[Reims]

BBC 1 9pm, a programme called Whistleblower. All about that fabulous company called Yes Car Credit aka Direct auto Finance in Horsham.

Unfortunately prior to meeting my current girlfriend her previous numpty boyfriend had managed to convince her to buy a car from them.

Put it this way, I don't think there is enough space on the MLR to write what I think about this piece of **** company and their scams, resulting in a debt for a car worth about 1/10th of what she paid and didn't actually end up owning

They have been on Watchdog more times than anyone else and yet still are allowed to trade as they do.

 

[Lee5]

Yea Chris

My mate bought a M reg mondeo off them cost him over 15k in the end + he had to pay 2k to buy it at the end of contract or buy another car and use its as a deposit

Total rip off

Lee

 

[Reims]

She was very knieve mate, but then a numpty in her ear telling her to 'just get it' didn't help.

They told her she HAD to have the GAP insurances which cost an extra £60 odd a month (total payment was only £187!)

When she wanted to give the car back early she was given her reduced payment figure to make, but had to pay for ALL FOUR YEARS of gap insurances - even though she wouldn't actually own the car or have a finance agreement left with them !!!

We contacted the gap insurance company direct and they told us that the policy was pro-rata - ie, when the agreement ended, the policy ended. Basically the money she was paying after the agreement ended, went straight in their pocket.

 

[pondy]

BBC 1 9pm, a programme called Whistleblower. All about that fabulous company called Yes Car Credit aka Direct auto Finance in Horsham.

They have been on Watchdog more times than anyone else and yet still are allowed to trade as they do.

I will be watching 'the apprentice'

They are still allowed to trade as they do because they do not break the law. Selling over-priced, piles of **** on highly inflated finance packages to stupid, gullible or desperate people is not illegal. IMO it's the FSA who should put a stop to these type of people operating as they do.

Yes Car Credit (and the hoards of others), are finance companies who aim at people with poor credit history. They sell 'high risk' loans at high risk interest rates and throw in a car as well!

 

[Beefy]

If your actually too stupid to see through the scam, then you get what you deserve.

The 2 liverpool guys that created the company, then flogged it, are now sitting on millions, they even ripped the guy off who helped set them up.

 

[Steve PH]

Re: Re: Watch this proogramme tomorrow

[
Yes Car Credit (and the hoards of others), are finance companies who aim at people with poor credit history. They sell 'high risk' loans at high risk interest rates and throw in a car as well! [/B]

That is exactly how they work. The typical Yes Car customer is not what you would call upwardly mobile. Many of these people think that they have a right to a nice car/sofa/holiday/TV without the slightest thought for how it will be paid for. All that matters is that they must have it NOW :hammer:

I know that this does not apply to all of their customers but it does to an awful lot of them and when they could go out and buy a reliable car for the equivalent of a couple of months loan payments I don't feel too much sympathy for them if they feel they just must have an expensive vehicle that they cannot afford.

The default rate on these loans is huge and this has to be covered by the other customers. The ones that have previously defaulted then have poor credit records and so end up having to go to sharks like Yes Car and pay OTT interest - but they still keep going back instead of buying what they can afford......

 

[Reims]

If your actually too stupid to see through the scam, then you get what you deserve.

That's a little unfair. Should people who have little money in the first place be robbed of what they have left just because they can't see through a scam? And then in some cases be made to pay for it for the rest of their life?

You see the cars on the TV adverts - except when you arrive they have 2 cars to chose from and both are ****.

Just because someone is hard up doesn't mean it's acceptable for them to be ****ed over.

 

[Beefy]

That's a little unfair. Should people who have little money in the first place be robbed of what they have left just because they can't see through a scam? And then in some cases be made to pay for it for the rest of their life?

You see the cars on the TV adverts - except when you arrive they have 2 cars to chose from and both are ****.

Just because someone is hard up doesn't mean it's acceptable for them to be ****ed over.

I was commenting on peoples stupidity, not there financial status.
If you are hard up, surely the last thing is to get in more debt, isn't that common sense?

 

[Razor]

The 2 liverpool guys that created the company, then flogged it, are now sitting on millions, they even ripped the guy off who helped set them up.

So its true what they say about all scousers being thieving buggers.

 

[GeorgeG]

I shall be watching Back Door Sluts 6...

 

[NumptyScrub]

That's a little unfair. Should people who have little money in the first place be robbed of what they have left just because they can't see through a scam? And then in some cases be made to pay for it for the rest of their life?

You see the cars on the TV adverts - except when you arrive they have 2 cars to chose from and both are ****.

Just because someone is hard up doesn't mean it's acceptable for them to be ****ed over.

The less money you have the more careful you need to be with it. While I agree that companies like Yes should be shut down or forced to provide a more affordable service (with a maximum APR that takes all extra payments into account), nobody forces people to sign these agreements in the first place.

I am paying 500/mo on a bank loan. Is it the banks fault that I have to pay them money every month? Should the banks be punished for my decision to borrow money I didn't have at the time? No, I willingly and deliberately borrowed the money and signed the agreement. Anything that results from an inability to pay them off is entirely my fault, since I could have refused to borrow in the first place.

Just because someone is hard up doesn't mean it's acceptable for them to borrow money they can't pay back without a thought of the consequences either. Loan companies are bound by law to tell you how high the APR is, and anyone who is literate can find out just how punitive the interest will be. If nobody used Yes Car Credit they would go bust, and the problem would solve itself.

The simplest solution to this particular problem is education, not legislation.

 

[Evo1man]

They were on Watchdog last night. Watchdog had one of their guy's working for Yes car cedit and I caught the end of it where the spy in the camp was talking to one of the mechanics and they were advised to turn a blind eye when they were servicing or checking the cars over during their xxx point check.

They so called have a pep talk from the M.d every friday and the chap from watchdog said he couldn't repeat what was said before the 9 o'clock watershed. But basically they are told to sell the car to the customer no matter what.

Years ago I applied for a car with YES. We had the go ahead. ( I was a full time student working 20 hours a week) But I had my doubts, as they wanted me to go to Brimingham from Wrexham. And also to take our old car which was a Rover Sterling which the main drive cam had snapped on it, as Part ex.
When we didn't turn up, I was getting telephone calls atleast 3 times a day, from a chap who claimed he had travelled from london with the £8k cash to complete the sale. Very Fishy.

 

[C#]

I'm a bit surprised by some of the responses here!

They don't actually do anything any different from any other car dealership, the agreements they use to finance people are no different from the agreements you get from anywhere else. They are all HP & all regulated by the Consumer Credit Act.

The difference is they are aimed at people with previous credit problems who cant buy a nice new car from a proper main dealer on thier manufacturer supported low rate finance scheme because they 'cherry pick' the best/least risk customers.

Even if you went to a main dealer who do occasionally use sub prime finance houses you will still get charged an extortionate interest rate, because its the finance houses assessing the risk of the customer. You have to look at it from thier perspective, when a proposal comes through & they credit search someone who comes up with a list as long as your arm of unpaid debts, they will load the risk right up as there at some point will be a pretty high possibilty they will have to initiate some sort of court order or snatch the vehicle back which wont be worth even remotely close to what they are then out of pocket.

The people who set it up were, in my opinion very very clever - there was a massive gap in the market for something like this & they took advantage of it & milked it good & proper.

Im not saying I agree with the way they do business (no price in the windows, sold on monthly payment etc) but as a business it does work very well. I highly expect that people are mis-sold products under the proviso they 'have' to have them, but thats them not understanding what they get into, the finance, they are limited as to what they can do.

The FSA will only get involved with Insurance related products at the moment (warranty/PPP/GAP etc) however over time I can see it incorporating general finance sales too. However, if your problem is with the way they sell the finance, they actually do nothing wrong generally even in the eyes of the FSA, the problem is when people get sold warranties/gap/ppp/mot insurance/key insurance/supagaurd etc which is where they make the money & cause the huge negative equity situations.

 

[NumptyScrub]

They don't actually do anything any different from any other car dealership, the agreements they use to finance people are no different from the agreements you get from anywhere else. They are all HP & all regulated by the Consumer Credit Act.

This is the important bit to remember. I can get you a loan that has 14000% APR if you want, all perfectly legal like.

Of course you'd be a fool to sign the contract, but it is all perfectly legal as long as I tell you what the APR is and let you decide whether you still want the loan or not. In my personal opinion even 15% APR is robbery so why people are happy to use credit cards at 25% I don't know. The card companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Reims]

Yes, you are all right they are perfectly innocent decent people

I think its very easy to pass broad comments on a scenario you 'imagine' might be, without having any personal experience.

Without knowing all the facts of what they do, how hard they push you, the inaccuracies in their contracts, how the aftercare is, the actual state of the vehicles (some are deathtraps), the lies, bullshitting and get out clauses they use, then you really can only 'presume'.

They are a complete cowboy outfit - fine, sell cars with high APR's, if people sign that's their own fault. What you expect to receive however is a road legal vehicle, similar to what they advertise.

Let's just hope the programme tonight shows this

 

[C#]

Numpty - agree completely, but from a car dealers perspective on generally small balances over short terms the APR is always going to be proportionately higher than a larger balance over a longer term even if the flat rate is the same...

But you try telling a customer that who thinks he's a smart arse because he's seen Tesco's/Northern Rock etc advertising rates from 5.9% APR. The key is the 'from' bit. The laws are changing with how direct lenders can advertise now, no more rates from, or typical APR's etc.

Chris - Obviously as you are expereincing first hand the aftermath of the likes of Yes Car Credit, but it's not a scenario I imagine with no personal experience, it was my job

I know exactly what they are like, we had a dealership just round the corner from the one I worked in, we even all took it in turns to 'mystery shop' them over a period of time so we could relate to the buying experience (yes it was an 'experience').

Yes they hard sell, but you look at any decent car salesman & the ones who earn the money are the ruthless ones. They might be a bit more subtle with it in a main dealership, but the people who work in these places know they dont have to. They have the customers over a barrell because of thier credit position.

Thier sales process is actually not as hard as someone like Trade Sales for example, who will grind you down into just saying yes. How do you mean the innacuracies of thier contracts? If it's in relation to the finance agreement then I would be very surprised, with regard to the ordering and order form of the vehicle I would have to see it to pass a judgement. I cant comment on the vehicles, but again, im not saying what they do is right, but it's no different from massive nationwide franshises. You would be shocked if you knew even a tenth of what went on in a dealership, at whatever level of vehicle.

Give me examples, reference the clauses etc, I might be able to help you get out of the agreement.

The actual figure they give you to settle is worked out the same way as everyone else, on a theory called the "rule of 78", the agreement is front loaded with interest so you pay a wedge of that off before you start paying the capital, its thier way of ensuring they earn at least some money from you. It is 110% no different from the way your mortgage/other loan/etc is worked out as the finance company does it & they have to by law, otherwise they lose thier CCL & thier right to sell finance.

Its a serious offer, if you want some advice, fire away & i'll help you & if I cant I'll speak to someone I know who definately can

 

[Ben_S]

They must be pleased it is being aired on St. Patricks day as a great deal of their target audience will be out gitting ******....

While the people who don't need them and would never go to them are sat at home watching!

Ben

 

[Reims]

Chris, cheers for the offer but I got her out of it in the end by paying them what they wanted. We were going to just leave the car there and bugger off, thought about all sorts of things , but in the end did what was 'lawful'

The main thing missing in their original contract (which they have now amended and bang on about in their advert) is the period of time you should be given to change your mind and hand the car back, (normally 7 days), there simply wasn't one.

Kat spent a lot of time at Citizens advice and we even put it to a solicitor but wasn't convinced of the outcome.

She wanted to give the car back and be rid of it - it was a pile of **** and practically worthless !! But paying for insurances that were a blatant con was difficult to swallow (knowing when you've been ****ed over and can't do anything about it)

When we took it back, nobody wanted to see us, kept us waiting for over an hour and seemed to be enjoying every minute of it.

Like I mentioned earlier, she was knieve and just needed a car for work. It's not always the person buying who has bad credit - parents and address' affect it in a big way too, even though you have no defaults, bad history yourself etc, the above is normally enough to affect you.

 

[Evo6Sam]

Just seen it. Yes I can understand the fat office manager's stupid sale targets etc but giving people cars that haven't been checked properly is bang out of order.

Christ I'm so glad I'm self-employed. having to work with those suited up pricks would do my ******* head in