Deposit Paid for car, Dealer Reneging!

alienbob

Hi,

I thought that I would post to get an opinion on this scenario we are a little bit annoyed. On Saturday we spotted an advert in Autotrader for a car at a local(ish) independent dealer at a very good price. We drove over and spent quite a lot of time checking the car out and taking it for a test drive etc all well and good as the V5 and MOT certs where all OK and HPI fine and decided to buy it. Background to the car; we where told that it had been part exchanged for a 4x4 he had sold a day or so earlier.

There was a couple of things that needed sorting and we wanted it to be put through an MOT today so we agreed to pay the asking price and paid a deposit and would pay the balance when we collected the car tomorrow (Tuesday). We have a receipt detailing this deposit paid and balance to pay.

Today my g/f got a call late in the day from the dealer to say that he couldn't sell us the car. His explanation was that the 4 x 4 he had sold had been a CAT C and he didn't know (didn't tell) the buyer, who since running an HPI check was demanding the car and money back from the dealer, threatening to call Trading Standards etc.

The original buyer is sending the 4 x 4 back on a low loader and picking up the car we put a deposit on tomorrow.

When he called the g/f he said that he had been contacted by the original owner on Sunday about this and that getting the tracking fixed and putting the car through the MOT had cost him £150, which one would assume he had done on Sunday as it would have been a bit daft to pay out for the MOT etc knowing that somebody was on thier way over take the vehicle away.

So a couple of questions:

When the dealer sold the 4 x 4 is he legally obliged to inform the buyer that it was a CAT C and/or carry out an HPI check prior to selling the car?

If the seller wasn't obliged to disclose this fact and has had a better offer for the car and is making all this up to screw us what can we do to force him to complete the transaction?

Thanks

artbaron

He's legally obliged to tell the buyer. Which makes it easy for you, because there are two options

1) He sold a buyer a car without disclosing it was Cat C

2) He's trying it on with you because someone made a higher offer on the car you want

Either way you don't want to do business with him

alienbob

Thanks, that clarifies that then, if she was ripped off then the dealer is at least doing the more honourable thing as he doesn't actually have to give her the vehicle back according to this site (taken from adviceguide.org.uk)

"...If you traded-in a vehicle, you are entitled to have it returned if it is still available, or to have the full value allowed on it, if it has been disposed of..."

Under different circumstances we probably wouldn't be so bothered but time is not on our side as our first baby is due less than one week away and this is the last thing that we really need to get sorted!