Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 26 Oct 2019 16:28
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
Hi All
I would be grateful for any advice on the following please?
I have an Audi A3 on a PCP deal which I am about to hand back under a voluntary termination. I have paid more than half of the total amount so I will not have to pay any more. Given that Audi will not be too chuffed at missing out on the rest of my payments, I expect they will try and charge me for anything they can. I am getting scuffed alloys and some minor body work damage repaired at a body shop. My question is, what shall I do about tyres? The fronts are okay (6 mm) but the rears are 3 mm. The guidance from Audi is they will charge for new tyres if they are ‘excessively worn’ but give no indication what that means. My choices are
1, leave them as they are, they are legal
2, pay for a new pair of Dunlop’s to match the existing ones from blackcircles
3, put the cheapest pair of ditch-finders on that I can find.
I am tempted to take a punt with option 1 but am concerned I will be stung with Audi’s expensive tyres.
I should add, the car will be inspected by BCA representatives.
Thanks
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Sat 26 Oct 2019 16:34
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - SLO76
3mm is fine, mine had less when I handed it back at the end of term and despite the early termination it’ll probably be ok. Just make sure you take plenty of pictures of the cars condition and expect them to be very sticky if any paint repairs aren’t done to a very good standard. Finance firms don’t like early terminations like this but they are legal if kinda against the spirit of the agreement. Let us know how you get on.
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Sat 26 Oct 2019 16:49
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - badbusdriver

The legal limit is 1.6mm so i don't see why they would have an issue with 3mm. Assuming of course, there is nothing mentioned in the small print!.

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Sat 26 Oct 2019 17:08
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Falkirk Bairn

To use section 99 return of the car i.e. termination with no extra charges you have to have paid 50% of the agreement

e.g Car £20,000, Interest etc etc £4,000 over 36 month

You have to have paid at least 50% of £24,000 (over £12,000) not just paid 18 monthly instalments.

On return under Section 99 do NOT SIGN ANY FINANCE COMPANY Paperwork.

You write returning the car under Section 99.

If you say it is Section 99 and then sign Lease/HP paperwork about returns, charges, excess mileage, etc etc you throw away some of your Rights of a Section 99 return.

Assuming the car has only fair wear & tear they cannot charge you anything.for early return.

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Sat 26 Oct 2019 19:36
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - daveyjp

On a PCP Audi won't miss out on nearly half the payments as about 50% of the loan is the bubble payment, which isn't guaranteed as you can hand the car back.

On a 3 year PCP they only miss out on about 3 months loan payment, but they are getting the car back three months early so it is worth more. It is therefore debatable whether terminating a PCP early is beneficial.

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Sat 26 Oct 2019 21:11
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Falkirk Bairn

Section 99 early returns (& no penalties assuming paymnets are up to date) you have to pay 50% + of the credit agreement including the balloon payment.

If you do not believe me google section 99 lease car early returns

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Sun 27 Oct 2019 19:11
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
Thanks for all of the replies, very helpful.
I have contacted Audi and asked for a voluntary termination. They have emailed me a form to complete and post back to them. They didn’t seem at all bothered, so I guess it must be a frequent occurrence. The rules of voluntary termination are that 50% of the total must have been paid in order not to incur further charges (and the mileage is proportional to the age of the agreement). The key thing is, it is 50% of the total amount payable. That is the price of the car plus the interest. I put down a large deposit at the start so I am well over the 50% figure.
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Mon 28 Oct 2019 08:09
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Falkirk Bairn

There is no mention of any charges e.g extra mileage charges whatsoever in Section 99

There will be clauses for extra charges in the Audi PCP contract but you are not returning the car under Audi Contract - you are using Section 99 of a Finance Act - UK Law trumps a commercial contract.

YOU have to stipulate it is a return under Section 99 and WALK -

Do not sign any Audi Paperwork / Contract on returning the car as you then enter their Contract Terms again as it is dated after you gave them notice of the Section 99 return.

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Sun 10 Nov 2019 01:35
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Zippy123

Is my understanding right...?

If I buy a car on a 5 year HP agreement, say £20k, plus £2k interest, I can hand the car back after I repay £11k with nothing else to pay.

What happens if I put silly mileage on the car?

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Sun 10 Nov 2019 10:09
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
Zippy is right, the mileage has to be proportional to the age of the car. For example; if you have a 10k mile per year 4-year pcp deal and do a voluntary termination after 3 years, the mileage should be less than 30k.
Just waiting now for BCA to come and inspect the vehicle.
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Sun 10 Nov 2019 11:29
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - leaseman

Sorry to put you right Robert. Under a Voluntary Termination, there is no stipulation, whatsoever, about mileage as Falkirk Bairn rightfully pointed out last month, a couple of posts before yours.

As long as the car has been taken care of, regarding condition etc. and is fully Street Legal, the Financier under the Hire Purchase, or Conditional Sale Agreement, must accept the vehicle back. Mileage at return is irrelevant within the Consumer Credit Act. Most Personal Contract Purchase agreements will be based on one of these two underlying principles.

Check your contract to make sure that there is an Early Termination clause included as this will not be the case if the underlying agreement is one of a Personal Loan, which I have seen used by some Financiers

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Mon 11 Nov 2019 06:53
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
From Audi finance
‘ We will send you a Voluntary Termination confirmation letter detailing any shortfall payment due and outline your expected mileage to date – agreed mileage and excess mileage charges are detailed in your VWFS finance agreement.’
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Mon 11 Nov 2019 08:13
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Falkirk Bairn

Section 99 trumps VWFS agreements

Section 99 return makes no mention of mileage, as long as your payments are up to date and you have made more than 50% of buy price & total interest + other charges (admin fees etc) you can return the car and walk.

Fair wear & tear is OK - bumps, bashes, scratches, bald tyres etc are still your responsibility.

Do not sign any VWFS paperwork - Section 99 is the basis of return - if you sign new VWFS paperwork post Section 99 paprwork of any kind after the date of Section 99 return you are then agreeing to punitive VWFS conditions.

You have been warned!

Return car and walk, sign nothing

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Mon 11 Nov 2019 09:30
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
The paperwork states the return is under section 99 of the consumer credit act etc. I think the point is, it should be fair wear and tear. If you have done well over the agreed mileage that is not regarded as fair. Otherwise you could have a 8K mile per year 3 year deal, put 80k miles on the clock and hand it back a month before the end of the contract.
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Mon 11 Nov 2019 21:01
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
A quick update. Heard from VWFS who tell they have now terminated the agreement under voluntary termination terms. Now BCA are telling me they cannot inspect/ collect the car for nearly 4 weeks! Bit disappointed really. Also concerned, this will take me passed the date when I would make a payment under the contract. Will I still be expected to pay? The contract has ended and it is not my fault that their appointed agents cannot collect the car promptly. I am expected to insure and tax the car but cannot really use it for fear of getting any parking dings.
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Mon 11 Nov 2019 21:30
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - daveyjp

Offer to drive it to BCA. That's what I did, although it is quite a few years ago.

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Mon 11 Nov 2019 22:34
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
Thanks Davey. There is one a two miles from here. Should have thought of that myself.
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Thu 26 Dec 2019 09:42
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
Hi all. Final update if anyone is interested
After submitting the form for a voluntary termination, Audi wrote to me and indicated the expected mileage to date, which was proportional to the the age of the contract. I was under this mileage so that was one battle I did not have to face.
I was saddled with the car for 4 weeks waiting for BCA to inspect it, during which time I am expected to tax and insure it. Asked at the local BCA auction site if I could leave it with them - didn’t want to know. Similarly the local Audi dealer who supplied the car. After getting all the scuffs and dings sorted out at a body shop I didn’t fancy driving the car in case it got damaged, so left it on the drive way at home.
Finally got the car inspected. The guy spent 30 mins looking at the car, checking mileage etc. He wasn’t bothered about the tyres (my original concern), he had a box to tick for ‘greater than 1.6 mm of tread’. He was more concerned about un-even wear. The body shop had done a good job with the repairs and everything passed the inspection. The only comment was, condition of vehicle: dirty. Does anyone have a clean car in December?
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Thu 26 Dec 2019 11:32
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - FoxyJukebox

Most interesting and a useful read.Thanks.

If it was me going through all this worry and hassle, I think I would given my car a good wash-and vac out- prior to an "inspection" of this kind.

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Thu 26 Dec 2019 20:07
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - gordonbennet

Indeed, he's put that 'dirty condition' on the form to cover him for additional chips or scratches which might be found when the car is cleaned properly and inspected closer.

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Thu 26 Dec 2019 22:18
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Robert J.
I am sure you are correct, he also commented that the weather was dull and light was poor. The thing was, I washed the car on the Sunday and it was collected on the Thursday and I only drove it three miles to the collection point. I had no chance to wash it after Sunday because it is dark when I get home from work. Still, had confirmation from Audi that there is no further charges.
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Sat 28 Dec 2019 01:45
Audi A3 Sportback - Voluntary Termination of a PCP and tyre wear - Zippy123
Audi wrote to me and indicated the expected mileage to date, which was proportional to the the age of the contract.

I didn't think mileage was a consideration under a voluntary termination!?

Glad you got it sorted to your satisfaction.

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