Can we stop Car PCP voluntary termination?

[PCPstress]

Hi everyone, I need some advice about PCP voluntary termination, now feeling nervous that we’ve made a mistake. We instigated Voluntary termination of car in Dec 2025, just as we tipped into the 4th year of the agreement. Agreement due to end Oct 2026. No financial hardship and we made all the payments but we made the decision to go down to one car ( we have an old VW that we own outright ) to try and streamline our finances.

Car finance company took ages to respond and have only just been in contact to arrange Inspection and collection, this is scheduled to take place at the end of Feb.

I have just been speaking to someone and they have basically told us we have made a huge mistake and are probably going to get stitched up by the finance company. They said they will nit pick over body work and look for any way to knock money off, meaning we may end up owing them loads of money. I’m now very worried and could do with some advice. What can I do now? We have looked after car and kept within mileage limits. Please help. Can we ask for the process to be stopped?

I've had a few cars on PCP, the first time I upgraded slightly early with the same company so they didn't nitpick on condition, mileage at all, they didn't even look at the car until they dropped the new one off and took the old away (was in COVID tho).

The second time we got a new deal from a different provider so they offered me an amount for my car, we got a settlement figure on the finance left on my PCP and they paid that off and any extra went towards my new car.

It's worth asking the finance company for a settlement figure and you can always do a webuyanycar quote to find out what it's worth. If the PCP company are going to be funny with you, you could always sell it yourself as long as you pay the finance balance off.

Please don’t let them scare you. I ended mine early and didn’t get any charges at all.

A lot depends on the finance company. Some stick to the BVRLA (British Vehicle and Rental Leasing Association) standards and won't penalise you for minor defects. Some will try to penalise you for absolutely anything, however small. However, the fact you are terminating early makes no difference. Your finance company will apply the same standards as they would if the agreement had run to term.

We ended ours early & it was stressful .Finance was with Stellantis, who had taken over the original Vauxhall finance. We’d had it from new, looked after if & stayed within mileage limits. We had to take it to an auction place & they nit picked on everything including manufacturing issues such as tailgate not lined up to exactly same measurements at either side. They said it had been resprayed which it hadn’t, it was just a shit paint job in one door . Fortunately we had a friend with same car that also had painting issues & poor tailgate fit which helped our case for of being manufacturing issues. Take your own photos of everything they pick up on. We appealed their decision & got it drastically reduced but really had to persist. I wouldn’t touch Stellantis with a barge pole.

Thank you for your replies

The finance company has contracted out the inspection & collection to a third party company. They are booked to come to our home to inspect and then take the car away. Any advice on this handover process? Any pitfalls to avoid? I wish I’d never instigated this process but there appears to be no going back now. They have all the power, don’t they?

As per my last post, it makes no difference that you are ending the deal early. Even if the deal ran its full term, the finance company would still inspect the car and charge you for any damage that isn't classed as fair wear and tear.

Make sure your car is clean (getting it valeted may be a good idea) and go over it carefully yourself to see if there are any defects that need fixing. It will generally be cheaper to get defects fixed yourself before the inspection if you have time to do so.

You can read the BVLRA Fair Wear & Tear guide at Lex - Car by BVRLA - Issuu. You haven't said which finance company is involved, but they are likely to follow BVLRA standards. Page 8 of the guide has some tips for getting ready to return your car. Page 11 tells you how to dispute any charges you don't agree with. Pages 12 onwards tell you the standards they work to. So, for example, you should not be charged chips of 3mm or less in diameter unless they are rusted or there are a lot of them, and scratches of 25mm or less that can be polished out should not be charged.