In Local News / By Danny Tan / 30 July 2018 12:03 pm / 33 comments

Heard of sambung bayar car deals where you pay attractive monthly instalments but drive a car that legally does not belong to you? As its name suggests, you’re continuing payment for the car’s owner, but get to use the car while you do so. Fair enough, no? Here’s a case of what happens when sambung bayar deals go sour.

According to one Badrul Hanafi on Facebook, he obtained a car through sambung bayar and over the months has spent RM9,000 to service the loan and pay for road tax and insurance. He had all the documents too; “hitam putih complete” it was claimed.

Then, the owner of the Proton Saga made contact to “redeem” back his vehicle, and lengthy negotiations ensued over WhatsApp, which Badrul shared screenshots of. Basically, he wanted a refund of the sum that he had paid over the months, which the owner sort of agreed, but refused to explicitly say so. They eventually decided to meet and “COD” (cash on delivery) in KL, which led to the events recorded on video above.

Instead of the RM8,500 that they settled on, the owner, who is a soldier, brought men, 12 of them including a very loud one who was eager to fight. And a tow truck to haul the car away. The mob did eventually get their way and Badrul ended up with no cash or car in hand. He came all the way from Johor Bahru, too. Naturally, he felt aggrieved and vented on FB.

You’ve got to feel for him, and we do. But while he had “hitam putih complete” documents for the deal, the whole practice of sambung bayar is illegal, and his documents carry no weight in the eyes of the law. No matter what’s written it it, or how much money he has spent on the car, it legally belongs to the man who pawned it away – the soldier, in this case. Can you depend on the broker? We didn’t see much of him in the dispute above, did we?

Obtaining a car via sambung bayar might seem tempting, cost wise, and easy, but it’s ultimately illegal. There are risks on the part of the owner too, should the new guardian of the car misses payments or if the car is used for illegal activity.

In December 2017, the home ministry said that cases of sambung bayar are against the Hire-Purchase Act 1967. In a written reply to the Dewan Rakyat, it said. “Action can be taken against owners who pawn their vehicles or sambung bayar to third parties without the bank’s knowledge and approval.”

Enforcement of the act is under the power of the domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism ministry (KPDNKK). In Section 38 of the Hire-Purchase Act 1967, an owner who is found to have sold their vehicle while the hire purchase agreement is still in place could be sentenced to a fine of up to RM30,000 or three years in jail, or both.

The ministry elaborated further, stating that it is aware of cases of pawnage or sambung bayar as a way out for vehicle owners unable to pay their monthly instalments to the bank. “A problem arises when monthly instalments for a car that has been pawned or sold through sambung bayar have not been paid, putting the named owner of the vehicle on the bank’s blacklist.

“These cases cannot be categorised of vehicle theft, as there are no elements of theft as stated under Section 378 of the Penal Code. However, if the police has found elements of deception in its investigation, it will investigate the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code,” it said.

What do we think of sambung bayar? It’s illegal and not worth it. My BM colleague Farid Awaludin puts it nicely.

“Friends, in Malaysia, apart from the fact that there’s no car that can be imported without an AP and ‘cheaply’, there’s no law that can protect buyers of sambung bayar cars. The key is the geran; how is it possible to change the name on the geran when the bank loan hasn’t been fully paid?”

“Remember, don’t buy Singapore cars, don’t be conned by those who say they can bring in cheap cars from Thailand, and don’t buy sambung bayar cars. If you have cash, buy a car that’s of the same value as your cash. If not, take a loan like everyone else. Stop dreaming of having a ‘nice but cheap’ car,” he said, while addressing another illegal way of obtaining a car that’s ‘nicer’ than what you can naturally afford – cars from Singapore.