Motor trader refusing to refund deposit

gecko19

Hello,

I am new to the car group. I have a doubt about getting the deposit back on a car for a friend.

My friend liked a convertible car after a test drive. On asking to get the convertible roof down, we were told that it does not work and that it would need to get repaired at the main dealer - we were told by the trader that he would get it fixed.

On the trader's insistence and to display our good faith, we put down a deposit of 150£, so that the trader could get the roof fixed at the main dealer.

Two weeks later, the trader says the car is still getting fixed but cannot confirm a time/day when it will get delivered. They are also refusing to return the deposit.

Any ideas what we could do get the deposit back, since my friend doesn't trust the dealer any more.

Thanks,
G.

tacpot12

Your friend is not entitled to her deposit back, and she hasn't waited a reasonable time for the car to be delivered, so if the dealer won't give the deposit back to them, there is not much more they can do.

If the trader cannot confirm a delivery date for the car in another two weeks, then she can try suing them for the deposit. Bear in mind that unless the delivery date of the car was documented and the terms under which the deposit would be refundable were also documented, they are going to have to argue their case with the judge. The trader probably has a counter-claim for the cost of the repair, so the judge may award a very low amount to you friend, they may even end up owing the trader money. It might be better to walk away from this dealer and let him keep the £150.

DoaM

Did the trader give an estimate for the repair to be completed by?

Parts of the above post are right - however it is incorrect to state that the deposit is entirely unrecoverable. But the devil is in the detail.

AndyMc.....

tacpot12 wrote: »

Your friend is not entitled to her deposit back, and she hasn't waited a reasonable time for the car to be delivered, so if the dealer won't give the deposit back to them, there is not much more they can do.

If the trader cannot confirm a delivery date for the car in another two weeks, then she can try suing them for the deposit. Bear in mind that unless the delivery date of the car was documented and the terms under which the deposit would be refundable were also documented, they are going to have to argue their case with the judge. The trader probably has a counter-claim for the cost of the repair, so the judge may award a very low amount to you friend, they may even end up owing the trader money. It might be better to walk away from this dealer and let him keep the £150.

Wbere are you getting your time scales from, the back of a fag packet?

EssexExile

So many times on here people seem to be happy to buy cars that don't work properly, on a promise from dealer that it will get sorted. That's not the way I would do it.

gecko19

He said it would be ready by last Thursday. Currently,he has no idea when it will be available - we could keep waiting for a long time.

A learning so far, not to buy a car till it can be driven out.

Thanks,
G.

gecko19

EssexExile wrote: »

So many times on here people seem to be happy to buy cars that don't work properly, on a promise from dealer that it will get sorted. That's not the way I would do it.

I think it has a lot to do with budgets/model etc.When there are high expectations of the car, but penny pinching is the bargaining mantra, I guess these sort of things are to be expected.

Personally, I have bought 5 cars before, this is the first time I have seen this issue though. I guess I and my friend tend to trust people a bit more than we should.

Thanks,
G.

gecko19

tacpot12 wrote: »

Your friend is not entitled to her deposit back, and she hasn't waited a reasonable time for the car to be delivered, so if the dealer won't give the deposit back to them, there is not much more they can do.

If the trader cannot confirm a delivery date for the car in another two weeks, then she can try suing them for the deposit. Bear in mind that unless the delivery date of the car was documented and the terms under which the deposit would be refundable were also documented, they are going to have to argue their case with the judge. The trader probably has a counter-claim for the cost of the repair, so the judge may award a very low amount to you friend, they may even end up owing the trader money. It might be better to walk away from this dealer and let him keep the £150.

Ok, lets say we want the car. How long should we wait before call it the quits. If the car was never intended to be repaired what should be done next?

agrinnall

I would suggest that you need to set a reasonable deadline for the repair to be made and advise the dealer that if the car is not delivered by that date then the contract is frustrated and you expect the deposit to be returned. Do it in writing (letter by 1st class post) so that there is hard evidence if it ends up in small claims.