Transfering A Vehicle Which Has Outstanding Finance

[torrenova]

Just wondering if you can transfer a vehicle which has outstanding finance on it. If so, what hurdles do you have to go through.

My concern would be this:

Guy gets a vehicle on finance because he has a good credit check or other suitable background or guarantee. Now if he wants to transfer the vehicle to another party who will be responsible for taking over the payments, what does the prospective new owner have to show to satisfy the finance company.

I mean, you can't just leave it in the orignial owner's name for another 3 years and once it is paid off, you hope that he will sign it over to you can you ?

Anyone know or done this ?

[aussman]

Yes.....this seems to be done on a regular basis in Thailand. You will need to satisfy the lending institution that you are able to meet the required payments and then you will have the option of paying a transfer fee (in my case about 6K bt) to have it in your name or taking over the payments but leaving it in the name of the original purchaser. In both cases the documents for road taxes etc should be transferred to your name and documents showing your record of payment should be in your name.

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about this at first.....but it turned out to be trouble free and we got a great car at a great price.

[torrenova]

So would the lending institution be as strict for the second purchaser as for the original ?

One angle I have is that if they thought the original guy was going to default then they'd be better off with anyone really, perhaps even chucking some cash at the outstanding balance ?

I don't think I'd be happy leaving it in the original guy's name though ! When paid off or before, couldn't he just waltz up and "reclaim" "his" car ?

[TommyGun]

I was in a similar situation with my ex. I bought a new Mits and was giving her mother the money as the car was in her name, stupidly at the time i didn't realise i could have taken on the finance myself.

Anyway my solicitor at the time informed me that as long as i can prove the payments came from me, i had a claim over the car despite the car not being in my name. In the meantime while the matter was being sorted, the police confiscated the car until the matter was resolved, and they were very good about it. I was in the process of arranging proof of monies that had been transfered from my UK acount to the Thai bank account. However, i didn't go through with it as a small business was also involved so i agreed to let her keep the car as long as they didn't interfear with the business.

Basically my solicitor said that her mother would have to prove how the car was being paid for, and that would have been hard for her baring in mind 10k per month was going into her account for the car which was the exact payments per month, and she had no other income.