Brother in law had a MK4 Astra a few years back. Did the same as you handed it back. His was also modified ie body kit, tinted windows and different lights. Finance company didnt bat an eye lid. The guy just come checked the car matched their docs and took it

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Brother in law had a MK4 Astra a few years back. Did the same as you handed it back. His was also modified ie body kit, tinted windows and different lights. Finance company didnt bat an eye lid. The guy just come checked the car matched their docs and took it

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Cool, thanks.

My apologies guys - you learn something every day, and never too proud to admit when wrong.

 

This is the definitive answer from the guys that know  - the credit rating agency Experian (I should have checked this first).

 

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/questions/askjames229.html

 

• Will handing back my car keys ruin my credit rating?

 

Dear James,

I was looking to make a voluntary contract cancellation regarding a car I bought from Mercedes Benz. The contract stipulates that the car can be given back once half the payments have been made. Could you please advise if this will affect my credit rating in the future - whether it will be marked on my history? Many thanks.

Emily, Bristol

 

 

Dear Emily,

Your credit rating should not be affected. ‘Voluntary termination’ of a hire-purchase agreement is your legal right and if you’ve paid at least half of the total amount due and the car is in satisfactory condition then you should be left owing nothing. The lender may add a voluntary termination flag to the record of the credit agreement on your credit report, to explain to other lenders why the agreement was settled early. But as long as you have paid all of your monthly payments on time up to the point you hand the keys back, your credit history should not be damaged by this. Voluntary termination is actually an archaic form of debt relief and is not particularly popular with lenders, but I’ve seen no evidence to suggest that exercising this consumer right in any way damages credit scores.

 

 

SWMBO has done it in the past no issues for her after it.

 

The mods are likely to be a bigger issue as said strictly speaking that car wasn't yours.

 

Trading in with this is easy since the dealers take car of paying off the old debt and taking out new.

Or you can take out a personal loan pay off the car with that, then the car is yours to do with as you want. That can be advantageous if you think you can sell the car for more than you owe on it.

The penalties for paying off loans early aren't that bad these days.

Cool, going back to original post, yes was considering a bank loan. I'm just not sure on the price/value of my car. Going by auto trader there is quite a broad range. There is one on there same miles that is up for ten k. Then there ones with less milage up for 7k etc. and of course these are dealers.

Thanks for your input on op guys.

Cool, going back to original post, yes was considering a bank loan. I'm just not sure on the price/value of my car. Going by auto trader there is quite a broad range. There is one on there same miles that is up for ten k. Then there ones with less milage up for 7k etc. and of course these are dealers.

Thanks for your input on op guys.

 

My two pence - Get rid, start again with a new car, run that 3 years and do the same again. This way you get a new car, that is covered under warranty and no MOT!

Not hard to get a 3yr warranty on a used car now.

 

Just did it on my Honda. 3yr manufacturers warranty for an extra £300 on a 4yr old car. Unlimited mileage.

Doesn't cover wear and tear so brakes etc aren't covered but then they are mostly out of cover after one year anyway.

 

I get the appeal of a new car but the depreciation is horrific. MOT isn't a massive worry really it's things like DPFs and DMFs that are a scary ones.