4 years ago I made the mistake of buying on finance a fiat 500c .. Nothing wrong with the car quite a nice cheap little car for Mrs woodster ... We decided for 200 a month we were getting a decent deal, any way after 4 years of care free motoring and only 17000 miles on the clock it was time to give the car back or pay the balloon payment, we decided to give it back and bought a mini .. This time we just bought it with no finance.. This is when the problems started I found out just what knob ends the finance company are ..... First they just wouldn't come for the car no matter how many times I asked them, then when thy did they said it would be in the morning then came in the afternoon ...annoying.... After having the car for a few weeks they sent me a bill for a missing key ... I gave both back ... And a bill for damaged wheels ... £220 in all cheeky bastards ..... Their paperwork Said 2 keys given and I have pictures of the car as it was picked up with no damage to the wheels ........ Lesson learned I'll never have another fiat or pcp ... Is there any one I can complain to ? Any body had anything similar??

Send them a copy of the paperwork which shows 2 keys recieved and photos of the wheels if you have any the person who

picked the car up should have checked the car for damage and filled out some paperwork showing any damage and give you a copy that you both sign if you have that you shouldn't be lialble!

Not bought a car on finance myself, but had leased cars before through work. The lease companies can be hard work when the car goes back and it sounds like your finance company are being the same. Stick to your guns and keep a proof/trail of any correspondence you have with them. The last leased car I returned I photo'd to bits before it went back including the keys, manual, paperwork etc, to try and avoid similar issues. Luckily the people collecting the car did the same and spent some time checking it before accepting it back.

Same experience here. I had a rental through work, got an email querying the boot damage, apparently some paint scuffs from lifting a suitcase in and out. I'd never even used the boot!

In that case the company just paid it out of their insurance policy, but every car since then has had a thorough check. When I returned my company car I recorded a video of the whole car inch by inch. I didn't want to get a repair bill for a Mercedes!

These companies do seem to 'try it on', so if you have photos and paperwork that says otherwise I'd stick with it. If not then it's a lesson learned. It wouldn't put me off contract hire though, it's just a process to be followed when handing it back.

thanks for the replies ..... the crazy thing is when I spoke to them on the phone they didn't seem to have a copy of the haulage company's paperwork I had to send them a copy of mine , it clearly said 2 keys , I then get a letter from them saying as a sign of good will I didn't have to pay for the key .... good of them ..... I've now told them I have pictures of the car before It was picked up and I've told them I'm going to complain to the financial ombudsman if they insist on trying to charge me without good reason ........ I never missed a payment and gave them a car back that had hardly been used

I'm suprised you didn't have equity left in it. future values are usually quite low, a fiat 500 with full history and 17000miles is probably still worth a bit. Did you look at p-ex at mini. After 12 years selling fords on pcp i can't remember anyone not having equity left in the car.

when I went to mini they didn't want it and they did me good cash deal on ex demo so I thought just send it back ... the balloon payment was 5400 which was a bit steep .... any way its all sorted now I've had a letter this morning from Fiat saying after looking into it I don't owe them anything .... its a lesson learnt , if you do buy or lease on a pcp take lots of pictures and rectify any damage before the cars given back.