I am interested in buying a second hand car from private seller and the car is worth £5500, however the seller has told me that he has £7000 HP finance outstanding. How do I go about making sure I don't get stung or is it best to leave it well alone??
Ian
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Ian - by the sounds of it, I'd leave this one well alone.
Only buy the car if the owner can produce evidence proving that the finance has been settled. Otherwise contact the finance house directly - but I'm not sure how you stand here. If you buy the car and the owner defaults on the payments, the finance company will snatch back the car and YOU will loose the car and ultimately, your money! Beware!
Regards
David
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David is right. Do not go within a mile of this car.
HJ
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Ian,
David and HJ quite rightly say avoid this car. There is no such thing as an unrepeatable bargain and plenty of others about. There is just a possibility that the local vicar has owned this car and it is mint with a history. But usually a vehicle in this position has other downsides. The sort of person that ends up in this situation may have skimped on essential maintenance due to lack of funds. Also this could be a scam story to make you think you're getting a bargain and deflect attention from the fact it is an accident repaired one.
For an example of the ripples that spread out from this type of situation read on.
Over twenty years ago, and in the innocence of youth, I bought a Citroen CX from a back street trader (all blow over and tyre black guy) for £1200. About £600 on finance over one year. It had 6 months MOT remaining so the trader didn't give it a new one. I soon realised the car was a dog, no use taking it back or his dog would be what I'd see. I struggled on with it to MOT time when the failure sheet and repair costs virtually scrapped it. Decided to cut my losses and sold it for £80 as a spares/repair. I never expected it to see the road again. Replaced it with a two year old CX Pallas (best car I'll ever own) from the local main dealer on a company loan. With the absolute disaster of dropping over £1100 (that was a lot then) in 6 months there was no way I could clear the finance on the old car Decided to do the most honourable thing as I saw it, keep paying it off for the remaining 6 months and put it all down to experience.
All fine until a chap phoned in a rage one evening, he owned the old car now and had found out when trying to trade it in there was still finance outstanding. The dealers wouldn't let him go ahead and the finance company, once notified, then threatened to take the car from him without payment. He was advised then to take me to court for the money.
I couldn't believe that the CX was back on the road and being traded again close to £1000. Turns out the guy I sold it to just put a dodgy ticket on it without any repairs and sold it for £800. The chap who bought it realised it was a rough one hence went to trade it in for something else when the outstanding finance was discovered. Obviously I went straight to the finance company and paid it off in cash and it all calmed down. But it was a nervous 24hrs for both myself and the current owner while it all unfolded. Of course the winners were the finance company who got their money plus interest, the dodgy dealer who sold me the car and the even worse dealer who made £700 for the cost of a bent MOT. No stress for them at all.
So be warned.
David
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David,
Hard luck indeed!
What a way to get introduced to CX ownership.
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Darcy,
Hard luck indeed but the fact that I replaced the nightmare car with another CX proves what a captivating vehicle they were (and still are now to those with an interest in the upcoming classic).
The second one was mint at only 30,000 miles and a couple of years old. What a brilliant machine. However this still had many faults over the next year or so, the fact that I was using it for high mileage business use didn't help. In the end I seem to remember the rear screen coming unbonded needing replacement, starter and radiator failing, a pair of large tyres required and a bottom ball joint required....all in a period of a few weeks.
Sadly it had to go in favour of more sensible business transport and it took another 15 years for me to return to Citroens.
David
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David,
Here goes the Citroen appreciation society again ...
I've had 4 and loved all of them but the best was an '81 mk 1 petrol turbo which for all-round comfort, long-legged touring capability, towing ability (time for me to 'come out' now), and hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck acceleration, it would take some beating even today.
Regards
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You need to drive an 81 Golf GTI and then come back to me.
(says Guy Lacey of the HJ Golf GTI Appreciation Society - Members 1)
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Guy,
But would it tow Darcy's 6 berth caravan?
Coming out is always traumatic Darcy but we needed to know. It could be worse, John Slaughter drives a BMW you know.
David
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David
This could be the new trick.
(1) How quickly can we get a thread to Citroen diesels?
(2) How quickly can we get a thread to BMW's?
I'm happy - and to make it even worse it's not the first BMW I've owned either......
Cheers
John
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Damn, should have changed the header!
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David,
How did you know it's a 6-berth? This site amazes me sometimes.
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Darcy wrote> but the best was an '81 mk 1 petrol turbo - blimey!! you wouldn't say that if you had the misfortune to have to replace the clutch assembly (twice!) as our poor workshops had to 3 or 4 years ago. (Engine out job!) Yes it went like stink and the ride was pure magic carpet - but it took some deft persuading from myself for them to start working on our newly found fleet of 16 Xantias!
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David,
Completely aware (from a spectator's viewpoint) of effort needed to change the clutch on a CX turbo; I used to have a friend who had a non-franchised Citroen garage. Presumably you earned a bob or two from the work? and/or you could have refused the job.
PS did you ever check the gearbox oil level - it had its own dipstick.
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We couldn't refuse the job because we sold the car 2 months previously
No we didn't earn any money out of it because (a) 'We' (Sales Dept.) had to pay for the original repair and (b) the replacement clutch subsequently failed 2000 miles later and we had to stand the repair bill because the clutch manufacturer rejected the warranty claim.
Once bitten, twice shy.....
Even a Xantia TD clutch is not the nicest to change, what with that awkward release fork setup.
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David,
A "faulty" clutch was how I came to buy my early Xantia TD last summer, as a rock bottom trade sale.
A local Citroen main dealer had been preparing it for retail sale. They had spent a fair bit already on hydraulic pump, front discs/pads, rear pads, glowplugs and service. The car was mint with full Citroen history and sensible miles so justified this preparation.
Then the mechanic finishing off these jobs test drove it and marked up "stiff clutch" in the prep sheet comments section. That was it, the sales department didn't want to know about funding a clutch on one of these so offered £600 off for me to take as-is.
When I test drove it I thought the clutch was perhaps a bit heavy but it didn't have that odd feel that is particular to a failing Citroen clutch. After purchase and just a few hundred miles it freed off to normal and has been fine for a year, I did notice the car had been standing for a month so maybe just a sticky cable.
I was quite prepared to do the clutch but was well pleased it wasn't needed. Having said that swings and roundabouts came to mind when the ABS failed. Could cost more than the clutch.
David
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