Car history/finance checks - Warning Watch out for "great" deals on cars

Guys, watch out for deals on used cars that seem too good to be true. Given the times we're in many people are in serious difficulty with their car finance. Some of these are leaving Ireland and trying to sell financed cars at massive discounts. They get the cash but you don't get the car...the finance company do (if it's HP car finance rather than a personal loan outstanding). A friend of mine was nearly stung in this way. Always do a search to see if there's finance outstanding on the car. Even if you're purchasing from a garage ask them if there's any potential issues in respect of finance. There's no such thing as too much information with a purchase of this size.

Re: Warning - Watch out for "great" deals on cars

Here's a quick not necessarily comprehensive list of companies offering car finance/history checks:

www.carsireland.ie

www.cartell.ie

www.carhistorycheck.ie

www.motorcheck.ie

I just used Motorcheck.ie. The report states :

This vehicle is subject to an outstanding finance agreement according to official finance records.

The Seller has already told me that he cant afford to keep it due to losing his job, so I assumed there was an outstanding debt. My question is, If hes selling to pay off the outstanding loan, am I liable? If so, it would appear to be catch 22, he cant clear loan without selling, but cant sell as their is finance owing?

What to do???

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=39237

Above post might be of some use.

Thanks JQ2002, thats exactly the situation I find myself in so have asked seller to clear any finance prior to going ahead. Thanks again, very useful information!

a friend of mine was in a similar situation to yourself, he was buying a car in a private sale with finance still outstanding, he gave the seller two checks, one made out to the finance company for the exact amount of finance outstanding and the second check for the remaining amount to the seller!