I'm in the process of selling my Z4 and have had interest from a garage in Yorkshire who specialise in sports and prestige vehicles. What they've offered me is pretty good to be honest and I have no issues with that.

However, my vehicle is under a PCP finance agreement with BMW. I know what's outstanding on the finance (to pay it off) but i'm concerned about how to go about it during the sale.

I think that I need to get the garage to agree the price in writing and then get them to agree in writing that they will pay off the finance within so many days and provide me with proof of the transaction. I'm just being extremely cautious as I don't want to be left in a position where I sell them my car, they fail to pay off the finance and I have to keep paying for it.

Anyone ever done this? If so, i'd appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks

 

I've not done it when under finance, but I would assume the garage would want you to clear the finance with BMW before committing to the purchase, so the responsibility would be with you and not them. I suspect they will want to see that you've cleared the finance before they will sign a cheque.

If you need the funds from the sale to clear the finance, I am sure your bank will arrange a short term loan (bank, not payday mob!) / overdraft to aid cashflow.

 

I would be really wary of this transaction............ there is nothing to prevent them not paying it off even if they have given you a "written guarantee"

Many years ago I did a transaction with a Ford Dealership that would enable me to trade my XR2 (yes that long ago!)in against another car... I still owed on the XR2,, about a couple of months I think.
The dealer said they would pay it off from the proceeds of the deal...

Three months later I got a summons for non payment of the monthly payments on the XR2, I went down to the dealer who said there had been a problem getting the money to the finance company.. but it would be sorted...

A couple weeks later I went to the dealership, it was closed......receivership.......despite employing a solicitor to claim off the receivers all I got was a bill off the solicitor and still had to pay the finance company.

What really rubbed salt into the wounds was that a couple of months went by and the dealer opened up again,,, I went in and had SEVERE words WITH THE SAME people that were running the dealership before it went bust !!
police were called,...........and they asked me to leave.......

I am not saying this could happen with you but be REALLY careful before you hand over your car... I think I would want the dealer to have a bankers draft (or electronic transfer)of the money owed to BMW finance happen WHILST YOU WERE THERE and then confirm, independently, with BMW that your account was clean before you leave the dealer.

Good luck !

 

I did this a number of years ago now and it was all fine.

I informed the garage it was under finance with Ford and they said no problem they will pay the agreed price of the car to the finance company. I called up the finance company, got a price and told the garage (while at the garage). They then sent payment to the finance company and after a day or so I got written confirmation that the finance agreement had been paid off. That all done I came back a few days later and we exchanged keys and I drove away a happy chappy.

Garage was Perkins Garages in Essex and they were very helpful and had nice stock at the time.

 

I would talk to your finance provider, they must do this all the time?

I assume they (dealer) pay them the owing and you the balance then you hand over keys

 

I would be tempted to do as others have already suggested - pay it off yourself, that way you know you won't have any comeback.

 

Hmm - seems like a bit of a minefield really.
I'm not in a position to pay off the finance first so that's out of the question.

Obviously, I don't know this dealer from Adam, and likewise, he doesn't know me. There's going to be a lot of trust either way to sort this deal out I think.

I may have a chat with the finance company and see what they suggest and also have a chat with the guy at the garage and see how he normally handles this. To be fair, he's been perfectly reasonable throughout my discussions with him and I have no reason to believe he won't do things by the book and sort this all out properly.

It's a bit weird though as this is going to be the first time in my life that i'll be car-less! I just don't need one anymore due to commuting on the train and my wife having a car I can borrow when I need one.

I just know that in a few months time, i'll be scouring autotrader for something else to keep me happy.

 

Which garage in Yorkshire is it?

 

Why......do you know some horror stories surrounding certain garages? PM me if you like.

Not really sure whether I should post the name of the garage up at this stage. If all goes well though (and the sale goes through) I will do so in due course.

 

If I were you, I would ensure that the 'goodwill' part is on your terms, ie, you get the cash from the sale and promise to pay off the finance. I would not risk that they will do it personally.

They should be as happy to trust you as you would be to trust them, so they shouldn't have a problem with that. In theory.