How do things stand if you modify a car when the finance company own it?
thinking of the more serious mods like lowered suspension etc, what happens if someone hands the car back with those mods still on? if VW notice do they refuse it back, or give you less money for it?
On the other hand, if they don't notice and sell it on to someone else, they've unknowingly bought a modified car with potentially some rubbish parts fitted from fleabay!
Is that why they insist that the car is fully comprehensively insured? Or insist that the car is not taken abroad for more than a certain number of days a year? Or set an annual mileage figure? Or reserve the right to inspect the car at any time during the hire period? I suppose to some it is rediculously pedantic to consider the rights of others.
I'm assuming if you modify a financed car where you have to give it back after 3 years so pcp, you would have to put everything back to standard, if you physically own it at the end of all the monthly payments, hp, then I would say its ok to modify it.
I wouldn't exactly compare a car on finance to a house mortgage though, slightly different. Edited by: Elfy
Just reading my finance statement which has a section which more a less says that you will be charged a fee for anything they have to do to bring it up to standard when you hand it back.
PCP is technically closer to renting the vehicle in reality. You don't technically (very technically) own anything, so it's unlike a mortgagte where you own the % equity and buy more equity from the bank in the form of diminishing your mortgage value through monthly payments. "Own" is such a subjective term anyway.
It's a grey area when you think about it. I'd be willing to bet my money on it that if you read the PCP agreement through the small print you'd stumble upon a clause somewhere that says the 'owner' (financer) has a say on modifications, regardless of whether they're reversible or not.
Just my 2 cents. I agree it's somewhat pedantic to look at it from that perspective as I would assume that the majority here who have PCP agreements and who have modified their car have no comeback whatsoever as a result.
But to be honest, PCP is where the folk make their money. So more people them out is good for them in the long run.
Technically yes, but I think about it in the same way that you do alterations to a mortgaged house, you don't ask the mortgage company for permission, so way ask the finance company?
I collect my UP! today, I'll ask the sales manager for his take on it
Just catching up with the replies to my thread, well it has sparked some interesting debate!
IMO it doesn't compare very well with mods to a house, as a modified house isn't going to cause you to crash into a ditch, but a modified car could... Adding interior walls to a house or fitting new doors isn't going to be a safety concern to a new owner, and more serious 'modifications' like extensions, new electrics etc. require building control & Inspection - Something that doesn't exist for cars.
I have bought cars in the past privately with mods (that's the risk I took on knowingly) and some of those mods have been pretty ropey - cracked brake discs, failed engine mounts, cutdown springs, badly fitted parts, geometry out after original suspension re-fitted, failed polybushes etc. all of which had to be put right at some point when they were discovered. There are some really good aftermarket modified car parts out there - but equally there is a lot of cheap crap that isn't safe/fitted properly.
So, if I was buying a 2-3 year old car from a VW main dealer for my wife to drive that had just been returned from a PCP deal, I would want it to be 100% unmodified, but how close do they look when inspecting a car when it's returned by it's renter?
Agree that the sales reps and the finance company won't give a F*** because for them it's about the money only.
So, if I was buying a 2-3 year old car from a VW main dealer for my wife to drive that had just been returned from a PCP deal, I would want it to be 100% unmodified, but how close do they look when inspecting a car when it's returned by it's renter?
Agree that the sales reps and the finance company won't give a F*** because for them it's about the money only.
When buying a second hand car would you like one that has been thoughtfully modified and carefully driven or one that has no modifications and been driven by an idiot who rides the clutch, crashes the gears, over revs the engine and bumps up kerbs etc. Trouble is when buying a used car you have no idea how it has been driven.
Beevee, I fully agree - You never know how the car was treated by previous owners. Of course there are some hints what to check to know the ex owner attitude on car, and one of them is - has the driver smoked in car.
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