Scoobedoo

Hi,

Okay, test drove a car, was completely taken with it to the extend I put a deposit down on a car after a stonking test drive (£1000) but the next day had second thoughts.

Told the dealer who said tough sheet and has refused to refund the deposit. They reckon they have already ordered the car but I know they wouldn't of as they were pending my finance agreement (which i don't think would have been signed off as my credit rating is low). If the finance didn't clear then they would refund my deposit.

Deposit was paid for on credit card.

Do we reckon my deposit is recoverable?

satancom

A deposit is there to prevent a dealer loosing money...

For example say you see a car you want.. You tell the dealer you want it, 2 mins later someone else comes along.. Dealer says its sold, and you never come back. Dealer loses a sale.

So a deposit secures it for you and covers him incase you just change your mind. Although toi be fair thats a big deposit, I usually stick £50 - £200 on a car depending on its value to hold it til I can get the funds togethe!

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

have you completed the credit form yet?

If not go through he motions, just tell some serious lies on the application, they will refuse you and deal is off

AllanB

Up to them as you have driven the car so cannot use distance selling laws 14 cooling off period to get round this.

Different if you had not.


AllanB

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Could try contacting you card issuer, they are usually pretty helpful.
Best of luck

noobyscooby

Go through the motions with porkies as above -the deal won't happen - deposit returned.

DazzboyUK

Ouch, Id do the same, go through the mtions and tell some lies that will put the finance company off!


Why did you change your mind on the car might i ask?

AngloSaxon

Just to point out that apart from potential legal issues with lying on the finance claim (fraud), your already low credit rating will suffer even more if you apply for this credit and are refused . Then again, I wouldnt like to lose £1000.

austinwrx

you've 28 days to change yr mind. see trading standards info.

why a £1000 deposit- last car I bought (from subaru) I paid a £100 deposit.

then again I wasn't doing any finance nonsense though so maybe they saw me as no risk ???

ChrisGrant

I always though that you paid 10% on anything for it to be held its kinda an unwritten law!

GazTheHat

Personally i would imagine the deposit is gone. That is the reason for a deposit.

Lesson learnt, never leave a deposit if you're not 100% sure, or are prepared to kiss goodbye to it.

I've left £100 deposits for £16k+ cars.

Sorry, just realised this post doesn't help you much.

HOWY

I once asked this qustion and was told the dealer would have to prove he was going to be out of pocket if you cancel the deal this would probably only be the case if he had ordered a car that he couldn't sell to anyone else for the price.

It might also help to check with credit card company as it may be classed as a credit agreement which might entitle you to a cooling off period.

Check with Consumer Direct too they are helpful

Sclarke

I had a customer do this to me and I contacted consumer direct and asked their advice. They said that if the customer had simply changed their mind then keeping up to 10% of the sale price would be acceptable.

In my particular case I decided to give them a credit note against another car and they came back 3 months later and bought another car. Worked for me because I still got a deal and worked for the customer too because they didn't lose their money.

Maybe you could come to a similar arrangement with this dealer?

Get A Grip

You offered to buy the car and AS AN ACT OF GOOD FAITH you handed over a deposit. Contract made - you are both legally bound. You change your mind, you lose (rather than loose) the deposit.

Get a grip says "get a grip"

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

Seek proper advise.

What would have happened if the dealer made a mistake and 'sold' it to you for the wrong (too low) price? They'd try and get out of the 'contract' for sure, even if you had put a deposit down. I think you may have a chance if they haven't ordered the car.

markGT

You should have slept on it and then made a decision the next day. From somebody who sells to the public sector that often changes it's mind and in the process I lose thousands, I don’t really have any sympathy for you.

Lesson learnt!

The rookie

iTrader: (1)

You paid a deposit against and order, and cancelled the order, you loose the deposit, that is what you put the deposit on for, an Uncle was taken to court by a Punter over just such an issue, it got thrown out and my uncle kept the money.

Simon

black subaru 06

same happened to my girlfriend except it was 200. Contact consumer direct they will tell you what to do. my girl also wrote to the dealer head office to complain about the treatment from branch staff. Got full refund and the staff were dealt with. there not allowed by law to just keep ur money there just trying to pull a fast one and hope u just except it

black subaru 06

you dont need to accept a credit note you are entitled to ur money back You wou;d be entitled to ur money if u had bought the whole thing cash then returned the car a few days later.


buying a car is no different than buying anything else if u change ur mind ur entitled to a full refund

StickyMicky

?????????????????

these type of people wind me up


do people not understand what a deposit is??

ffs, the amount of times i have refused somebody a deposit back because im paying somebody to sit down for an hour and do **** ALL because a punter "changed his mind"



IIRC (was told this a long time back) even if somebody made an apointment over the phone and never turned up, the seller would be entitled by law to send a bill for "time lost" or something along them lines

StickyMicky

ps. we now have a large sign on the wall with "deposit information" on it and i would assume the dealer has something to this effect.

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

ok first off loose v lose as it is all through this thread. phew, needed that, sorry.

Secondly, did you put any "subject to" on the deposit? I paid one subject to scertain things being made possible by the dealer, they couldn't do it so i got the cash back no problem.

You could always say you'll be off to trading standards as you felt pressured to sign at the time which to be honest you probably did. every salesman will give it the "i've had a word with the manager...." and "if you do the deal today...." etc etc.

5t.

lordretsudo

I once lost a £200 deposit on a car because I changed my mind (on the first Scoob I almost bought in fact!) This was a private sale, albeit one with a motor trader. I'm now a lot more cautious about putting down deposits!

I think £1000 is a bit steep for a deposit though, so perhaps you could pursue that angle. AFAICR we put a £250 deposit down when we bought our S2000, and that's a £28,000 car.

Averroes

As much as i want to sympathise with you, I cant. If i put myself as the dealer I would never refund you back regardless of whether i have gone ahead with ordering the car or not. Why put a deposit down in the first place, the whole purpose of deposit is more or less like an agreement between two parties. Youve paid so he doesnt sell the car to someone else or in the case of a new car you are paying a deposit giving them the go ahead to continue with the order etc. This is time wasting as well and time = money. Furthermore, I had someone do this to me when they wanted to buy my car. Infact it happened to me twice and the first time i felt really hurt by the actions of the potential buyer. He test drove the car, come to see it three times, wasted my time, loved the car and with no reason backed out of a deal. The second time i took a deposit of 300 pounds and the dude did a similar thing. I refused to give him his monmey back, he made may threat which i laughed off and to be hoenst was 300 pounds better off as luckily a week and a half later someone else bought the car.

Likewise i dont know where you stand legally but i wouldnt return the money.

Sorry if i come across a little abrupt but i hope you understand where im coming rom

rant over

black subaru 06

No doubt he is entitled to his money call consumer direct they will tell you the same. So you think it is ok for the dealer to get 1000 pounds for nothing i dont think so.

For the rest on here that dont want to return the money, they are dealers them self and we all know what there like crooks through and through.

What is it they say never trust a car salesman because lets face it if they had any brains they would get a proper job.

vindaloo

I think £1000 is quite a lot to lose without putting up something of a fight.

Even if you only got 1/2 of it back, it'd be something.

Talk with Consumer Direct. Before you do that. Look at any documentation or receipts you've got from leaving the deposit but make sure you talk with Consumer direct and/or a solicitor.

I think the spelling/grammar errors have cooled everyone off, no-one's suggested paint stripping the dealer's entire stock yet!

J.

Averroes

As i said in my post i dont know where he stands legally and furthermore would not be talking as a car trader but as someone who is selling anything. If someone gives me a deposit, the only reason they would do so is to give me enough confidence in them completing the purchase. Regardless of doin squat all, why waste someone elses time. I agree salepeople are like vultures but thats besides the point. Also the dpeosit is way too excessive but even that is not the point im making.

Simply put shouldnt have wasting next mans time

noobyscooby

can't be fraud if you do not benefit from the answers you give as the finance co will not lose anything and these answers are quite independent of the garage.

noobyscooby

[

"IIRC (was told this a long time back) even if somebody made an apointment over the phone and never turned up, the seller would be entitled by law to send a bill for "time lost" or something along them lines[/QUOTE]

You most certainly would not get any court in the land to pay for time lost. The judge would say that if you have opening times you'd be there whether or not someone walks in off the street or makes an appointment - its called overheads.

SteveScooby

iTrader: (2)

You most certainly would not get any court in the land to pay for time lost. The judge would say that if you have opening times you'd be there whether or not someone walks in off the street or makes an appointment - its called overheads.[/quote]

Wrong.

If you book a table at an exclusive restaurant and don't turn up then they are able to claim from you for the loss of earnings.