£500 car deposit non refunded - section 75?

chattychappy

Alex_LS wrote: »

Although complicated here, since the OP wrote on 'the deposit receipt' which means payment had already been made. i.e. the contract had already been made prior to the condition being communicated.

That's the way I read it at first. Agree if it's after the event then it's probably ineffective. But the OP did write:

robinia wrote: »

To clarify I actually wrote "subject to inspection" on the deposit receipt before I signed it

So I took whatever agreement it was to be formed on signing - ie the "deposit receipt" giving the basis of the deal. Seems strange to me that the OP (rather then the dealer) would be signing the receipt if the OP had paid.

xyellowx

lisyloo- this is a money saving website £150 paid for services which should of been no more than £70/£80 (thats what its got to do with it)

hartcjhart

vax2002 wrote: »

Never leave an amount of deposit you are not prepared to loose if anyone backs out.
They are legal arguments but there is also Human arguments and that says once they have your cash, its gone.
We see this time and time and time again and car dealers are fly by nights.
The best advice is never leave ANY deposit with a second hand car dealer, go back with cash and if its gone, its gone.

errm excuse me would you like to change your sweeping statement that you made,

NOT all car dealers are the same,,I am more than happy to take a car of the market for 2/3 days so an inspection can be carried out WITHOUT a deposit as that way I am sure the buyer is happy with the purchase,
however if they put a deposit down saying they want to arrange the money etc and the change their mind because they have seen a similar car cheaper/better etc then yes I will keep it

hartcjhart

robinia wrote: »

Many thanks to all for your advice which would seem to suggest that I have been somewhat foolish and thus lost £500 plus £150 inspection fee. Proving that even at 45 I'm never to old to learn!

Even though all was well documented - I even wrote "subject to inspection" on the deposit receipt - it would seem I have little grounds on which to get back my deposit.

As lisyloo says it would seem an inspection is basically worthless with regards to an informed purchase and I will learn a valuable lesson from this and would hope others do too.

Leave a small, loseable deposit and factor this into the agreed sale price.

On a positive note I have avoided further potential expenditure by not buying the car. One of my major concerns was the report of "contaminated coolant". Having Googled this it would seem that head gasket failiure is not an unknown occurence with the Rover 75.

Did you ask the dealer if the head gasket had been recently fixed,which could leave traces of contamination in the coolant but be perfectly ok, or did you just decide to reject it without consulting him

vax2002

As said they are legal recourses, but they will not guarantee to get your money back, crooks just ignore CCJ's as often they operate as limited companies with no assets to seize and sell.
Paying a second hand car dealer any deposit is a risky move, your money is about as good as gone, people have even rolled up to see the car they placed the deposit on sold and the the deposit refused to return, sued won in court and still get nothing.
Human nature dictates that once someone has your cash, the chances of ever getting it back are very slim.
My advice is never leave a "deposit" with any crooked car dealer, take someone with you to check over the car and come back with cash only and if it is gone them look elsewhere.
Trust them at your peril !

The Op has spent £650 and has no car.
Always take an older wiser relative or friend, the reason they are wiser is they have seen all the tricks in the book pulled at sometime or another and someone in "must have it mode" is an easy target.

hartcjhart

vax2002 wrote: »

As said they are legal recourses, but they will not guarantee to get your money back, crooks just ignore CCJ's as often they operate as limited companies with no assets to seize and sell.
Paying a second hand car dealer any deposit is a risky move, your money is about as good as gone, people have even rolled up to see the car they placed the deposit on sold and the the deposit refused to return, sued won in court and still get nothing.
Human nature dictates that once someone has your cash, the chances of ever getting it back are very slim.
My advice is never leave a "deposit" with any crooked car dealer, take someone with you to check over the car and come back with cash only and if it is gone them look elsewhere.
Trust them at your peril !

.

The Op has spent £650 and has no car.
Always take an older wiser relative or friend, the reason they are wiser is they have seen all the tricks in the book pulled at sometime or another and someone in "must have it mode" is an easy target.

keep digging........

BugsyBrowne

It's probably just me but sometimes in life we learn by our mistakes, the OP has certantly learned one as for us all having a pop at the dealer who is well within his rights IMHO as he also offered to rectify the problem to.
What if this was the other way round of the dealer decided to not go ahead with the sale how would the OP feel then.
We all know the rights and wrongs but put yourself in the dealers shoes, he has took the car off the fourcourt With the potential of losing a sale.

lisyloo

lisyloo- this is a money saving website £150 paid for services which should of been no more than £70/£80 (thats what its got to do with it)

Ah right I get you now - it's not relevant to the dispute but I agree.
The last time I did it I asked my local mechanic and I paid him £50.
There are also many companies that do this so you can shop around.

Alex_LS

vax2002 wrote: »

As said they are legal recourses, but they will not guarantee to get your money back, crooks just ignore CCJ's as often they operate as limited companies with no assets to seize and sell.
Paying a second hand car dealer any deposit is a risky move, your money is about as good as gone, people have even rolled up to see the car they placed the deposit on sold and the the deposit refused to return, sued won in court and still get nothing.

Although if that deposit was paid by credit card (or Visa debit) then it could be recovered from the bank. The bank/FOS could hardly ignore a CCJ.

robinia

To be honest hartcjhart I did not ask the car dealer "Has this head gasket been recently fixed, which could leave traces of contamination in the coolant but be perfectly ok ". I didn't ask because I thought his answer may not be totally objective/unbiased.

I actually did what you suggest which was "to reject it without consulting him".
In doing so I possibly avoided the dire consequences of a quick dose of cooling system sealant followed by a cleansing flush.

As Vax 2002 points out I was in "must have it mode" as opposed to "must act my age mode". A dangerous yet not uncommon condition for me!