New car. Is there a cooling off period, can you change your mind

SBM_2

Hi All,

My Father who is in his mid 70's. Has just agreed to purchase a second hand car from a dealer. I for the last few weeks have been going to different dealerships to see which cars suite him. He as slight problems getting in and out of cars if the roof line is too low. He has been looking for a new car, and i have advised him that in his situation a Private lease over a 3 year period would suit him best. Last weekend he went into a dealership to have a look at a kia Venga, with out me, a very helpful sales person took him and my mum out for a test drive in a car that was 4 months old and had done 2500 miles, he was told that it had only been driven by two drivers and the dealership had been using it for exhibitions. He rang me up to tell me the details of his purchase and the deal which he had on his 3 year lease.
So just to check everything out for him i went over to his house as he does not really understand finance, leasing etc that much.
When i arrived i found that he had been given no paper work other than a bit of paper which was a written receipt to say that he had paid a depoist of £200 to hold the car.
He told me some details and i gathered from this, that actually what he did have was a 42 month pcp, where he needed to pay a deposit of £2000. They had told him in the dealership that his payments would be £181 a month. Apparently with in 2hrs of getting home they rang him up and said that the payments would actually be £189 and asked him if that was ok. He thought he still had a good deal and said yes.
So surprised that he did not have any paper work i went down to the dealership with my father to clarify the situation. And asked for all the paperwork which he had signed.
They produced an order form with the price of the car on, of £13,995. He has signed this and it says that he as agreed to purchase the car when it is ready for collection. However there is no other paper work at all to say he as signed up for any Pcp or none which they have produced any way.
While i was there i asked about the car and there are a few dependencies on what my dad thinks he was getting and what he his actually getting. This could be them, or it could be my dad i don't know i was not there. eg he was told that the car was 4 months old, but its actually on a 13 plate. Which i believe means it was registered between March and September 2013. So the car is somewhere between 7 months and 13 months,
But what i do know is that i can get a brand new car, exactly the same model on a lease for less than the pcp they have offered him on the second hand car. I am aware that you can not just decide to not purchase a car just on the grounds that you have found a better deal else where. But any help at all would be appreciated. It is not a deal i would have excepted if i had of been with him. Are there not certain procedures which they have to follow set out by the fsa. Does he not have to sign paperwork to say that certain procedures have been followed and that all the options have been explained to him and he understands them.

Thanks In Advance SBM

HappyMJ

As long as he doesn't have the car and not yet paid the deposit then he can pull out and only risk the £200 he has paid so far.

Hintza

HappyMJ wrote: »

As long as he doesn't have the car and not yet paid the deposit then he can pull out and only risk the £200 he has paid so far.

Possibly, but they could pursue for any losses incurred. But I'm not sure they would be keen to go to court if they are obviously attempting to deceive/overcharge.

So I would probably also walk away.

Cornucopia

Many dealers offer a cooling off or exchange period. The bigger/newer the dealer, the more likely it is they will have this facility.

You cannot necessarily compare a lease and a PCP directly against each other, as they are not the same thing.

Only you know whether you think your Dad has been ripped off. TBH, knowing how most main dealers work these days, it's extremely unlikely, although incompetence on their part is possible.

If you feel strongly about it, you could discuss it with their Sales Manager. Again, only you will know whether you will be comfortable going to the dealer with/without your Dad's agreement. (Presumably he remains happy with the deal?)

SBM_2

Hi All,

thank you for your Help. and quick responses

I do not believe that the dealer deliberately tried to rip my Father off. I think there was an opportunity for them to sell a second hand car before it depreciated any further. I can not and do not blame them for that, that is what they are there for. What i would like to be able to do is to go back to them and ask them if they would match the offer which i have received from two other Main Kia dealers. But i was not sure how i stood legally in walking away from the deal if they declined to do so.
My hope was that because my father had agreed to purchase the car on the basis of the figures for the Pcp he was given in the dealership but never signed, that because they are now changing those figures that this would some how help for him to walk away, as they are changing the verbal agreement that they had that formed part of the written agreement to purchase the car.

Hope that makes sense.

SBM

gilbert_and_sullivan

Its very hard to see your elderly parents, shall we say, treated unfairly, in your eyes.

A difficult path to tread, you don't want to see them taken for a ride, but then its also easy to end up being overkind and maybe verging on the side of bossy...i know having been there too, a fine line to tread and if you're not there when that nice young man (who was so kind to us) has looked after them so well, you sometimes have to stand back a bit and let them get on with it up to a point.

Only you know looking at this reasonably if you dad has been turned over big time, or if the deal is reasonable for the older man in street who isn't maybe a computer wizard.

You know you'll feel bad about it for years, i still do about my late father being turned over by a clutch centre in a midlands town who did far more work on his marina than the car was worth for its mot....the only saving grace was i called in and let rip big time at the owner, didn't save my dads money but i told them exactly what they were, and my dad never knew, he would have been mortified.

Your dads a lucky chap.