Car Finance problem

[a2om]

I bought a Honda in cash about 2 1/2 years ago and sold it about 2 months ago. I recieved a letter from Honda finance yesterday informing me that the car was their property and subject to a finance agreement with them and the hirer/buyer had no right to sell it without paying for it in full. As a consequence they retain an interest in the goods. Meanwhile i should not sell the car ( which is 2 months too late ) until their investigations are complete, if i do i may incur liability to them for damages. Finally they mention it is very much in my interest to contact them.
Question : where do i stand legally because i bought the car a few yrs ago and sold it a couple of months ago, please advise..

[PrinceRainie]

It is unclear from your question as to how you actually paid for the car originally.
Did you pay cash for the entire car..or part cash part Hire Purchase?????

[a2om]

I payed for the car in cash and the seller at the time informed me that there was no outstanding debt, which i believed in good faith.

[CheekyChops]

I take it you didn't get an HPI check done then :-(

If you still had the car then legally you could have had it taken off you as it still belonged to Honda Finance. I'm not sure what the position is now that you have sold it.

[EverClean]

I'd still get an HPI check done now if I were you to find out exactly the situation you are in. I'd also contact Honda as soon as possible to find a solution.

[PrinceRainie]

I agree with everclean...contact Honda Finance (is it still Blackhorse that run Honda Finance??)
If you paid in full for the car with cash and the previous owner still had finance owing, then yes, you were still liable for the finance (kind of) as you were in possession of the car. (you should have got a HPI check done to show if finance was still outstanding, but you already know that and will probably never buy a car again wothout having one done)
Now that you have sold the car on, the liability will now lay with the new owner (who obviously didnt get a HPI check either!!). Give the finance company the new owners details.
By the way....how did the finance company get your details???

[a2om]

Thanks a lot people, i rang Honda yesterday and explained i`ve sold the car. They replied that they still want me to fill in the questionaire just to confirm that i had no knowledge that the car had outstanding finance. They will then go back to the previous owner and take things further.
Once bitten twice shy... Hp checks can be done for as little as �5.00 via RAC.
Thanks again

[mattymatt123]

If you sold it in good faith before you got the letter they can do nothing about it mate.

[mattymatt123]

also you are not and never were responsibe for the amount owing to the finance company, but they could of taken posession of the car from you provided they had been paid less than two thirds of its total amount owed, after that they need a court order to take possesion, Dependinding on the value of the car they are unlikly to try and take it now because of the amount of times its changed hands. It is also somtimes possible to come to an agreement to settle the amount owed at a greatly reduced figure, if you wanted to get it clear.

[a2om]

Just what i thought, if i`ve sold it in good faith its not my problem any more but i`ve sold it to a good friend. I`ve told them about the situation and they have asked me to keep them informed. I thought if the car changes hand twice they cannot touch it, is this true ?

[mattymatt123]

no thats a bit of a mith but usualy the finance company wont chase it after 3 changes, it costs them to much to keep chasing, i recover financed/stolen cars for a living and im not cheap lol

[a2om]

Excellent, thanks a lot buddy, this whole episode has been stressful to say the least. I bought the car for �5000 and it was worth �5500 and i`ve just sold it a couple of months ago for �4000, 53 Honda jazz,1.4, Should my friends be worried at all ? or worst case scenario should they sell it ?

[mattymatt123]

You have to be carefull because if your friends know the car to be financed they would be comitting a desception at the very least at that sort of value �4k is at the lower end but I would have thought they will still want to recover something, I would advise your friend to talk to the company and try to reach a settlement agreement to clear the car.