Buyer backing out of car sale help?

tomfun

I had our ford smax advertised on ebay and thought we had it sold,
a couple agreed to pay £6400 but they had to sell there car first to make the payment.
They did leave a £500 deposit and we said we could wait a few weeks for the rest of the money when they sold there car.

I agreed to put 12 months m.o.t on the car for when they collect it,as it turns out it needed a new exhaust costing £400.

a week ago we got a text saying they had an offer of £5500 for there car and that would mean they would only be able to manage £6000 and they were thinking of backing out because they were worrying about keeping us waiting to long, i called them and said it was no problem for us to keep waiting until they got a better offer.

Just had another text tonight saying they had another offer of £5500 and would have to back out of the sale because they can only find £6000 and be £400 short and would pay our costs of £15 for the ebay advert.

I don`t know what to do really , surely they can find the extra £400 from somewhere.
As for the deposit is it returnable ? I spent over £400 of it getting the car through it`s m.o.t as i promissed i would .

Just wanted to know where we stand before i call them .

Evilm

Some of the people on this board would say that "The costs you incurred can be deducted from the deposit before the balance is refunded to them."

Personally I think unless otherwise stated a deposit is non refundable unless its the seller who stops the transaction.

Oliver14

By putting the car through the MOT its now worth more. Not sure why you agreed to the MOT if it was going to cost you for the exhaust. If they agreed to pay the exhaust costs on the MOT you have a case to keep the deposit IMO. If they didn't andd you just decided to pay the exhaust costs you don't really have much of a case. Yes you could technically keep the deposit but expect a bunfight if you do.

marywooyeah

sounds like you would have had to pay out that £400 anyway to be able to sell it in a condition where it would pass an MOT, so I would tell them the deposit is non refundable and then you've still got £100 left and they effectively bought you a new exhaust.

sounds to me like they are just trying to get you to knock some money off the price.

visidigi

unless significantly not as described the eBay deal is done - you asked for a deposit, they no longer want the car (or want a discount) so therefore they are backing out of the deal - what would they say as a reson to paypal for deposit return? Car not as described? seller can dispute that, 'we don't have the money' paypal will decline that...

This is not a retail purchase, its an auction - the terms of sale on a retail purchase differ to an auction and therefore, you as an individual are under no obligation to return the deposit.

Ignore the exhaust cost etc, and the MOT, that is nothing to do with it - if you hadn't had an issue with the exhaust it wouldnt have been a cost you had incurred.

I can't see any way the original auction winner could insist on return of the deposit. In fact I would go so far as to call their bluff on the attempt at a cheaper price and inform them if they do not complete the purchase then they will lose the deposit that has been paid.

tomfun

Thanks for the helpfull replys, the couple were very nice when they came to view the car so i don`t really know what to make of things, they both loved the car so for the sake of finding an extra £400 it would be theres.

I`m more interested in selling the car to them still as it was on ebay for 4 weeks and we have waited a further 2 weeks for them to sell there car and we have a car in mind to buy if it is still there.

I couldn`t pay back the deposit now anyway as it was used to pay for the exhaust and m.o.t , so the best we could do is tell them they`ll have to wait until we sell ours for some of the deposit back which could take another 4 weeks.

maninthestreet

£400 for an exhaust??

marywooyeah

yes actually that does sound like a lot! I dont have a car so don't know too much about these things, but even to a layperson that sounds expensive!

tomfun

visidigi wrote: »

unless significantly not as described the eBay deal is done - you asked for a deposit, they no longer want the car (or want a discount) so therefore they are backing out of the deal .

The car was tested until october 2011 and ran fine i wasn`t expecting it to cost to much for the m.o.t so agreed to do it for there peice of mind.
Just to add this wasn`t an auction it was a classified add through ebay ,but i don`t think that should make any difference as they agreed to buy it .

italiastar

You sound like a reasonable person - why don't you tell thm that if they can't complete you'll re-advertise the car. If you get the price they offered they you'll give them the deposit back, otherwise you'll deduct anything you lose. Remember a new reg comes out soon and the value of the car will drop. Also please note that "there" in this case is their.

pitkin2020

Tell them to go swivel, you have been more than generous holding onto the car for over 2 weeks, in which time you have turned down several offers because you had the car offered elsewhere (like the local rag etc). They need to either pay the full balance within 7 days or you will have to relist the car for sale. You could be fair and state if the car does sell for the same money they originally agreed you will return the deposit (as technically your not out of pocket) but if it sells for less you will deduct the balance from the deposit. Explain that the car you were going to buy and your heart set on has now sold due to them wasting your time so you now have to begin your search again which has cost you time and money.