Car on finance — Scope | Disability forum
Please read our updated community house rules and community guidelines.

Car on finance

bash99
bash99 Community member Posts: 11 Listener
Hi,

I hope everyone is safe and well!

I am writing this on behalf of a friend of mine, so I apologise for the long paragraph. Last November her partner (who is also her career) got a car on finance for her and she pays for it. Since then she has lost the confidence for driving, she has very poor eye sight and has alot of medical problems going on ( I didnt want to ask what all her medical issues was) She now has a motabilty car but she doesn't drive it her partner drives it to takes her to all her hospital appointments etc...

The car that was taken out last year is not suitable for her needs anymore, and she is the only one insured on the car. There is some minor issues with the car but nothing major what is not her fault. Only little things like the touch screen in the car looks like it has been cracked when the wether is to cold or hot.

Is there any way of giving the car back to the garage without paying the whole finance (I think its around 9k) She has only done about 2 thousand miles in the car since having it, and apart from the issue that is not her fault the car is in perfect condition. It has been sat on her drive for the last 3 months and only been turned on to make sure the battery doesn't die.

She has looked on auto trader etc.. to try and sell it for the price of the finance, but the difference she would have to pay is alot. She has never missed a payment with them.

Is there any possibility that she would be able to give it back to the garage? She wouldn't mind paying some money to hand it back, but she is on low income due to her not working. Her partner is also on low wage at the moment as he has had to cut his hours at work to look after her.

Thank you in advance for any advice

Comments

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,587 Disability Gamechanger
    I think the realistic answer here is no, sadly.

    Cars depreciate whether they're used or not, and finance interest still needs paying on top of that which does leave a large gap between the cars value and finance owed. 

    The best thing to do would be to ask the garage how much they'd give her for it.  However, that's likely to be less than the private sale price that she'd get from Autotrader.
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi and welcome to the community

    I dint think you are allowed to sell a car that is on finance as the car isnt actually yours until the finance is paid that is why car dealers do finance checks on cars before they buy them or sell them on.

    Did they take out any gap insurance with the car finance ? It may be advisable to get some advice from CAB and also the finance company before proceeding or have a good look through the small print of the contract
  • Lulu_1949
    Lulu_1949 Community member Posts: 236 Pioneering
    You need to ring the finance company first, as janer1967 said, you will then be given the amount owing on the car, THEN you can contact the garage to see what they will pay you for it. Hopefully it will be more so you can pay off the finance then keep the rest and bank it l x
  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,522 Disability Gamechanger
    You can't sell a car that has outstanding finance on it, however was it finance or HP? if it was HP then you can hand it back when half the payments have been made.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

Brightness