Voluntary Termination Car Finance

mackem1979

mackem1979

Striker
Right, we’ve paid more than 50% of our new car finance deal and considering handing the car back to the finance company and walking away.

We’ve got over declared mileage and there’s a small dent in the door and alloys scuffed.

Anyone done this before or got any advice?

The car is in a bit of negative equity so trading it in would cost us at least that, hence exploring the potential of handing it back.

Cheers.
 


Yeah mate I have done it.

I had my finance through Santander so sent them a termination letter, Was pretty straight forward they send the relevant documents that needed completing. Got a call advising to take it to the Manheim site in Washington, took it there and some bloke gave it a thorough look over, went abit OTT if im honest and it came to something like £400.

I received a letter from Santander about a week later saying they had written the £400 off, Got a new car through Select Car Leasing and the finance was Santander again.
 
sproates33 said:
Yeah mate I have done it.

I had my finance through Santander so sent them a termination letter, Was pretty straight forward they send the relevant documents that needed completing. Got a call advising to take it to the Manheim site in Washington, took it there and some bloke gave it a thorough look over, went abit OTT if im honest and it came to something like £400.

I received a letter from Santander about a week later saying they had written the £400 off, Got a new car through Select Car Leasing and the finance was Santander again.
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Ah nice one cheers, was there any suggestion your credit rating would get affected?
 
West_Winger said:
If it’s PCP then the 50% outstanding includes the balloon payment as well so make sure when you say you’ve paid off the 50%, you’ve included that as well.
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I’ve never had a car on HP/lease or PCP so I’m new to this.

So if I buy a car for £15,000 on PCP. Credit on £10,000 over say 4 years with a balloon payment of £5,000. If I want to hand the car back after 2 years I need to have paid off £7,500 rather than £5,000?
 
Big Toe said:
I’ve never had a car on HP/lease or PCP so I’m new to this.

So if I buy a car for £15,000 on PCP. Credit on £10,000 over say 4 years with a balloon payment of £5,000. If I want to hand the car back after 2 years I need to have paid off £7,500 rather than £5,000?
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Yep.
 
sproates33 said:
Mine was within the contract allowance.
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Did you have a choice in the end mate or once you’d committed to handing it back were they taking it and then charging you?

Our lass called them this morning and it sounds like they’ll take the car then bill you. For me though, if the bill is too high I’d rather keep it.
 
mackem1979 said:
Did you have a choice in the end mate or once you’d committed to handing it back were they taking it and then charging you?

Our lass called them this morning and it sounds like they’ll take the car then bill you. For me though, if the bill is too high I’d rather keep it.
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The bloke who completed the inspection at Manheim basically went round with an iPad totting things up, i was quite annoyed at how much he added on for tiny little bits of general wear and tear to be honest.

I kind of committed to getting rid of it anyway but then Santander wrote the charges off anyway as my new car was through them on finance.
 
sproates33 said:
The bloke who completed the inspection at Manheim basically went round with an iPad totting things up, i was quite annoyed at how much he added on for tiny little bits of general wear and tear to be honest.

I kind of committed to getting rid of it anyway but then Santander wrote the charges off anyway as my new car was through them on finance.
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Ah fair enough, I need to call them and discuss it.

What’s annoying is that some of the alloys have corroded a little but that’s a design fault I’d say yet I can see me getting hit for them.
 
mackem1979 said:
Ah fair enough, I need to call them and discuss it.

What’s annoying is that some of the alloys have corroded a little but that’s a design fault I’d say yet I can see me getting hit for them.
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You are better off having any damage repaired before handing it back as they'll charge you significantly more than it would cost for you to sort it privately.
 
sproates33 said:
Yeah mate I have done it.

I had my finance through Santander so sent them a termination letter, Was pretty straight forward they send the relevant documents that needed completing. Got a call advising to take it to the Manheim site in Washington, took it there and some bloke gave it a thorough look over, went abit OTT if im honest and it came to something like £400.

I received a letter from Santander about a week later saying they had written the £400 off, Got a new car through Select Car Leasing and the finance was Santander again.
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It obviously worked for you but Martin Lewis, money supermarket etc... strongly suggest never filling out their forms.

Often it invalidates or commits you to things that legally under the consumer credit act you dont need to do.

Excess mileage is one, legally you dont need to pay for that If you terminate under the consumer credit act, but their forms probably get you to sign that you will
 
MonkeyLove said:
It obviously worked for you but Martin Lewis, money supermarket etc... strongly suggest never filling out their forms.

Often it invalidates or commits you to things that legally under the consumer credit act you dont need to do.

Excess mileage is one, legally you dont need to pay for that If you terminate under the consumer credit act, but their forms probably get you to sign that you will
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All i know is mine went smoothly as possible :lol:
 
mackem1979 said:
Right, we’ve paid more than 50% of our new car finance deal and considering handing the car back to the finance company and walking away.

We’ve got over declared mileage and there’s a small dent in the door and alloys scuffed.

Anyone done this before or got any advice?

The car is in a bit of negative equity so trading it in would cost us at least that, hence exploring the potential of handing it back.

Cheers.
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Ask your finance company for a copy of the BVRLA Wear& Tear guide if they haven't already given you one - it explains what they can and can't charge you for.
Pop said:
You are better off having any damage repaired before handing it back as they'll charge you significantly more than it would cost for you to sort it privately.
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Having just handed a lease car back a few months ago I would say exactly the opposite - there was a scuff on the rear bumper and dent in the tailgate where someone had obviously pranged it in a car park. They came up with a cost of £40 to repair it, and I certainly couldn't have got it repaired for that. I then refused to sign the form accepting this (as I had been advised to do by someone in the trade) and never heard anything more.

Make sure you get a full signed report from whoever inspects it though so they can't add things afterwards.
 
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sproates33 said:
The bloke who completed the inspection at Manheim basically went round with an iPad totting things up, i was quite annoyed at how much he added on for tiny little bits of general wear and tear to be honest.

I kind of committed to getting rid of it anyway but then Santander wrote the charges off anyway as my new car was through them on finance.
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Manheim do this with any car they get in as they then categorise their condition for auction. They do this as they sell alot of vehicles from online bidders who need to know every scratch, mark or scuff. I bought a bmw there once 2 years old still under warranty which was categorised as grade b with a slight dent on rear wing. Took me about a month to find the dent myself it was that minute
 

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