Car sold unwittingly with Finance, now what?

[maxman]

Hi, quick post to see if anyone has any experience in this area:

A friend of mine sold a car on behalf of his colleague who left the country about 4 months ago. Now my mate is being told by the buyer that the car has outstanding finance and it is being reported to the police.

Question is, as my mate was not the owner/seller of the car, and wasn't the one who advertised the car, is he now responsible for anything? (All he simply did was collect the money from the buyer and made sure the V5 document was completed and sent back to DVLA).

Thanks.....

The logical way to sort it out if it was an honest mistake ,is for your mate to give the buyer his money back and have the car returned,all this after checking with his so called mate their is money owing on the car.

 

[Z4M-2006]

Hi, quick post to see if anyone has any experience in this area:

A friend of mine sold a car on behalf of his colleague who left the country about 4 months ago. Now my mate is being told by the buyer that the car has outstanding finance and it is being reported to the police.

Question is, as my mate was not the owner/seller of the car, and wasn't the one who advertised the car, is he now responsible for anything? (All he simply did was collect the money from the buyer and made sure the V5 document was completed and sent back to DVLA).

Thanks.....

The logical way to sort it out if it was an honest mistake ,is for your mate to give the buyer his money back and have the car returned,all this after checking with his so called mate their is money owing on the car.

Agreed.......

Or......So called mate pays off remaining finance from proceeds of sale..

If he does neither he is a crook and needs a kick in the nutsack.

 

[Anonymous]

Saw on local news tonight a man got 6 yrs for trying to sell the house he was renting!!!!!!

Not the same obviously, but just as cheeky!

 

[DPG]

Did your mate act as a middle man? i.e. did the money from the sale of the car go through his accounts

Sounds pretty dodgy to me. Why get involved in something like that for a "colleague" unless he had something to gain from it all.

As far as the buyer is concerned your mate could have burgled a house (of someone who works away for long periods), found the car keys / V5 and sold it on.

 

[shawna]

The so called mate should not be 'visible'............

Unless this 'mate' sold the car at a profit over the original owner.

If it was me doing the favor to a friend, I would ask the buyer to deposit the money directly in the owners account. That would avoid me getting seen to by the tax man and also there would be no trace of me anywhere.

This thing smells fishy. I think my synopsis above holds water where the 'mate' acted as a broker and made money.

 

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine sold a car on behalf of his colleague who left the country about 4 months ago. Now my mate is being told by the buyer that the car has outstanding finance and it is being reported to the police.

let's hope 'My mate' is not code for you know who.....

 

[andysat]

A friend of mine sold a car on behalf of his colleague who left the country about 4 months ago. Now my mate is being told by the buyer that the car has outstanding finance and it is being reported to the police.

let's hope 'My mate' is not code for you know who.....

 

[Spikey]

You regularly see ads for cars saying "for sale on behalf of....." This is back to the buyer beware thing - why would you ever enter into a significant transaction like car purchase whilst not dealing directly with the owner.

... And the original owner knew there was finance on the car - so he has acted illegally instructing the sale without making this clear

 

[Toe-side]

This thread has created some interesting discussion, also a number of alternative solutions and outcomes.

What's your input or take Marco? Can you supply any further insight into the background?

 

[Lillywhite]

... And the original owner knew there was finance on the car - so he has acted illegally instructing the sale without making this clear

I agree and the 'mate' could face charges with being an accessory to the deception.

 

[PaulN]

First things first, get someone to run a check on the car, finance will be instantly shown then.

Depending on where the cash is either car is returned or the seller pays off the finance. If I was the buyer I would have run checks first but certainly wouldn't feel comfortable owning a car from someone either deceitful or stupid.