Buying a motorhome with outstanding finance

jsmith

Guest
I know am going to get people telling me to walk away but...

I am in the process of buying a motorhome. The price is good, but not unbelievable. The motorhome is in London, and I am located up north so the deal was struck from photographs and detail over email. I have left a small deposit, and was due to collect the motorhome and pay the balance last weekend.

However before I left home, I decided to conduct an HPI Check. It came back that there was outstanding finance. On speaking to the seller, he admitted it (what else could he do) and said he normally sells the vehicle then pays off the finance. However if he doesn't, I am left with a lean against my new van.

The finance company is only open mon-fri. The seller claimed not to be aware of this, but I have to ask the question how could he not know, if he has been renting these vehicles out for nearly 2 years.

One suggestion was that I view the van, agree any issues (if any) to be resolved, go away, pay off the finance over the phone and come back to collect the van next weekend. Of course this isn't acceptable as if he then refused to sell me the van, I would have paid the finance off for him without any paperwork.

The next option was for me to take a day off work and drive down during business hours, give the van the once over, pay the finance and the balance to the seller. My question is...has anyone ever done this? What can go wrong?

I know I should probably walk away, but i would then lose my deposit, and the van is about £3000 cheaper than I have seen elsewhere locally.
 
It's not unheard of when buying and selling high value items like top marque cars, trucks, motorhomes etc Just make sure you are happy with the transaction to the finance company, get verbal confirmation over the phone from them yourself that it's cleared, pay the balance and drive off with a saving of £3k :)

Just be very very careful, and make sure you are paying / speaking to all the right people etc.
 
So the seller neglected to mention outstanding finance until presented with an HPI check - kinda sounds like a shyster to me.

What else isn't he telling you?

I know you don't want to hear it but walk away.

Dont see why you would lose your deposit as the item was not as described - neglecting to mention outstanding finance would have to be considered a fairly whopping omission on the part of the seller.

I'd start by asking for it back then, if needed, escalate it from there.
 
As has already been said be very, very, very, careful and if anything is still bothering you ...... walk away.
 
jenks said:
It's not unheard of when buying and selling high value items like top marque cars, trucks, motorhomes etc Just make sure you are happy with the transaction to the finance company, get verbal confirmation over the phone from them yourself that it's cleared, pay the balance and drive off with a saving of £3k :)

Just be very very careful, and make sure you are paying / speaking to all the right people etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I thought about that.

For example...I would not permit the seller to make the call to the finance company. I will be sure to make the call from my phone using the advertised phone number on the HPI check. Otherwise he could be calling his mate who pretends to be the finance company and takes my card details over the phone.

It is a shame that you cant trust people these days, but I guess that is the state of affairs.

Thanks for the advice.
 
Give him the asking price minus the outstanding finance, [get a settlement figure from finance company] get the docs signed and posted then bring the van home and pay off the deficit.


Without prejudice.
 
For me, alarm bells would be ringing very loudly, i'd get my deposit back, then RUN away as fast as ya can.!

jt
 
john t said:
For me, alarm bells would be ringing very loudly, i'd get my deposit back, then RUN away as fast as ya can.!

jt
Click to expand...

I echo these sentiments, run away, I smell a scammer
Did you get a receipt for the deposit even if you did not there are ways of pursuing them for the money back.
 
I sold my last van to a guy with no problem. He paid a deposit on first inspection then returned a week later & we both spoke on the phone to my finance company & he paid off my balance over the phone. Easy peasy!
 
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campertwo said:
I sold my last van to a guy with no problem. He paid a deposit on first inspection then returned a week later & we both spoke on the phone to my finance company & he paid off my balance on the van. Easy peasy!
Click to expand...

Yes, but the OP wasn't told of any outstanding finance, and only found out when he did the check's and the seller wasn't forth coming with that info, sounds like a con to me, and as i said before....RUN away.!

jt
 
You seem to know the answer

But you still want to buy it
You are just asking to try to justify doing the wrong thing.
I know this is harsh but as others have said .. Loads of fish
Too complicated etc
Apart from the price why do you like it..
Layout maybe ?
go to a dealer with a good selection to have a good look round and if you do like one ...Then offer about 10% less than his price.. you appear to have cash !
see what happens !

Most things are cheaper "up north"
 
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he lied to you by not mentioning the financed. As already said, What else is he hiding???
Without being insulting to you, you should not even be on here asking your questions. you should have got your deposit back and run.
 
First and foremost, the vehicle is owned by the finance company until the debt is paid off. Secondly, it is illegal for him to sell it as he does not legally own it. He has already broken the law by trying to sell it.

It is impossible for him not to know he owes money on the vehicle as he is either paying direct debits each month or he has already defaulted and the finance company will be threatening legal action or retrieval of the vehicle to sell through an auction to get their money back.

As others have said walk away. It's not worth getting involved.
 
Welcome to the forum and hopefully you will get your deposit back.
 
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He didn't disclose the dept owed on this vehicle, walk away, even if he has the registration docs it doesn't mean he owns it. You had to do an HPI check to find out. Get your deposit back, it's not worth the risk on a large investment and like many have said there are many straight sellers with good vans out there.
 
Hi you said in your post that he hired these vans and the company is in London would that be North london
We have a hire company in North London that sell vans about £3000 cheaper when they reach 3years old
Each one is financed by the rental so if is sold of early there would be an outstanding debt to pay.
My advice for what it is worth is look some where else don't start life with a problem.
Johnd
 
I have done this with someone who didn't mention the finance but we sorted it out with him paying it off then getting confirmation from the company that it had gone through. Got the van for a very good price and after meeting the owner find him and his wife to be a very nice couple. Not everyone is a conman but you do have to take care especially with these sums of money.
 
We looked at a van with outstanding finance just before we bought our present one, ended up buying from a dealer (first vehicle ever), saved a lot of stress, especially when you're spending over 20k. And the dealer dropped the price by about 2 and a half k anyway. I'd walk away, but then again I wouldn't have paid a deposit until after doing checks anyway. Hope it all works out for you whichever way you go.
 
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