There is one born every day.....

[fat controller]

I got speaking to one of the other dads at my daughters school the other day, and he was fuming (as well as bricking it) about the payments on his 'new' car.

Now, the background is that he appeared a month previous with an '07 plate car, which somewhat puzzled me as I know that he is long term unemployed, and has moaned in the past that he can't afford to do some of the stuff that the school ask for (fair play, I struggle at times too). He said that he had gotten it in a deal from a dealer where he knew the owner, and had got a good deal on the finance - anyway, it is naff all to do with me, so I thought no more about it.

So, the other day he asked if I knew anything about car finance, as his monthly payment had come out of his bank and it was around £400!

Turns out, he got the car from CarShaft, and he had essentially no idea what he had signed up for - so I suggested that this would likely be the initial payment (admin fees etc) and said he should ring them to check.

He did, and told me the following day that I was right, but it struck me that good old CarShaft must be completely devoid of any scruples whatsoever! They obviously don't give a monkeys whether the customer can afford the payments or not, or in fact if the customer even understands what they are agreeing to.

How on earth are they allowed to get away with it?

What really beats me is that a few banks/finance companies refused to loan me £7500 for my recent car purchase (thankfully my own bank came good), and I am on a reasonably good salary.

[vwcabriolet1971]

Ther are lots of gullible people about. Some cars of avertised as "only £99" per month but what some people don't realise is that the finance is over 5years ! ( or longer ?). By the time they have paid it off the car isn't worth anything !

[Eshrules]

I don't, for one second, believe that mis-selling doesn't go on. However, these people who claim to have been misled into signing up for stupid payments, are clearly NOT reading what they're signing.

Assuming the contract has all the relevant points outlined, it's not difficult to see how much a month you will be paying.

That said, this practice isn't limited to carcraft. I've dealt with a couple of companies for finance (no longer, thankfully) and the number of times I've seen figures falsified, such as car values, deposits placed, annual income and such like - it's unreal.

They're supposed to be regulated by the FSA, so if anyone has had any issues, I'd urge them to speak to debtline asap and ask for guidance.

[phil miller]

the garage where i use to work sold cars (average 3 aweek) anyway we use to have reps from finance companys call in with there lastest deals anyway we were always told to ask how much the customer could afford each month then how long they wanted it over, we then put this in the app form and the F/company would always push it to a couple of pound more amonth, anyway say joe smith was buying a £5000 car and said he could afford £150 a month and had a trade in of £600, the company would say they will do it over 5 yrs at £153 a month, he signs on the dotted line takes the car and after the first payment they forward on a cheque for commission to my old boss, sometimes £400/£500 yet although its wrong it happens everywhere, carcraft are one of the worst, a company like that must rake it in thro commission

[zollaf]

its called making money. those that have money and are prepared to lend it to those that dont have money but need to buy something big. they can either save up for it or get into debt. its a risk on the lenders part, as they may never see that money again if the borrower cannot repay it, so it could end up in court, or the borrower goes bankrupt. everyone is at it, finance companies, banks, in fact anyone with lots of money. some private individuals who have made money in business ( drugs ) lend it to others in their neighbourhood and often charge much larger amounts of interest and if the borrower doesnt pay it back as planned, they often end up with broken legs. these lenders are not regulated by anyone, so can get away with it.
unfortunately some folk without money overestimate what they can afford and dont understand how interest is calculated, so end up in trouble thinking they have a good deal when in fact they dont. they end up paying 3 times what a car is worth, but this in turn gives the lender a good return on their investment.
di i feel sorry for these people in debt ? the answer is no i dont, because i have been there, got the t shirt, ripped up my credit cards, worked like a slave to pay it off and started again. now i stick to my mortgage (115k ) and one credit card for a rainy day. it took me 5 years of living cheaply and grafting, but i dont regret it.
incidentally, i am taking out a new life insurance policy that will cost me £70 per month (for 2 of us, smokers ) but covers for any illness or injury. my financial advisor will get a payment of £1500 for that from the insurance company.

[SammoVWT]

I wouldnt be so hard on people who got into debt. I landed in a bad situation because i was mislead by the engine rebuilders. They properly shafted me every which way i can, and hid their T&C's away where you couldnt find them.

Not sure how they can legally make you sign your rights away without signing anything. But they know the law and know how to bend it.

I made a judgement on financial grounds, to either have a full rebuild for £995 all in (which rapidly changed to £1750, managed to get it £1500 after i let rip by this time i had already agreed to the £995 paid a deposit for the work (forced to) and then they took the car and a week later i was hit with the extra cost) or get a second hand lump for probably around £600-800 to have a second hand one put in which may have given me further problems down the line.

I was left with the choice of paying up and getting the car back in the state i got it in, which was pretty poor. Or to forget the car and they get free parts and also threaten to crush it if its not collected. The third alternative was to cancel and they would put whatever bits they could be ***** to find of the engine in the back seat then pay for the dissasemble fee and have it towed back at my cost (£500+a tow company & lose the deposit i might add).

Made redundant twice last year, then got shafted for my pay in my last job because the company was suffering financially. It was just a snowballing sitation. All caused by a poor service conducted by a garage before failure and then shafted by another bad garage afterwards.

No car for 3 months made work hard, work also screwed me over, had to borrow to keep me and the family alive. I knew what i was getting into but had no choice. Very tough time especially around xmas, with little ones it makes it even harder.

So, some things are not a situation you go into willingly. Eitherway im paying it off now, and cant wait until this leech of a debt is gone.

I agree with you on some points, but it really does depend on the circumstances. You cant say all of the people in debt is a result of a sitation of their own making. I got shafted with the biggest pole possible and had the most stressful 3-4 months of my life after october last year, but then again I was never planning to overreach on my finances and buy something I couldnt afford. I was just trying to keep a roof over my family's head :P

The car is still not 100% repaired as im having to do it in bits. Scraped it through the MOT (emissions). So now its almost there a year later.

There are many deceptive companies out there, and ive been stung by a couple all in a row. Im quite a prudent and logical person by nature, so its not something I saw happening. The recession has made many of these companies worse, ive even had some blatantly lie to me on the phone - so I can see this happening quite easily.

[zollaf]

ouch, which engine company was that, not one with the name of a large airport in its title per chance.

[SammoVWT]

Yep, they robbed all my electronics, including brake fluid sensor, so now i have some crappy old style float in there too.

I asked them at the time where all my parts were, including distributor, map, lambda, coolant sensor, leads.

I got some nice pistons eventually after an extended family member found out my car was there and went ballistic at them, he obviously knew them well. Got my car back 3 days later on xmas eve.

The reason for the delay was lack of piston rings. Apparently anyway.

But they have gone under so many names, I didnt realise who it was until they already had my wheels by which time it was too late!

[zollaf]

lots of people have been had by them.
your case is one where you have had severe bad luck.
i am more on about people that get credit cards, store cards etc, a big loan for a nice car, but then dont add up what it will actually cost them in the long term.

[SammoVWT]

I wanted to torch the place, but i understand your point, I agree with that.

Tbh i prefer being debt free, i hate oweing money. I always pay my way, and i have been brought up with the idea that if you cant afford it, save for it, if you cant save for it - make do without it.

But those principles have been lost in our throwaway culture. But you know its sortof like natural selection in a way