Trading in a financed vehicle
The transfer date that is marked in the register for a traded-in vehicle is often later than the date that the vehicle was transferred to the car dealer.
When a vehicle is purchased on a hire-purchase contract, the financer will be marked as the owner of the vehicle and the other party/parties of the hire-purchase contract will be marked as the holder of the vehicle in the Transport Register. The ownership of the vehicle will be transferred to the holder after they have paid for the vehicle in full. In accordance with the general hire-purchase provisions for car sales, the holder does not have the right to transfer the vehicle to another party without the financer’s approval.
The owner of the vehicle is allowed to decide who is to be entered and removed as the holder of the vehicle. When a vehicle that has unpaid instalments is transferred to a car dealer as a trade-in vehicle, the car dealer will pay the vehicle’s remaining instalments to the financer. The holder will remain as the holder until the final debt has been paid and the car dealer becomes the owner of the vehicle.
If you believe that the delay in the change of ownership of a trade-in car is unreasonably long, contact the car dealer and financing company to clarify the matter. The vehicle’s registration details can only be corrected if the parties agree on the matter. Both the car dealer and the financing company must submit a written request for correction to Traficom.