Volkswagen witholding some money for a deposit that should be returned?

Rushton

hi,

I tried to get a car on the motability scheme with VW. I orginally went in september to order the car which took 3 month to arrive, when it arrived the salesman had ordered a higher spec car than i wanted which i was not covered by motability insurance. I went to a different branch as i wasnt happy with the service i recieved from the fits sales man.
anyway.... I part ex'ed my old car which VW gave me £2500, £1500 paid off the old cars remaining finance and £1000 went on the new deposit. The application was rejected by motability as i have less than 12 months left on my disability living allowance claim, (the car had to be ordered by the 12/12/10 but wasnt ordered until 31/12/10 so we just missed)
I have been back in contact with the VW sales man who sent me this email....

I am sorry that we are not able to proceed with the order. It is unfortunate that the dates just missed what was required. Any monies due will be refunded. We stood your car at £2500 but on checking we were paid £2449 by the auction. Had we been proceeding with the order we would have absorbed this small short fall but we will need to take it into account when making a cash refund. I will pass the details to our accountant who will work out the exact figure. I may need your bank account details to make a chaps transfer but I will contact you regarding this

Can anyone give me any advoce on this? can VW just decide they dont want to give me the full amount back? what if they had sold the car for £2700 would they be refunding me the £200?

Thanks

Flyboy152

Rushton wrote: »

hi,

I tried to get a car on the motability scheme with VW. I orginally went in september to order the car which took 3 month to arrive, when it arrived the salesman had ordered a higher spec car than i wanted which i was not covered by motability insurance. I went to a different branch as i wasnt happy with the service i recieved from the fits sales man.
anyway.... I part ex'ed my old car which VW gave me £2500, £1500 paid off the old cars remaining finance and £1000 went on the new deposit. The application was rejected by motability as i have less than 12 months left on my disability living allowance claim, (the car had to be ordered by the 12/12/10 but wasnt ordered until 31/12/10 so we just missed)
I have been back in contact with the VW sales man who sent me this email....

I am sorry that we are not able to proceed with the order. It is unfortunate that the dates just missed what was required. Any monies due will be refunded. We stood your car at £2500 but on checking we were paid £2449 by the auction. Had we been proceeding with the order we would have absorbed this small short fall but we will need to take it into account when making a cash refund. I will pass the details to our accountant who will work out the exact figure. I may need your bank account details to make a chaps transfer but I will contact you regarding this

Can anyone give me any advoce on this? can VW just decide they dont want to give me the full amount back? what if they had sold the car for £2700 would they be refunding me the £200?

Thanks

It would depend on what agreement was made with the dealer at the time. If the order had stated "subject to sale at auction," then you would have a case to claim the excess, but no claim on the shortfall. If, however, there was no stipulation that it was dependent on the auction, they can go and swing for it. I suggest you discuss this, with both Motability and the dealer's management. Failing that, Volkswagen and/or trading standards.

Kilty_2

Jokers - as said above contact management and if no joy, Motability/VW UK

Hintza

I'm not so sure (but I don't know how motability works).

My reading is the dealer entered into an agreement with the OP which was subject to the OP gaining the necessary permission from motability, which hasn't happened. Thus the OP is in breach and not the dealer and all the dealer is asking for is their costs.

??

Kilty_2

Hintza wrote: »

I'm not so sure (but I don't know how motability works).

My reading is the dealer entered into an agreement with the OP which was subject to the OP gaining the necessary permission from motability, which hasn't happened. Thus the OP is in breach and not the dealer and all the dealer is asking for is their costs.

??

I'd have thought the dealer should've made the relevant checks via Motability before processing an order - surely I can't go and order a car telling them I am entitled to Motability and get past the part exchange stage before they realise I'm not?

Flyboy152

Hintza wrote: »

I'm not so sure (but I don't know how motability works).

My reading is the dealer entered into an agreement with the OP which was subject to the OP gaining the necessary permission from motability, which hasn't happened. Thus the OP is in breach and not the dealer and all the dealer is asking for is their costs.

??

The dealer has a responsibility to execute their duties with the relevant skill and care. The dealer should have known the dates involved, before submitting any orders to Motability.

If there is anyone to blame in all of this, it is the first dealer, who screwed up the original order.

NeverAgain_2

If I understand this correctly, the OP is expecting a refund of £1,000, which is the auction value of his car, less £1,500 outstanding finance.

The dealer seems to be saying the car only made £2,449, which after taking off the £1,500 finance, means the refund will be £949.

Had the deal gone through, the dealer is saying the difference would have been absorbed, but not now because there's no profit to play with from supplying the new car.

Sounds fair enough to me.

And even if it isn't, is it worth arguing over £51?

TiTheRev

NeverAgain wrote: »

If I understand this correctly, the OP is expecting a refund of £1,000, which is the auction value of his car, less £1,500 outstanding finance.

The dealer seems to be saying the car only made £2,449, which after taking off the £1,500 finance, means the refund will be £949.

Had the deal gone through, the dealer is saying the difference would have been absorbed, but not now because there's no profit to play with from supplying the new car.

Sounds fair enough to me.

And even if it isn't, is it worth arguing over £51?

Beat me to that one! Was just going to say exactly that.

We regularly take part-ex's that end up at the auctions, but if they don't make the Glasses guide price we absorb the difference in the sale price of the car. The fact that you've not been able to make your purchase, but the car has sold at auction, means that you technically owe them the difference. If it had gone the other way, i'd hope they would have given you the extra too.

Kilty_2

TiTheRev wrote: »

If it had gone the other way, i'd hope they would have given you the extra too.

Of course they wouldn't.

Why the hell was the car sold and the finance paid off before the order was confirmed is my question.

Flyboy152

NeverAgain wrote: »

If I understand this correctly, the OP is expecting a refund of £1,000, which is the auction value of his car, less £1,500 outstanding finance.

The dealer seems to be saying the car only made £2,449, which after taking off the £1,500 finance, means the refund will be £949.

Had the deal gone through, the dealer is saying the difference would have been absorbed, but not now because there's no profit to play with from supplying the new car.

Sounds fair enough to me.

And even if it isn't, is it worth arguing over £51?

TiTheRev wrote: »

Beat me to that one! Was just going to say exactly that.

We regularly take part-ex's that end up at the auctions, but if they don't make the Glasses guide price we absorb the difference in the sale price of the car. The fact that you've not been able to make your purchase, but the car has sold at auction, means that you technically owe them the difference. If it had gone the other way, i'd hope they would have given you the extra too.

If there is no prior agreement with the cars owner to accept only the auction pirce, but a pre-agreed purchase price, it is the dealer's problem. As pointed out earlier, the dealer has a responsibility to carry out their duty with due skill and care. They should have known the OP was not within the dates required to successfully apply for a Motability car and therefore should not have "jumped the gun," with selling her car first.

Flyboy152

Kilty wrote: »

Of course they wouldn't.

Why the hell was the car sold and the finance paid off before the order was confirmed is my question.

Beccause the OP would have been persuaded that the best time to hand her car over, would be now, to avoid any book drops between order and delivery.