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Original poster

Car Salesman Lied to us - PLEASE HELP! (I know I am in the right on this one [wink])

22 replies

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 13:11

The car was out of our budget.

He said that they were offering low rate HP, so we decided that the only way to get the car we needed to fit us was to get £2000 on HP.

He said 3.3% apr, and then when he got the call through said we were borrowing too little for the 3.3%, but we could have 7.7% instead.

Still less than we would have gotten a loan for so we agreed with repayments at £53 a month (give or take pence).

HP paperwork through today - 24.2% APR!?!?! We have a loan we could have topped up at 17%, there is no way we would have signed up for that.

And first repayment £195 with the £53 after that - we don't have £195, again, it was never once mentioned.

I am trying to read through all the small print, but atm I am getting in a state.

It was taken out a week ago - will we be charged for cancelling when it was misrepresentation??

And in the meantime I will have to lose my car, and the courtesy one goes in 7 days.

Bastard.

OP posts:

mollythetortoise · 02/02/2009 14:09

what does the small print re. cancellation say is there a cooling off period? have you received money yet@ have you got the new car?

callalilies · 02/02/2009 14:11

If the paperwork has only just arrived I assume you haven't signed it yet? In which case surely it's a case of not going ahead with it rather than cancelling it?

ruddynorah · 02/02/2009 14:13

did you sign anything there and then in the sales office?

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 14:40

Right - back from the office.

DH signed something last Monday - he doesn't know what and we have no copy

The salesman phoned loan company and tells us it is 8.9% (still higher, but doable) and it shows up as 24% due to various charges We have come away to do our various adding up.

Paperwork says there is no back out

Seeing the guy was a talking round in circles thing, hence coming home to work out more clearly.

OP posts:

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 14:43

Ok. I have now been able to do the adding up and thinking straight.

They are telling me the truth

F*cking misleading paperwork

OP posts:

mollythetortoise · 02/02/2009 14:44

why don't you work out what your repayments are over how many months and that way you can see what they 2K loan will cost you in total and then see if you are happy with this or not. You might now have no choice if no cooling off period on loan.

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 14:46

I am so sick of finding letters that give me money issues

OP posts:

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 14:57

People should ignore any thread I post in legal until I have had 24hrs to sort it myself and realise I am a fool....

OP posts:

psychomum5 · 02/02/2009 16:00

ok, found ya.............are ya calmer yet??

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 16:31

Much

OP posts:

Lizzylou · 02/02/2009 16:34

I used to work in finance, when you take 3 payments up front it works out as a better margin for the finance company, so that's why apr is shown as higher than you were quoted.
Surely there is a cooling off period of 14days, I thought that that was standard (it was years ago)

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 18:17

now that makes sense! I love you!

OP posts:

nappyzonehasastroppytoddler · 02/02/2009 18:21

when we took our on a month ago we had 7 days cooling of period and do go on comparethemarket.com etc.. to make sure we were getting the best rate. The first payment was higher for doc fees and other rip of things.

Lizzylou · 02/02/2009 18:22

Me?
My boss used to call it "tickling up the rentals", the finance company is just getting it's money back more quickly with 3 payments up front.
If your payments haven't changed and you can afford them, then it makes no difference to you (apart from the hefty 1st payment which he should have told you about).

SlightlyMadScotland · 02/02/2009 18:24

Interest rate and APR are different I think...although it confuses me and I can't remember the difference....

They quote teh interest rate as it is lower....but APR is the important one IIRC

HumphreysCorner · 02/02/2009 18:27

Sadly, garages seem to quote the flat rate which is always lower as opposed to the APR and always add an administration charge onto the first repayment. You do have a cancellation right, usually 14 days.

SlightlyMadScotland · 02/02/2009 18:31

scroll down the APR section of this

Basically APR has to include any charges on teh loan...and it sounds like the bigger the difference between "interest rate" and "APR" the more expensive the loan is overall because it indicates extensive expenses.

TBH what i did was to get loan quotes from a varietey of sources...add up the total repayments over the term (e.g. 24*£53) and see how much is actually being paid back in real terms.

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 18:36

We most likely are paying back more in real terms, but tbh I am now past caring. I cannot worry about money any more atm

Poor DH is a mess.

It does help to have it explained though!

OP posts:

Lizzylou · 02/02/2009 18:37

APR will take into account timing of rentals. ie. 3 upfront rentals or first payment made before a month, all things used to get money in quicker. Interest rate and flat rates don't.

SlightlyMadScotland · 02/02/2009 20:19

Flamesparrow - are you paying it back over 5 years?

Have a look at Alliance and Leicester here.

I have just plumbed in a £2000 loan over 60months and come up with an APR of 18.9%. Repayments are £50.21 per month...there appears to be no up front inlated payment (as £50.21*60 is equal to teh total repayable they quote) - and assuming your loan above is over 60m would save you £300 over 5 years.

Obviously I don't know your credit rating, financial position etc. and I know that you want to get this sorted as you need a car etc. but I would be tempted to do this just to say up yours to teh car company that are basically screwing you around.

One other thing to consider is that you would have to check with the garage as ssometimes they can get a bit arsey with prices if they are not getting comission from the HP company.

SlightlyMadScotland · 02/02/2009 20:27

Oh...but there is a significant problem you could be screwed byt eh law here (sorry I forgot the timings thing in your OP).

If you signed the contract on their premises you have no right to cancel.

BUT I would suggest that you threaten them with trading standards and/or the financial ombudsman on the following grounds:

You have no copy of the contract
The company have changed the payment terms (i.e. interest rate) since the contract was signed?

I don't know if it will help - you can but try.

Original poster

Flamesparrow · 02/02/2009 21:53

Our credit rating isn't perfect (well, DH's which is where we need the money from) so it is the best deal we could get.

I know the £300 is galling, but I am now past the stage of caring. The finances involved since the car crash is seriously messing up DH's mental health

Thank you so much for looking into all this for me

Oh, and my mum is lending us the first payment until our settlement is through

OP posts:

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