The saga of the car.
(Last update 29/4/01)
In December of 1997 we bought a P reg Vauxhall Astra 1.6GLS auto from Lookers in Ellesmere Port using the "Options 1-2-3" deal. The deal looked attractive as it allowed us to keep certain investments running. It allowed 3 years before we had to either take the car back and walk away, trade it in for a new deal at a guaranteed price, or buy the car outright with the remaining 50% of the price. It was all done at a bit of a rush and I did not ask all the right questions. In the end, the deal was 16.67%apr although the monthly payments looked quite reasonable.
After a couple of months my bank contacted me about the finance agreement and said that they could do better. This made me think properly about what was going on. I concluded that I would be better off cashing in an investment and borrowing the rest at this special deal rate rather than paying out 16.67% to Woodchester Finance. I asked Woodchester for a payout figure and they quoted a figure that was higher than the price of the car! I thought this must be a mistake. I contacted them again for an explanation and they said that they may include what amounts to two months interest penalty for early settlement as permitted by the Consumer Credit Act although nobody had explained that to me and there was no mention of any penalty clause in the contract at all. (This amounted to some £600) I recalculated the proper amount due using the accounting actuarial method and paid them what I believed to be due and explained what I had done. There was some communication over the ensuing months and then it went quiet. I did get a phone call from them after the best part of a year advising that I was considerably overdue and that my credit rating would be at risk if I did not pay up. I was not prepared to discus it over the phone and referred to previous written correspondence.
On the Monday before we left England and my original expectation of selling the car to one of my team at work had not eventuated, something made me phone Woodchester Finance. I had heard that selling a car to a second hand dealer would require them to check if there was a charge over the car and I wondered if Woodchester had properly released the car. It turned out that they had not. The money that I had paid to them in full settlement of the finance had merely been amortized monthly against the debt, without any interest being earned on my payment. This meant that I did not actually own the car and therefore could not legally sell it. In spite of paying Woodchester the full amount as calculated they were still charging interest. What's more, they were not bound to give any of the "overpayment" back. On Tuesday, after taking legal advice, it became apparent that I was in a seriously difficult position. I had paid them nearly £9,000 and there was something like £5,000 left in the account. I could exercise my right just to give the car back, a couple of months before the half way point, and become liable to pay the balance up to the 50% mark, under a voluntary surrender. But I would have to pay them something like £450 and lose the 5 grand. Between us we worked out that if I demanded the return of my money they would have to give it back (without interest earned) and once returned I could then exercise my right to terminate the deal. But they couldn't do both at once. And initially they wanted to do it by mail although after a lot of stress they agreed to do it by fax. So Tuesday I gave them instruction to refund our money.
On Wednesday, after some doubt, the credit balance had been cleared and I was able to give my instruction to surrender the car. They faxed some forms over for me to send back and instruction on where to take the car would be forthcoming, including a notice to the nominated receiving auction house near Heathrow (I was in Yorkshire when all this was going on). It was touch and go whether we would receive this last fax in time. The fax I was borrowing was at the business of a friend of our Yorkshire host. They would shut shop at 5:30p.m. Otherwise I would have to collect it first thing Thursday morning before our final drive to Heathrow, hoping that it was there. The fax arrived at around 5p.m. that Wednesday.
Thursday morning we drove down to Heathrow. I took the car to Black Bush auction centre, about 45 minutes drive from Heathrow, caught the train back and then set about waiting for our plane.
In effect, we ended up getting about £3700 for an immaculate 21/2 year old Astra 1.6GLS auto with very low mileage. I would say that we lost at least £2000.
This was all stress that we could have done without. We were spending our last few days in England with some dear friends in Yorkshire and after working my wotsits off at work trying to ensure a smooth handover I reckoned I deserved a bit of relaxation. To say the whole saga was frantic is the understatement of the millennium!
You have been warned.