paulr

On Friday i had a test drive of a used 320d, decided to buy it, signed the contract, and put a £500 deposit down. Over the weekend i have had a change of heart and on Monday told the dealership. They are refusing to return any of the deposit. Have i any rights, or should i expect to get a refund.

I know some will say, you signed the contract, tough $hit, but £500 is an expensive test drive.

53

iTrader: (41)

7 day cooling off period, look it up to see where you stand Do you have a copy of the contract what does it say about deposits ?

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Dealers are correct to retain the deposit
Sorry not what you wanted to hear

Talk to the sales manager about maybe transferring your deposit to another car and they might let you do that ?

paulr

The contract says nothing about what happens if you break the contract (which in effect is what i'm doing). It only says what happens if the dealer doesn't fulfill his side ie delivery times, etc.

The 7 day cooling off is only for distance selling (i thought)

*matthewturb2000*

iTrader: (11)

probally at the dealers discretion but as said if you get another motor through them it shouldn't be a problem unless they are complete cnts, don't think there a lot of chance getting it back

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

7 day cooling off is for distant selling
Done in trade premises eg garage forecourt or office contract is legally binding
And they could of lost the sale to someone else ?

paulr

They could of, that's true. They also had to do some prep work, but as its a dealership, they would have had to anyway.
I bought it only hours after it came in.

I understand the law is on their side, is it really a case of them offering goodwill (my family has bought two brand new cars from them and they did a lot of the servicing on my old bmw.)

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Go and talk to them, but I wouldn't hold my breath, most car dealers are *****......

*matthewturb2000*

iTrader: (11)

if you've delt with them before you may be alrite if you have a friendly chat with the salesman you delt with,as said you might have to buy another car from them to get it back that way...

BULLITT

Unfortunately yes, it's up to them really, most dealerships have the same non-refundable deposit policy.

You can try and talk to the sales manager but because the only reason is you've changed your mind I'd expect the answer to be a no.

From the other side of it, that could have been potentially sold to someone else over the weekend. You may have to chalk it up as experience and possibly be less hasty to put a deposit down on a car, especially if you're also looking at possible alternatives as well.

BULLITT

Some are, some aren't. Small family run dealerships are usually great and will d what they can to help you out. Large dealerships are usually tied up by the T&Cs of the franchise holder company (Pendragon, Jardine Group etc).

Don't forget they're a business, not a charity. They are there to make money. I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if you'd spent time and money promoting a product for then the buyer to ask for their deposit back based on nothing but "a change of heart".

How many times would you happily hand back the money before introducing the same policy? Not long I suspect.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

what's the point in a deposit if they give them back ?

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Was there anything in the papers you signed that said the contract was dependent upon finance being arranged..? Might be able to get out of it that way.

Otherwise the deposit is to cover the costs of the failure of the contract of sale........you could argue that the £500 you paid would be in excess of the cost of the monies required to make the contract.

The flip side of the coin is that the Dealer asks for more as the consideration does not cover their costs........

all in all an expensive decision.

Shaun

Boro

iTrader: (1)

What paperwork did you get after the sale?

Dealers these days have to REALLY cross all the I's and dot all the T's.

If they've missed a step you will get your deposit back, if you know what they should have done but didn't ;-)

Allan

iTrader: (1)

Same thing happened to my B.I.L, the best he could get was the money donated to a Charity, at least the dealer didn't profit from it.

paulr

I signed a contract of sale with the final price. Nothing on it about finance.

Justme103

iTrader: (2)

I used to work for a main Toyota dealership & if the customer cancelled the sale they didn't get their deposit back.

I now sell cars my self & if someone leaves a deposit I give them an invoice showing they have paid it & tell the buyer that the deposit is non refundable as it covers my re-advertising costs if they did back out of the purchase (Also says that its non refundable on the invoice)

paulr

Is there any angle I could use to even get some of it back?

ScoobyJawa

I very much doubt it - the whole point of a deposit is to stop people doing this. You committed to buy the car, they probably could have sold it otherwise.

Sorry but you learned an expensive lesson.

scunnered

iTrader: (1)

Was it paid by cash or credit card?
If it was a credit card, you could try using section 75 for a refund.

sti-04!!

You'll get it back. Dealerships dont want bad press on any medium. Give them a call & speak nicely to the dealer principal or his PA. Explain the circumstances & dont be arsey.
The worst he can do is leave it in the deposit account for when you go to purchase a new car from them

paulr

I went in yesterday and spoke to the salesman. He said i need to speak to the manager, who was busy. I'm going back tomorrow. Its the BMW dealership in my village. My sister has bought two new cars from them, i had my old BMW serviced there.

sti-04!!

I'm confident it'll sort itself out but playing devils advocate. You've spent a few hours with a new supplier & finally secured there business, they've signed the contract & woo hoo you've managed to pay the bills again this month ... then ... he phones & cancels.
Everyone seems to think that car salesman are lying cheating thieving scum .. granted like every profession they have a few but these guys are just trying to earn a crust just like me & you.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

What made you change your mind ?

paulr

Yep, totally agree. It's the first time this has ever happened, but £500 is too much to lose like this.

sti-04!!

Good luck

sti-04!!

Ali-B will be along to quantify this but dependent on age ... 320D are notorious for a few engine niggles that can turn into ££££'s
Rear timing chains at back of engine snapping - Engine out
Usual turbo swirl flap (all bmw's suffer this tho)
Main chain jumping & destroying some valves
Variators on end of camshaft running low on oil & then becoming noisy
Balance shafts at oil pump breaking down
Injectors

Usual stuff

Jazzy Jefferson

iTrader: (2)

So why do it in the first place?
Why did you change your mind?

paulr

I'm not perfect, i made a mistake.

Jazzy Jefferson

iTrader: (2)

Ok.
Then I would expect the dealer to retain the deposit in full. Best of luck. I think you'll need it.
I'm not sure you've explained why you changed your mind though?