Ordered a new car yesterday - can I get my deposit back if I've changed my mind?

MartinWoods

My father who is in his 80s has been talked into buying a new Honda Civic car from the Blackpool Honda dealers yesterday. After a sleepless night he decided it was the wrong decision as his existing Honda Insight only has 13k miles on the clock and will do him for many more years. So he phoned them up this morning to cancel the order for the new car and asked for his £200 deposit back. The dealer said he couldn't have his deposit back. This seems grossly unfair to me - is this right? Can they keep this poor pensioners £200 deposit?

DaveTheMus

What's the point of a deposit if you can have it back when you change your mind?

They can keep it if they have incurred any costs or had to turn away other people who might have been interested in the car.

wealdroam

This very recent thread might interest you:

Can I get deposit back on used car?

JJ_Egan

Write a nice polite letter to The Dealer Principal at the Honda dealership pointing out your fathers age .

mrjam

I'm sorry, but i'm getting really fed up of hearing "my 80 year old father" this, "my 80 year old mother" that - If your father is competent enough to drive (which he clearly is) then why shouldn't he be treat like everyone else. Quite frankly, are you saying that if the situation was EXACTLY the same and a 30 year old guy put a deposit down on a car that he had "been talked into" then he would be any less entitled to a refund? If not, then where does the relevance of age come into it?

If this was a younger guy on here saying what had happened, everyone would be saying "sorry but you made your bed".... because he's 80 it's different is it? Even though he's fully compos mentis.... hmmm... i think not.

neilmcl

I also love the notion of how people are "talked into buying" one thing or another. What on earth do you think a salesman's job is!

keyser666

MartinWoods wrote: »

My father who is in his 80s has been talked into buying a new Honda Civic car from the Blackpool Honda dealers yesterday. After a sleepless night he decided it was the wrong decision as his existing Honda Insight only has 13k miles on the clock and will do him for many more years. So he phoned them up this morning to cancel the order for the new car and asked for his £200 deposit back. The dealer said he couldn't have his deposit back. This seems grossly unfair to me - is this right? Can they keep this poor pensioners £200 deposit?

Whats the fact he is a poor pensioner got to do with it?

mije1983

neilmcl wrote: »

I also love the notion of how people are "talked into buying" one thing or another. What on earth do you think a salesman's job is!

Especially as he went there of his own choice. Surely he must have been considering a new car anyway?

kelpie35

I don't think he is a "poor old pensioner" if he can afford a new car.

No one forced him to visit the garage, it surely was his choice to enter the showroom.

JJ_Egan

mrjam wrote: »

I'm sorry, but i'm getting really fed up of hearing "my 80 year old father" this, "my 80 year old mother" that - If your father is competent enough to drive (which he clearly is) then why shouldn't he be treat like everyone else. Quite frankly, are you saying that if the situation was EXACTLY the same and a 30 year old guy put a deposit down on a car that he had "been talked into" then he would be any less entitled to a refund? If not, then where does the relevance of age come into it?

If this was a younger guy on here saying what had happened, everyone would be saying "sorry but you made your bed".... because he's 80 it's different is it? Even though he's fully compos mentis.... hmmm... i think not.

Age would would be used as a possible means of getting the deposit back no more and no less .
But yes if some fool has bought a car from a dealer then wants to back out age is not really relevant .
Presumption is in this case the dealer is an actual dealer and may well return the deposit as a goodwill gesture .

MartinWoods

What's his age got to do with it? I'll tell you. Elderly people can be more vunerable to making bad financial decisions. Have you never seen an episode of Watchdog? It's full of examples of elderly people who have been conned by unscrupulous salesmen into buying stuff they don't actually need or want. Fortunately my father came to his senses and realised he had made the wrong decision and phoned the dealer the next day (this morning) at 9.00am to cancel the order. Thanks to those of you who pointed me in the right direction re consumer law and my fathers rights in this matter. It would appear that the dealership is not entitled to keep the deposit unless they have financially lost out in some way or incurred some expenses in this transaction. As the deal was done Sunday afternoon and the order cancelled 9.00am Monday morning then it is highly unlikely that they have incurred any financial loss. My father has bought two brand new cars from Honda Blackpool and his Honda Insight only has 13k miles on the clock. He also has terminal cancer - so why would he need a new car? Unless of course an unscrupulous salesman took advantage of him yesterday.
The links mentioned above were very relevant which stated:

"Only 'genuine losses' can be retained so things like loss of profit (for instance) would not be included as the company still own the asset and can still sell it at the given price.

It would be down to the seller to justify to the court that retention of a deposit was reasonable and would not amount to a financial penalty. There are many factors that determine what value would be reasonable or not; such as how close to the order date you cancelled, the nature of the items bought, the value of the deposit in relation to the value of the item. If you cancelled a second-hand car the day after you ordered then the retention of a £300 deposit would likely be a financial penalty. The retention the day before delivery would probably not."