Car Loan Cancellation Options

[trompelemonde82]

My TGF split with her no-good Thai guy ex-husband a while before meeting me. They had previously bought a car together (in her name, as his credit is non-existent) which her father has since re-claimed from him. However, the family are left having to pay 7000 baht per month over 3 years to pay the rest of it off. Nobody particularly wants the car, much less to have to fork out hard earned cash to pay off such a big debt.

At no point have I been asked to contribute anything towards this, as she has said herself 'it's not fair on you', yet it's obviously a huge stress on the family's income as they are currently helping her out. I suggested simply going to the bank and cancelling the payment plan, explaining they couldn't afford to shell out the cash for it. However, she at first said they would have to pay off 3 months worth (21,00 baht) to do so, and then recently said it would actually be 70,000 baht after her father went to the bank to investigate further.

To be honest, I've no idea how car payment plans really work, either here or in the UK, but it's always been my understanding that any kind of higher purchase plan is easy enough to cancel should the buyer suddenly fall on hard times and be unable to make payments.

Can anyone advise on the legalities of the situation and what options are available? I should also mention that she was not 'legally wed' to her ex-husband, they only had the Buddhist marriage ceremony without any proper signing of documents and whatnot to make it legally binding.

Thanks in advance.

[fredob43]

I smell a very big rat on this one. 21k to 70k. Just stop paying they come and get he car back sorted. Thai's do it all the time. What ever you do don't pay a penny or bt as the case maybe.

[MoonRiverOasis]

If she ever wants finance again, she'll need to sell the car and pay out the finance. Most vehicle finance in Thailand requires a substantial enough downpayment that the used sale price will cover the finanance obligation, so this shouldn't be much of a problem unless they've destroyed the car.

Or, just stop paying - after 3 months arrears the finance company will recover the asset, and your GF will go onto a finance blacklist for life.

[katabeachbum]

If she ever wants finance again, she'll need to sell the car and pay out the finance. Most vehicle finance in Thailand requires a substantial enough downpayment that the used sale price will cover the finanance obligation, so this shouldn't be much of a problem unless they've destroyed the car.

Or, just stop paying - after 3 months arrears the finance company will recover the asset, and your GF will go onto a finance blacklist for life.

70k baht, if true, indicates 10 months late. To be able to buy out car from Finance, they require payments up to date. Only solution I see to avoid bad credit is to sell car, get 70k down, pay out Finance and then transfer car to buyer on final payment.

According to your info balance should be 320k baht, so if you let us know what kind of car model, year, km, condition, we can see if its doable.

I recommend you to go to Finance with GF and ask for balance and see it with own eyes on their screen. Bad credit is bad, so try to avoid it by selling car and pay out finance

[MoonRiverOasis]

70k baht, if true, indicates 10 months late.

No Thai finance company would wait that long, so they've either been hiding the car (OP did say that Dad recently got the car back from the Ex), or someone's not telling the truth

[fredob43]

70k baht, if true, indicates 10 months late.

No Thai finance company would wait that long, so they've either been hiding the car (OP did say that Dad recently got the car back from the Ex), or someone's not telling the truth

Is the Car in the G/F name not just yes it is from them. She wont have the book as finance comp: will have that, but she should have some sort of paper. A lot of the time it's in dad's name or maybe dad's a guanantor. As said before go there and sort it out yourself. It's the only way of getting it in black and white. There is another option buy it yourself that's if you have the cash, but make sure you get the car in your name. A bit of faffing about but pretty easy to do.

Tip

Once you have been to the finance Comp, or they WON'T let you go. If just one thing is not as stated dont walk away FLY.

Might seem to you I'm a bit hard but I've seen it, found it, and almost done it, to the tune of 5 grand English.

Best of luck.

Edited April 17, 2011 by fredob43

[Kwasaki]

70k baht, if true, indicates 10 months late.

No Thai finance company would wait that long, so they've either been hiding the car (OP did say that Dad recently got the car back from the Ex), or someone's not telling the truth

Yeah !!! reading between lines the ex has been hanging on to the car before the father managed to get it back because he was more than likely the guanantor.

If they when to Finance they would want the car back now unless the monies owned were paid, as kbb said go along and find out but what ever you pal do do not sign anything.

Maybe wear a disguise.

[trompelemonde82]

70k baht, if true, indicates 10 months late.

No Thai finance company would wait that long, so they've either been hiding the car (OP did say that Dad recently got the car back from the Ex), or someone's not telling the truth

Yeah !!! reading between lines the ex has been hanging on to the car before the father managed to get it back because he was more than likely the guanantor.

If they when to Finance they would want the car back now unless the monies owned were paid, as kbb said go along and find out but what ever you pal do do not sign anything.

Maybe wear a disguise.

No worries, I wasn't planning on getting quite that involved with the whole business anyhow as to sign anything into my name. As it turns out, her dad's paid the finance off and now they're wanting to sell it. They seem to not be quite sure how to go about this - which baffles me somewhat, her saying they don't know anyone who wants to buy it. Ain't it standard practice for Thais selling their cars to advertise online, in the paper and approach some second hand car dealerships to ask what the wholesale price would be?

[MoonRiverOasis]

It's not standard practice for private sellers to advertise online like the West (it is becoming standard practice for dealers to do this however). Most used cars are purchased on finance, so most are sold at a dealership that'll help out in this regard.

Most popular options for private sellers are word of mouth (which it sounds like they've tried), selling to a "trade-in agent" (used car buyer that hangs around new car dealerships, but usually has no direct affiliation with the dealership), or to a used car dealership. If selling to a professional buyer, expect 20-30% less than what you see them selling for online.

[katabeachbum]

It's not standard practice for private sellers to advertise online like the West (it is becoming standard practice for dealers to do this however). Most used cars are purchased on finance, so most are sold at a dealership that'll help out in this regard.

Most popular options for private sellers are word of mouth (which it sounds like they've tried), selling to a "trade-in agent" (used car buyer that hangs around new car dealerships, but usually has no direct affiliation with the dealership), or to a used car dealership. If selling to a professional buyer, expect 20-30% less than what you see them selling for online.

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