There's a chance that this isn't a scam. The guy could be totally genuine but you do need to tread carefully.
A finance company will not confirm "on the day" that they no longer have an interest in the car. They will only confirm this once they have "cleared funds" and even then it can be a few days later.
Most of them (if not all) will refuse to take a debit/credit card payment over the phone to settle a loan.. insisting on a bank transfer. That's all to do with the money laundering regulations.
A bank transfer will take a few days to clear the system. And just to confirm what others are saying, the finance company will NOT discuss any aspects of the loan with you. They will only talk to their customer.
Whats so special about this car that would make you take this sort of risk ?
I find it a bit odd in itself that you are willing to travel 4 hrs to risk a potential £7k when there are hundreds of every make and model available without all this hassle.
I suspect the seller is genuine and everything wuld go smoothly.In my experience most people are nice and honest.
The problem is, if he is a charlatan, then this is just the sort of scenario that could be employed.
Chances are he isn’t, but that is no comfort if it does turn out to be dodgy.That is why people here are urging caution.
Also what is hard to understand, is why would you drive 4 hours to buy a car that has outstanding financial arrangements.Why is the seller so desperate to get rid of the car - he is effectively paying £800 to be rid of it - why, what is his story - again it could be totally innocent but I would like to know if I were buying.
What is so special about this car that you will do this - is it rare, is it a bargain price.If it is a bargain price why doesn’t the seller just get a temporary loan to clear the finance and then sell it at a higher price.
Personally, I can only imagine that the seller is genuine but in a dire financial situation or he is playing some sort of angle.
Cheers,
Nigel
thing is this is very much the done thing now days selling a car you dont own. 5 years ago when i was looking at getting a car loads of sellers wanted the same thing for me to pay off the finance.
it got so frustrating in the end i went to a used car dealer in the end as they actually owned the cars they were selling.
Hi All,
Thanks for all of the advice, its really appreciated.
Its the exact model, spec and colour I want, at a very good price, so ticks all of the boxes, which is why I'm considering going through all of this.
The seller is a young lad of 22 and this is the 1st car he's sold, so is all new to him. He's purchasing another car, due for collection on the 01/09/2018 and was going to offset this car against his new car. The dealers have offered him £6,800, so he's looking to raise a bit of extra cash.
I've spoken to him a few times and had lots of communication (he's answered everything I've asked of him) and he does come across as genuine (but who knows).
He gave me the telephone number of the Finance company - Barclays Partner Finance.
I've just phoned them and explained the situation and they will happily accept payment from me next Friday / Saturday. I'll phone them up (put it on speaker phone) , get the seller to provide his account number so that they can confirm the balance, get the seller to pay his £800 1st, then I'll pay my £7000.
You’ve probably already done this, but did you double check that the number matches up with the number on their website?
https://www.barclayspartnerfinance.com/home/contact-us/
Personally I would never buy a car this way, wouldn’t entertain the idea at all.
I bought a used car last week from a Ford main dealer, most likely I could have got the same spec car cheaper from a private seller but when it comes to thousands of pounds I want as much reassurance as possible. I had the cash but still chose to pay for the car on a credit card for added protection.
Good luck in your final decision.
Sorry, the figures just don't add up. He is getting EXACTLY (almost) the same from you as the dealer is offering. Why would anyone go through the hassle of selling the car privately to "make" £200.00, when it's easier to hand over to a dealer?
Agree, this makes no sense. Why go through all this for £200. Madness.
That puzzled me too.If the £200 was such an issue I'm sure that you could squeeze that out of the new car dealer.
Cheers,
Nigel