Buying a Car with Outstanding Finance

Would you do it?

My brother tells me he is gonna sell his car but there is £6000 left on outstanding finance. Ive told him he is gonna find it hard to find a buyer cos most will be put off by the outstanding finance. He says whenever he gets the money for the car he will clear the finance.

Just wanted to know your feelings on it, would you risk buying a car with outstanding finance?

The buyer pays the finance company, that way they know the balance is cleared on the car. Simple.

I would take the contact details of the finance company and ensure before the car is in my possession that the finance has been cleared.

A bit of organisation between the buyer and seller and there will be no problems.

Yup, simple as that, your brother doesn't need to see a penny unless he is selling it for more than whats on the Finance

Selling a car on finance is not a problem, but first off your brother doesnt own the car the finance company does so he must notify them of his intentions. Second If I was buying a car on finance I would ask for the settlement figure first and want it in writing from the finance company, then weigh it up against the selling amount.

So if for example you were selling a car that is £10k and the figure owing to the finance company is £6k, I would write a bankers drafts of £6k to the finance company and take it to the post office with the seller so they can see it being sent and both parties are happy, then the balance to the owner.

I'm considering this but my car is worth more than the £2000 left on finance!

obviously get the buyer to clear the £2000 finance direct to the company and get the buyer to give you cash on top

So you guys would be comfortable with that?

NO WAY it will just end in tears

well, when i sold my last car i cleared the finance myself with a credit card, got the letter to confirm this from the finance company. the buyer met me with cash and i was straight into the bank. sorted!

I'm with Ewok, there's a lot of trust required on both sides for it to work, in theory it should be ok if you've got a settlement figure letter from the finance company but in practice there's plenty of potential for a ballix.
Eg buyer takes car, says he will pay off finance but turns out to be unscrupulous...

obviously you would need the finance company to confirm the payment first before handing over the keys

i bought a car with finance when he was desperate to sell and i only gave him the settlement figure so i got a bargain. all went smoothly i saw it on paper and sent a bank transfer, it cleared and confirmed by my bank and the finance company in the afternoon. may sound like a bit of a nuisance but it went smoothly enough

Can the buyer pay the finance company direct though?

I bought a motorbike with outstanding finance, took a bit of a chance on it to be honest, all ended ok but when I rang Blackhorse Finance to see if he had cleared it they were not able to help me AT ALL due to client confidentiality. Just one to bare in mind.

I bought a car once as well with outstanding finance, but made the seller take out a personal loan to clear it before I handed over the money. I didn't want to assume the risk over £6.5k going into his back pocket and me being stuck with a car on outstanding finance!

I say no way because i know someone years ago that done this and their car was lifted and didnt know what the craic was so when they looked into it they found out the person they bought the car off stopped paying the finance.And the time they dragged the person through the small claims court it cost them alot of money.

The buyer can pay the finance company direct, let's be honest are they ever going to refuse payment from anybody? It's pretty simple as stated, get a dated settlement letter, get the buyer to make the cheque/draft to the finance company direct and send it to them. I've never tried it before but they will probably even take debit card over the phone as well?