Car deposit can i get it back?

Thundercatz

Hi everyone, last saturday I went to a main dealer and found a used car i liked. I wanted to trade in my old car and pay the rest in cash. We went through paperwork to value my current car and signed a form about agreeing to its condition etc. The deal they offered was a touch more than i wanted to pay with trade in, so i went away to think about it. Nothing else signed.

Next day i paid £250 deposit on debit card over the phone to reserve it. The day i go to pick it up and they ring me as the whole drivers side footwell is saturated. They say they cant fix it until 10 days later. I drive over to see the damage and it is wringing wet the floor. I decided not to pay for it and to go away and think about it.

Can i claim my deposit back as im worried the car could be a bit of a lemon?

Advice needed on what to quote when i ring up.

Thanks

Marktheshark

If you paid over the phone, you can use the consumer contracts distance selling and cancel the transaction.
If they refuse apply a chargeback with the card provider.

facade

The dealer is entitled to charge for their losses in preparing the car for sale though, so they may well take you to small claims.

However, even losing the whole £250 is a narrow escape over ending up with a car that pours water in.
Apart from the smelly carpets, condensation everywhere, mould and possible rust issues, there are so many electrical components and connectors that get wet which will give trouble later on.

Marktheshark

Preparing a car for sale is not a loss, it either for sale or its not and if it is it has to be "prepared" in any case.
Who has ever seen a dealer with a car full of the last owners junk on a forecourt.
They prepare them for sale before they display it and any costs are the normal costs of running a business and tax educable expenses.
I think any real "loss" would be extremely difficult to prove.

facade

I know, but the argument is they wouldn't have prepared it if it hadn't "sold" to the OP.
If someone else buys it, then there is no loss as it would have to be prepared for them.

But if it didn't sell, the dealer could have sent it to auction say, or done a swap with another dealer and not done any preparation, so there is a loss.

Marktheshark

If that was the case the dealer could just call the scrap yard and claim the whole amount as a loss.
Any loss has to be genuine, unless you own a parking firm thats owned by a senior member of the law society LOL..

The car is not fit for sale, no exchange has occurred of the goods and the money was paid via the phone so its a distance selling protected transaction.

facade

Which is all good news for the OP then .

I still think only losing £250 would be a lucky escape though, a leaky car is Bad News and can be a real moneypit.

shaun_from_Africa

Marktheshark wrote: »

so its a distance selling protected transaction.

Marktheshark wrote: »

If you paid over the phone, you can use the consumer contracts distance selling and cancel the transaction.
If they refuse apply a chargeback with the card provider.

No they can't as it doesn't class as a distance contract due to the OP visiting the dealer and sitting down discussing the contract with them.
They are entitled to a refund of the deposit but this will be under the Consumer rights act and is nothing to do with distance selling.

mrmot

Distance selling applies to companies that have mechanisms in place to sell items without any face to face contact with the customer.

A deposit over the phone is not distance selling in as there has already been face to face contact with the customer inspecting the item for sale and the deposit is not full payment for the item.

A dealer can incur a loss, he buys a vehicle gets it cleaned, does a few bits to bodywork to get it presentable - those are costs incurred. Someone comes along, agrees to buy the vehicle, pays a deposit, so the dealer gets it prepared, MOT - tyres and brakes pass but get advised so the dealer sticks some tyres on it and renews the brake pads/disks and gives it a service. If someone hadn't said that they'll buy the car the dealer may have disposed of it through the trade or auction and those new tyres and brakes won't make it worth any more, so the dealer incurs a loss.

Silver-Surfer_2

Marktheshark wrote: »

If you paid over the phone, you can use the consumer contracts distance selling and cancel the transaction.
If they refuse apply a chargeback with the card provider.

He want into the showroom and intended to collect the car in person. How do you think this is a distant sale?

Derboy

Thundercatz wrote: »

Hi everyone, last saturday I went to a main dealer and found a used car i liked. I wanted to trade in my old car and pay the rest in cash. We went through paperwork to value my current car and signed a form about agreeing to its condition etc. The deal they offered was a touch more than i wanted to pay with trade in, so i went away to think about it. Nothing else signed.

Next day i paid £250 deposit on debit card over the phone to reserve it. The day i go to pick it up and they ring me as the whole drivers side footwell is saturated. They say they cant fix it until 10 days later. I drive over to see the damage and it is wringing wet the floor. I decided not to pay for it and to go away and think about it.

Can i claim my deposit back as im worried the car could be a bit of a lemon?

Advice needed on what to quote when i ring up.

Thanks

If you signed a contract of sale/sales order form etc on the premises then Distance Sellng Regulations do not apply. If you did not, then they do apply as your deposit payment over the phone constitutes the transaction.

However, this is a moot point anyway as you're entitled to your money back under your consumer rights. The goods are not fit for purpose, therefore you're entitled to a refund as the seller did not disclose the fault before you agreed to purchase.

As for what to quote them, just tell them you're not happy that the car and you're no longer progressing so you want your deposit back. You could be worrying over nothing. Have you any reason to suspect that they won't refund it? As a main dealer, I suspect that they will happily refund.