Car dealer deposit - won't refund

P3rks

Hello,

I'll try and keep this short.

Put a £200 deposit on a car from a small independent dealer. The car pulled to the left but a deal was struck to sort it prior to sale among some other things. Terms of sale were:
- 12 months MOT
- Cambelt and waterpump
- Service
- tracking (to get it driving straight)
- ready for Friday 1st May.

I have a letter headed receipt for £200 deposit with the car reg and stating 12 months MOT, cambelt, waterpump, service and tracking.

Long story short on Friday car had been for MOT (failed due to rear brakes), rear brakes were sorted for MOT to pass as was tracking. Car still pulled to the left and the dealer advised they weren't willing to try anything else for the pulling. I advised I no longer want the car.

The dealer will only refund £100 of my £200 deposit as they've done some work.

Where do I legally stand?
Also, in your opinion is it easier to just cut and run with the £100? I don't want to risk loosing it all.

On a side note just before I said I no longer want the car I did a (proper) HPI check and it failed on a V5 date. Car was advertised as HPI clear - hoping this gives me more leeway.

Thanks in advance.

hollydays

Have you googled reviews on the company?

JethroUK

If just "tracking" was included in your agreement then they have fulfilled their part

If "make it drive straight" was included in your agreement then they haven't

Principle Applies to every repair quote you ever accept

JethroUK

They can not legitimately keep £100 for making their own car roadworthy/saleable for obvious reasons

P3rks

Thanks for your replies.

No reviews as far as I can tell.

Tracking - This is what worries me. Tracking is a subjective term where his argument will be in reference to a wheel alignment. Mine will be in reference of the ability of a car to resist road irregularities and run in a straight line without steering corrections. At the end of the day I'm not a professional in the field and don't know the terminology, where as he is and since we verbally discussed the car pulling to the left and tracking was in reference to this, I think my argument holds some merits. I was also verbally assured no car leaves the showroom with known issues - not that this will hold.

£100 - I agree, but I want to make sure legally I'm correct to.

Marktheshark

Legally, yes, you are entitled to reject a car that crabs down the road, however in practical terms, the first mistake was leaving any deposit and not looking for a car that was road worthy from the start.
The chances of getting any money out of a back street dealer are less than slim, even with a CCJ.

P3rks

In hindsight yes it was. The dealer left no concerns that the issue would not be rectified. Any hint and I would have walked. Maybe i'm too trust worthy.

So even if I take him to court and win, I still stand a chance of loosing all my money? Sounds to me like I take my £100 a run, take it as a life lesson. Or take my £100 and then push for the additional £100.

audigex

Don't accept the £100, this could make it appear that you're accepting it as full and final settlement.

Push for the full £200, on the basis that they can't deduct from your deposit for work they completed to repair the car to the state it should have been in the first place.

P3rks

Thanks Audigex. I'll bare that in mind.

Bit of an update - The dealer just called me.. As it turns out the brakes which were meant to have been done re-failed the MOT and the n/s one was gripping. The brakes are still binding but the dealer seems to think this'll be the issue if he fixes them.

Sounds to me like they did f all work on the car and were fobbing me off the first time around.

I told the dealer I've found a replacement car now as the deal was called off on Friday and I want a full deposit. He will still only meet me half way. I told him i'll check my rights and drop him an e-mail.

Thoughts?

wealdroam

OP, have you read this post:

Is a deposit ever refundable?

bod1467

If the n/s front brake was binding/gripping then this would cause the car to pull to the left. Fix that and the "tracking" issue should be resolved.