing Friday, agreement papers not sent until Monday plus at least 3 working days for the banks to move the money.
Yes, I know theycould fax the papers, pay for an express transfer but how many dealer's do? Not many I'd suggest.
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Watcher, I don't know why you are disagreeing with me. To quote:
Cancelling Credit Agreements
Don't sign any credit agreement until you are certain that you understand and accept the terms. It is your right under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to terminate any credit agreement at any time, though penalties will often be incurred in the following circumstances.
? If you arrange finance in your home, over the phone, or on the Internet, you are allowed a cooling-off period to reconsider. This is usually five days, during which time you can halt proceedings with no penalties. This will be explained on the contract.
? If you arrange finance with a dealership, you have no right to a cooling-off period (though you may still be granted one), so penalties might be incurred if you cancel.
uk.yell.com/motoring/finance/finrits.html
And the same on the BBC Watchdog site to which I referred in my last post.
And regarding the second comment, it doesn't really matter whether the money has gone to the dealer from the credit company or not. The dealer has legally sold the car to the credit company, and the credit company has a contract to sell it to you, paid in instalments (for HP at least). For non-HP, the dealer has sold you the car on the basis of a binding commitment from the lender to pay him for the car: it's for this reason that the dealer will let you drive away with the car, without (as you say) necessarily getting his hands on the cash. You can ONLY cancel the credit agreement by returning the money to the lender - because it is the lender that you have the agreement with, not the dealer. If you gave the money "back" to the car dealer, you would be mad because the dealer has no legal obligation to give it to the lender.
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Er, I wasn't. I thought we were clarifying the cooling off period.
Never mind, Im dieing to know if the originator re financed the deal and if so, what happened!
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The Watcher said " Never mind, Im dieing to know if the originator re financed the deal and if so, what happened!"
And the same applies to many other threads where a question is posted, many helpful replies are given, but the originator never returns even to say thank you - let alone update the site to close the thread.
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Er, I wasn't. I thought we were clarifying the cooling off period.
I was clarifying ... because what you said was wrong!
But anyway I am also on tenterhooks to hear what happened :-)
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