All You Need to Know About “Sambung Bayar” Schemes

Purchasing a car is no joke. Firstly, there are the endless of documents that needs to be submitted.

And then, you have to wait and see if the loan goes through, run to the bank and the dealership a couple of times, and once that gets out of the way, there are the monthly instalments, maintenance cost, and everything in between, which will be a part of your life for five, seven, or nine years.

But what if one wants to sell his or her car off before the loan period is over for some reason?

What if someone is not eligible for a loan but still wants to buy a car?
What is someone has been blacklisted for bad debt by CCRIS and CTOS?

One method to which many Malaysians have resorted in order to overcome these obstacles is a term we commonly refer to as “sambung bayar”.

Now, how “sambung bayar” works is that an owner of a vehicle who is still servicing the loan (usually someone who needs some quick cash) “sells” the vehicle to a buyer who pays a deposit and agrees to continue paying the monthly instalment while the vehicle is still under the seller’s name.

On the upside, the deposit is usually lower than what one has to pay the bank while making a legit purchase. As for the seller, he or she doesn’t have to go through the hassle of paying off the bank in order to sell it.

So, all that is done by the seller and buyer is either sign a contract, a hand shake or a verbal agreement.

As convenient as the above may sound, it is not advisable for one to resort to “sambung bayar” due to a few reasons:

1. It is illegal

According to section 38 of the Hire Purchase Act 1967, “Every person who, by the disposal or sale of any goods comprised in a hire-purchase agreement, or by the removal of the goods, or by any other means, defrauds or attempts to defraud the owner shall be guilty of an offence…”    

What this means is that the vehicle here actually belongs to the bank until the loan is over, and nobody else has the right to sell or purchase it. If they do, they can be fined up to RM30,000, or end up in prison for up to 3 years.

2. You could be buying a clone car

Rocking fake chassis numbers, registration numbers, as well as duplicated road tax, the chances of one purchasing a cloned vehicle without knowing is very high, until you get stopped by the police or JPJ, or when it's time to renew your road tax.

Worst case scenario? The vehicle will be confiscated, and the buyer can be fined up to RM10,000, or charged under Section 7 of the Road Transport Act 1987 for owning “an unregistered vehicle”.

3. Contract between buyer and seller is not protected by the law

Besides the Hire Purchase Act, there is also the Contracts Act 1950 (section 24) which states that a contract which involves doing something illegal is not enforceable by law. So, if either party decides to breach whatever contract they signed, no legal action can be taken.

4. The seller is responsible for the vehicle throughout its loan period

Since the vehicle is still under the seller’s name even after a sambung bayar transaction, issues like late instalment payment and summonses will still be the responsibility of the seller.

5. You can’t report it as theft if the seller goes missing with your car

According to section 378 of our Penal Code, a theft is defined as “intending to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of any person without that person’s consent.” So, how are you going to lodge a report and say that the buyer stole your car when you willingly gave it to them?

You can, however, report this as a cheating case under section 420 of the Penal Code, as “cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property”.

That said, these are just some of the issues revolving around the whole sambung bayar scheme.

So, as normal as it may seem with all the WhatsApp groups, websites, and Facebook pages openly offering sambung bayar vehicles at attractive prices, always remember that they are illegal, and they can put you in a lot of problems if something goes wrong.

Therefore, our message to those considering getting their hands on a sambung bayar vehicle is “Jangan sambung!”

Just head over to carlist.my instead and find yourself a nice car within your budget.