What Options Are There For A Financed Vehicle

[torrenova]

Someone I know cannot meet the repayments on a vehicle bought on finance a year and a half ago. One of her parents guaranteed the loan with about a 20% deposit downpayment. However the parent cannot afford to meet the payments either.

I would like to buy the vehicle but wonder what options I have.

My preferred option would be just to have the vehicle transferred to me and I continue to make the repayments. The problem is that though I have a non immigrant visa I no longer work so I no longer have a work permit and thus no Thai based salary to back up the loan.

I could pay cash for the full balance.

I could pay some cash and then just make payments each month.

Does anyone know what I can do ?

I estimate that there is about 450k owing.

If she does not met the payments and her mother cannot then do I presume that they just repossess the car and sell it to recover their loss ? There would be enough in it to do this I'm sure but it is a lot of hassle for them, no ?

If they won't do anything on transferring the finance then will they offer a reduced settlement figure forgoing some of the interest which would accrue over the remainder of the loan ?

Any other bright ideas most welcomed.

[Carib]

Whatever you do, always remember that all the paperwork proofing ownership of the car is with the finance company.

Therefor you will need their permission/cooperation to buy/transfer the car.

[Riley'sLife]

Your options are best explored by first talking to the Finance Company. It is possible to transfer the debt to your name but usually the Finance Company will want a fee from you for their admin costs, plus several additional "up-front" monthly payments, the number of which will reflect their assesment of both the current value of the vehicle and more importantly to them, your creditworthyness.

However, I would never borrow money to purchase a depreciating asset such as a car.

Whatever you do, don't part with any money until you have all the facts especially full details of the balance outstanding and the current value of the vehicle, and all your likely costs of ownership transfer.

WARNING:

Do not be tempted to take possession of the vehicle in return for your future payment of the monthly finance amounts as this is fraught with problems (insurance, legal ownership/responsibility etc.). Many Thais do this and end up with huge problems because they think everything will be "alright"....it may not be. -for example if you have an accident and the vehicle is a write-off,or even suffers minor damage or worse if it is stolen etc. Also,you will not be able to get 1st class insurance in your name if you are not the owner.

The cleanest way is to find out the Settlement figure for repayment of the debt to the Finance Co., and pay it off in cash in return for ownership transfer.

Rick

[katom]

first class insurance on a financed vehicle? no problem at all !!

[ThaivisaInsurance]

first class insurance on a financed vehicle? no problem at all !!

Quite correct, Thai Visa Insurance can arrange the 1st Class for you :

http://insurance.thaivisa.com/quote-form

[aussiebebe]

I agree.

I found myself in a similar situation three years ago, with a colleague of mine asking me whether I would consider buying 'his' car, on which he owed money to the finance company. Through calling the company, I discovered that finance cannot be switched between persons. No way. I didn't buy.

My advice would be to consider how much you trust your 'friend'; you'd have to pay cash to clear their debts and then trust them to change ownership of their car into your name. It's a trust issue, because at the moment your friend doesn't own the car, the finance company does. On the plus side, I don't think there would be any early-repayment fee, so why not splash the cash and buy the car?