Imported Car Hire Purchase Issue

[PONGOWARING]

Hi. I'm looking for advice if I may.

I purchased a car on Hire Purchase in 2011 and last year (2013) it came to light the car was imported. Apart from immediately making my insurance void this also raised a number of other issues including (a) I would never have bought the car had I known because it was worth a lot less than I paid and (b) these particular cars an extremely difficult to insure if they are grey parallel imports.

To cut a long story short; the finance company even detail on their website that they do not fund imports so do I have valid grounds under the Credit Consumer Act, Sales of Goods Act or any other law/rule to give this car back as it clearly is not what I though it was.

I have apporached the finance company with this and naturally they have immediately dismissed me and want the agreement upheld.

Surely, the fact it is now proven it is a vehicle they would not have funded (and I would not have bought) had it been known it was imported is a factor here?

Many thanks

 

[Witch consumer]

Check your agreement as I think under a hire purchase scheme after a certain amount of time or after a certain amount has been paid, you can return the car to the finance company for no penalty, of course this depends on whether its worth it financially but they may think twice rather than get stuck with a car that is of lower value than it should be. Not sure you would have any other comeback after this length of time?

 

[LondonGirl]

Hi Witch Consumer,

You are right. You can do what is known as a Voluntary Termination at any time during the agreement, and whether or not you have arrears. This is a commonly misunderstood piece of consumer law, and the finance company would doubtless tell you you cannot do it. They are wrong.

When you do a VT, you have to pay 50% of the amount owing under the agreement (this figure will be stated on the agreement, it has to be by law). You repay this figure less any payments already made and any deposit.

However, it may well not be worth the OP's while doing this as they could stand to lose a lot of money as they'd have to pay 50% of the loan for a vehicle they'd no longer have.

Was the vehicle sold with any report - HPI check, RAC/AA inspection etc...? What car is it? Which finance company is it? Are you willing to give some figures as to what you paid, what has been paid off etc....

If you do want to VT the car, please come back and post here so we can talk you through it. Garages try every trick in the book to avoid them, so you need to know what the law says. It is very clear.

I think what you really want is to hand the car back and get your money back though - I suspect this is unlikely to happen. However, if you give the details asked for, people can have a think about potential avenues (if any) for you.