Refund second hand car deposit privately

mummy_jonno

REALLY REALLY need some advice please.

We have a ford mondeo listed for sale on autotrade, gumtree all the usuals and we couldn't sell it at price. We dropped it down to £1,200 for a sale and the buyer came and dropped off a £700 deposit on thursday.

He is aware we can't store this car any longer than until Monday as we collect our new mobility car then and he asked if we would allow him to leave it on the drive until he changed the two front tires (bald) and I said yes as long as it's gone by monday. We verbally agreed and he handed me the deposit (amount of his choice)

I messaged him today asking when he was coming to do the tires as there didn't seem to be any motion. He then told me that he was trying to sell his van and his sale had fallen through leaving him unable to stump up the rest of the money (£500)

Now I have to folk out money to relist the car and hope it sells by monday.

Couple of questions

A) Do I have to return his deposit

If I have to drop the price slightly in order to sell it before monday would it be unreasonable to ask him to pay the difference?


In a real pickle here as we dropped the price specifically to get it sold because he was certain he had the cash now I'm stuck!!

Thanks in advance.

DUTR

If you sell it elsewhere then obviously return his deposit, the legalities or not, if someone ripped me off of £700 , then I would ensure they did not enjoy a penny of that money.
Out of interest if he had not left a deposit (or anybody else) what you do now? The position would only be slightly different.
Personally I would return his deposit and get the car off your hands.
On an aside, there is possibly a slight scam here, you hold onto the vehicle missing all the prospective buyers, then the depositor reduces the offer price again.

mummy_jonno

DUTR wrote: »

If you sell it elsewhere then obviously return his deposit, the legalities or not, if someone ripped me off of £700 , then I would ensure they did not enjoy a penny of that money.
Out of interest if he had not left a deposit (or anybody else) what you do now? The position would only be slightly different.
Personally I would return his deposit and get the car off your hands.
On an aside, there is possibly a slight scam here, you hold onto the vehicle missing all the prospective buyers, then the depositor reduces the offer price again.

The issue is we had copious emails and people lined up to buy the car at that price and because he's now backed out of the deal we have no back up. So if he hadn't have put a deposit on it then it would have gone to someone else who paid full price in cash and had taken the car already.

DUTR

mummy_jonno wrote: »

The issue is we had copious emails and people lined up to buy the car at that price and because he's now backed out of the deal we have no back up. So if he hadn't have put a deposit on it then it would have gone to someone else who paid full price in cash and had taken the car already.

All that concerned me towards the 'scam' is the amount of deposit left, however if I'm selling a car, 1st with the payment gets the vehicle, any deposits left are returned (plus a drink if I'm in the mood) but as the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.

mummy_jonno

DUTR wrote: »

All that concerned me towards the 'scam' is the amount of deposit left, however if I'm selling a car, 1st with the payment gets the vehicle, any deposits left are returned (plus a drink if I'm in the mood) but as the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.

Well that's pretty much what my husband said. Full cash amount and cars gone and idiot over here accepted the deposit in good faith.

I've told the chap at the very least he will be paying for the listing fees as it's his fault not mine.

What a drama

mrcow

Why do you have to relist? Can't you just email back all of the other potential buyers and see if they are still interested. If one of them buys it, you can give the guy his money back.

mummy_jonno

mrcow wrote: »

Why do you have to relist? Can't you just email back all of the other potential buyers and see if they are still interested. If one of them buys it, you can give the guy his money back.

We've attempted this however we can't because the listing no longer exists. The new one I've put up does however they didn't message me in regards to that.

As i've said to him quite happy to give him his deposit back less the advert fees incurred however he's being a pain about it now

colino

He's being a pain? Tell him quite clearly that you will return the remainder of his deposit when the car is sold and not a second before. Then re-advertise and sell it to the first loon with cash in their hand. The equation then is, his agreed value to you (£1200) minus your additional advertising costs, minus what you get for the car equals is what you return to him. That will be your provable loss.
His story is a load of cobblers, no sane private buyer leaves such a large cash deposit, he probably changed his mind or has seen something else.
Moral is, don't bother with deposits with private sales, the first punter with the required cash, all of it, wins the prize.

NewUserHere

The guys paid a significant sum towards the car and now cannot complete the purchase as he was relying on the sale of his van. Then you hesitate in giving him his deposit back - no wonder he's getting worried. You're reselling the car and holding his cash. Sh*t happens so deduct to relisting fee and give him his money back. If not, wait until the tables are turned and hope karma isn't a b1tch!

motorguy

NewUserHere wrote: »

The guys paid a significant sum towards the car and now cannot complete the purchase as he was relying on the sale of his van. Then you hesitate in giving him his deposit back - no wonder he's getting worried. You're reselling the car and holding his cash. Sh*t happens so deduct to relisting fee and give him his money back. If not, wait until the tables are turned and hope karma isn't a b1tch!

I dont agree.

Sell the car, deduct listing fees, and any loss over agreed price that you had to sell the car for to get it away by monday.

Send him back the difference.

Clearly the guy has either changed his mind or spotted a different car. If he cant otherwise sell his van, then hes not in a position to buy another car anyway, so he'll hardly mind waiting a few days?

DUTR

Any update on this OP?