Used Car Sale - Terms & Conditions

ManuelT

I certainly think the link makes the situation as clear as it's going to get but i'd say it's anything but clear. As I quoted earlier a low % as a deposit is totally legal to keep.

"A genuine 'deposit'... can quite legitimately be kept in full"

The only place you are going to get an definitive answer to if the % is acceptable is a court and without further guidence thats likley to change from court to court.

In this case, having to assume the value, i'd personally say it is acceptale but without further information it is hard to tell.

As you you ripping apart my "acceptable costs" I'd rather not get involved in a discussion with someone who thinks half an hours work is worth £3 thats bound to be an argument I can't win.

I would like to start a discussion more generally on deposits but as i'm new i'm not certain if that best done here or in a new thread or not at all.

clarkey3262

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Does ths seattle the issue once and for all. If it does, can we have the OFT's guide as a sticky?

Yes and ask the people who run this forum

s_b

ive never been to seattle
but i hear its nice in the fall
are they talking court here?:D

squeaky

Hi

I'll add it into the FAQ sticky shortly.

GemBee_2

ManuelT wrote: »

Apart from the 2.5% credit card processing fee, The half hour spent prefilling the paperwork so the customer would have a quick visit when they came to pick up the car. The valet for the car had so the car would look nice when the customer picked it up. The fact that they had a phone call about the car after they had sold it and said sorry it's sold so lost out on that potential sale.

Yep not a single loss there!

When the OP agreed the deposit he also agree that it was a fair sum to cover the expenses of the other party if he pulled out of the transaction, If he didn't why on earth would he have paid it.

No paperwork was filled out as they wanted to do it all on the day we picked up the car. The salesman didn't do any work in selling us the car, he was hungover and said he would just give us the keys and let us have a drive and look round and go back to him when we were done. The car wasn't due to be picked up for almost a week after so they didn't valet it, it needed an MOT and a cambelt change also so would need to be booked into a garage for this to be done.
I was willing to go ahead with the deal until I asked for them to confirm in writing the original deal stood, when they couldn't and refused to tell me what would happen I said I wasn't comfortable going through - meaning they couldn't fulfill the contact not me.

ManuelT

If they couldn't confirm the deal then you have to assume they will try and change it, If they try and change it you should (I'm talking mostly morally) get your money back. I'd write them a letter asking them to confirm the proposed purchase if they fail to respond, write them a letter saying as they are unable to provide you with details of the purchase you are no longer able to make the purchase. I.E. you can't pay if they don't tell you how much they want.

If they do do respond with the deal you agreed, take you old car down and trade it in for the 4K they offered for it is my advice.

Keep records/copies of everything you do or say just in case.

But mostly, don't put a money on something that you don't have in writing.

Equaliser123

ManuelT wrote: »

If they couldn't confirm the deal then you have to assume they will try and change it,

Why? That's really cynical.

ManuelT

Why would anyone not want to confirm a sale that they are about to make? It's like making a sale and not wanting to give a recipt. Therefor it's only their word against yours.

"I'll tell you what i'll sell you this 100k car for £1000 plus the PX of your old car (assume it's <10K)"
"now all i need is a £500 despoit... No i'll not write this offer down."

Yet I'm the cynical one? Can you give me a single legitimate reason why they wouldn't want to write it down?

GemBee_2

Must you be given t's & c's when paying a deposit for a used car? Where do you stand if they don't have any?

Equaliser123

If no terms, then anything agreed between you verbally (together with implied terms) will apply as an oral contract.

What's the issue?