BMW Finance - paying it off on a private sale

D

duckson

Active member
 Preston
Need a bit of advice on dealing with a car that has outstanding finance on it....
I'm looking to maybe buy a privately owned BMW Z4MR that the owner has outstanding BMW Finance on.
If i was to purchase the vehicle do you think it would be acceptable upon my collection of the vehicle for the owner to call the Customer Services number and state he wants to pay off the figure owed (he is going to get a settlement figure beforehand)?
He could then hand me the phone and i will pay it off via Switch/Maestro (as long as this is form of payment is accepted?) and then obviously pay him the remaining cash directly up to the price we've agreed for the private sale.

Does this sound like the best way to go about it? At least i would know for sure the car i was buying had no finance left on it (i will get a HPI done so it should show up on this).
 
I've done this before and provided it is ctually BMW financial services on the other end of the phone, you should have peace of mind as Steve says. :)
 
Sounds fine to me - just to make extra sure, I would make the call from your phone yourself. When they pick up / put you through, hand it to the seller...that way you know its BMW you are giving card details to! If the seller isn't keen another way is to go to the bank together and do a CHAPs payment to the finance company, then both take copies of the transaction...that way both sides are happy.
 
Why not call BMW Finance beforehand and make a general enquiry about the settlement of finance, process to release their interest in the car, any fees payable on settlement, etc.? You don't even need to quote a registration and they are unlikely to talk to you about a specific car, but will be happy to give general advise on settlement, their process and any issues to watch for.

Debit card is likely to be acceptable, but credit unlikely due to charges. They may insist on a number of days to release anyway.
 
OK guys this has moved on since my initial post.
BMW Finance wont accept cards and the only way to pay it off is with a cheque or a CHAPS payment....the seller is going to do the latter today (or supposed to have done it today).
I dont know how long it will take to clear from a HPI check but can ask BMW Finance, the RAC said once BMW Finance remove it it should be gone instantly from a HPI report.
The seller has also give me access to his account with a password so i can specifically ask BMW Finance if the finance has been cleared and hopefully get a fax or email off them with documents confirming this.
 
Well it seems to be playing out well so far :thumbsup:

Surprised they won't take debit cards. They probably lumped cards into one and mixed up debit and credit.
 
duckson said:
The seller has also give me access to his account with a password so i can specifically ask BMW Finance if the finance has been cleared and hopefully get a fax or email off them with documents confirming this.
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Sounds like you are on good terms with the seller so should all be fine. A photocopy of the CHAPs instruction would be handy. A letter from BMW Finance declaring the agreement 'paid off and thanks for the business' should be with him a few days later; maybe ask him to send you a copy of that as well for your records.
 
Yep the seller has been great up to now, let me have a good 45 mins test drive and didnt even want a deposit for the car!
If he has the paperwork through i can always get a copy of this when i pick it up.

And f**K me is it fast! :lol: and how good does that straight 6 sound? :thumbsup:
 
Don't touch it. You say the guy is the owner, he's not the owner, BMW is. It is illegal for the keeper of a car on finance to try to sell it to a third party. How do you know when you "pay it off" that he won't walk away and remove the car ? -- you wouldn't have a leg to stand on ! Ask him to get a 24 hour loan from his bank so he pays it off. If he won't do it that way he is probably be a crook. Also watch for a well known scam where there is more than one finance contract on a car - you pay one loan off but the car still won't be yours.
 
I had this same situation - buying a privately owned car with BMW finance still outstanding.
However, the car will not be marked as 'no outstanding finance' on the HPI check the instant the CHAPS payment goes through with BMW finance.
I was told that HPI update their records monthly, so depending on what date the CHAPS goes through it could be a few weeks before it updates on the HPI records.

If it hasnt been updated by the time you want to pick up the car I would make a call to BMW finance when you are with the seller.
Make sure you dial the number!

The seller can then authorise you to talk to BMW finance, and ask whether there is any outstanding finance on the car, and whether they can confirm that 'BMW no longer have an interest in the car, and that the owner is free to sell it'.
Get this done verbally over the phone, and also you can also ask BMW finance to email you written confirmation of this.

This is what I did when I bought mine.
The status of 'outstanding finance' didnt change on the HPI register until a few weeks after I bought my car.

If you take the necessary precautions, buying a car this way isnt a problem.
It does seem a bit daunting due to the amount of cash involved, but act with the necessary precautions and all will be well.
 
mikebeesley said:
Complete Drivel
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I have to post because frankly, you are bloody irritating.

You have just five posts and two of them have been scare mongering in relation to a vehicle on finance. Every single day, dealers take hundreds if not thousands of cars, on finance, as trade ins and clear the finance for you. Rarely is it done at hand over. Every day, the finance companies are asked to act as middle men in deals like this and are clear what's happening. To suggest that doing so makes people 'crooks' shows total ignorance. The owner IS the legal owner of the car - BMW Finance have a loan secured on it. It's his car and he can sell it. This would of course be totally different if the car is Contract Hire (and someone else owns it).

What he is NOT allowed to do is take the funds and not repay the finance company. That would be 'selling a car on finance', literally. What WOULD be stupid is paying for a car on finance and trusting the seller to clear it, or for a seller to hand over a car and trust a buyer. So to protect yourself you need to get together and agree a way of doing it, like the OP has done, so the other party doesn't get screwed. As above, it takes weeks to update on the HPI register - but so does your V5 with your name and address. Doesn't mean it's not your car, you have paperwork to prove a sale is in progress.

If you don't like doing it because it's too complex for you that's fine - don't do it. But do not label the rest of us based on incorrect assumptions.
 
lol thanks all.

As i have stated i will phone BMW finance BEFORE i even collect the car and enquire about the situation with the finance on the car as the owner should have paid it off via CHAPS, i will get BMW Fin. to fax/email me something as proof and for my records.
Although RAC told me it could disappear from the HPI check as soon as BMW Fin. remove it as a car thats on finance even if the HPI does come back as showing BMW Fin. outstanding on the car i will know from phoning them this now isnt the case.

He is the registered owner on the V5, checked this.

He is who he says he is as he is an ex-Scottish Prem football player, google soon shows this to be true with picture and all. :thumbsup:
Lets hope Sunday lets me get :driving:
 
Fascinating stuff. I've always bought my cars brand new so it's impressive to see the number of ways to make a transaction happen. :popcorn:
 
mikedav said:
mikebeesley said:
Complete Drivel
Click to expand...

I have to post because frankly, you are bloody irritating.

You have just five posts and two of them have been scare mongering in relation to a vehicle on finance. Every single day, dealers take hundreds if not thousands of cars, on finance, as trade ins and clear the finance for you. Rarely is it done at hand over. Every day, the finance companies are asked to act as middle men in deals like this and are clear what's happening. To suggest that doing so makes people 'crooks' shows total ignorance. The owner IS the legal owner of the car - BMW Finance have a loan secured on it. It's his car and he can sell it. This would of course be totally different if the car is Contract Hire (and someone else owns it).

What he is NOT allowed to do is take the funds and not repay the finance company. That would be 'selling a car on finance', literally. What WOULD be stupid is paying for a car on finance and trusting the seller to clear it, or for a seller to hand over a car and trust a buyer. So to protect yourself you need to get together and agree a way of doing it, like the OP has done, so the other party doesn't get screwed. As above, it takes weeks to update on the HPI register - but so does your V5 with your name and address. Doesn't mean it's not your car, you have paperwork to prove a sale is in progress.

If you don't like doing it because it's too complex for you that's fine - don't do it. But do not label the rest of us based on incorrect assumptions.
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Well said.
 
^ +1
I've been working in Consumer finance for 25 years and it's normal procedure to pay off car HP agreements at the point of sale.

One thing worth doing is the HPi check and take advantage of their guarantee. It's a few simple steps but does give some extra protection
 
cj10jeeper said:
Well it seems to be playing out well so far :thumbsup:

Surprised they won't take debit cards. They probably lumped cards into one and mixed up debit and credit.
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No they don't take any kind of card payments? Weird?

I part financed my last MINI with them and then 2 months later decided to pay it off. They wouldn't except payment by card. I had to do a CHAPS payment. The Z4's mine so I wont have that problem again.
 
This is a helpfull thread as i plan to do a similar thing when i decide to trade/sell my Z4. Mines on bmw HP over 5 years but i very much doult i'll keep it for 5 years, i'm thinking more 3 at which point i was looking at what the OP has done or as mentioned there are other options. I could get a bank loan and pay it off so the car is mine to sell privately. Most likely i'll be buying again from a dealer so will just ask for my settlement fee and take this amount of the part ex value.
 
Well spoke to the seller tonight and the finance has been payed via CHAPs today.
Phoned HPI and they said the finance will disappear from the HPI register the minute BMW Finance remove it.....so its entirely down to BMW Finance processing the paperwork maybe, will phone them tomorrow to check that a. it has been paid off the car and they can fax/email me proof to that effect and b. when they will remove it from the HPI register (if they havent already done so).
 
duckson said:
Well spoke to the seller tonight and the finance has been payed via CHAPs today.
Phoned HPI and they said the finance will disappear from the HPI register the minute BMW Finance remove it.....so its entirely down to BMW Finance processing the paperwork maybe, will phone them tomorrow to check that a. it has been paid off the car and they can fax/email me proof to that effect and b. when they will remove it from the HPI register (if they havent already done so).
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Actually it will be dependant upon how quickly BMW update the HPi database. That could be a real time update or a batch file process, as infrequently as once per month. Not unlike the Experian type credit reference agency databases where companies typically do a once per month account update.

If BMW tell you their interest is cleared and HPi have nothing else registered, then that will be just fine.
 
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