quick question about a deposit

jcol

Hi everyone.
Just wanted to ask about our rights regarding a deposit my son paid for a car.


He agreed to buy a car from a garage, the garage claimed that it was out of the forecourt at that time but would have it the next day.
Then it would take 2 days to go through the car to make sure it was in a perfect condition.


My son paid the deposit there and then (yes just going by photos )


2 days later, my son rang to enquire when the car would be ready and the garage said there was a delay on it and it would be another week.


He waited the week and rang the garage again, just to be told there is still a delay and it would be another week.


By this time he was losing trust in the garage, he didnt know if it was just a logistical delay or if there was a major mechanical fault they were trying to fix, but he lost patience with the garage and bought a different car from another garage.


Lo and behold the first garage then rang him, said the car was in stock now and is ready for him to collect.
It turned out they never had it at that garage, it was coming from a different garage but part of the same chain and the delay was moving it.



Obviously he cant buy this car now.
He asked for a refund on his deposit as it was the garage who messed about and they are refusing.


What rights (if any) does he have? as the garage are the ones who broke the contract, and not my son.
He gave them 3 chances to supply the car and they couldn't.


tldr:
Son paid deposit on car to garage.
3 times the garage could not supply the car (over 2 weeks from deposit paid)
Son lost trust in garage.
Turned out the garage never had possesion of the car, it was in a different garage the whole time.

Son went to different garage and bought a car.
Original garage now saying deposit is non refundable

Aylesbury_Duck

jcol wrote: »

Hi everyone.
Just wanted to ask about our rights regarding a deposit my son paid for a car.


He agreed to buy a car from a garage, the garage claimed that it was out of the forecourt at that time but would have it the next day.
Then it would take 2 days to go through the car to make sure it was in a perfect condition.


My son paid the deposit there and then (yes just going by photos )


2 days later, my son rang to enquire when the car would be ready and the garage said there was a delay on it and it would be another week.


He waited the week and rang the garage again, just to be told there is still a delay and it would be another week.


By this time he was losing trust in the garage, he didnt know if it was just a logistical delay or if there was a major mechanical fault they were trying to fix, but he lost patience with the garage and bought a different car from another garage.


Lo and behold the first garage then rang him, said the car was in stock now and is ready for him to collect.
It turned out they never had it at that garage, it was coming from a different garage but part of the same chain and the delay was moving it.



Obviously he cant buy this car now.
He asked for a refund on his deposit as it was the garage who messed about and they are refusing.


What rights (if any) does he have? as the garage are the ones who broke the contract, and not my son.
He gave them 3 chances to supply the car and they couldn't.


tldr:
Son paid deposit on car to garage.
3 times the garage could not supply the car (over 2 weeks from deposit paid)
Son lost trust in garage.
Turned out the garage never had possesion of the car, it was in a different garage the whole time.

Son went to different garage and bought a car.
Original garage now saying deposit is non refundable

Without knowing the terms of the contract, I don't know if the dealership breached it or not, but it looks as though he has breached the contract by refusing to buy the car he committed to buying.

I don't think the different garage argument is valid, they are still able to supply the car. I assume he committed to buying the car, not buying the car from a specific location.

Just what does the contract oblige the dealer and your son to do?

bris

The son should have made clear a definite delivery time by way of a "time is of the essence" letter. he just let them keep delaying it so the contract was still good.

Another thing he should have done was complain and try and get the deposit back before he bought another car.

They are now in a position where they have suffered a loss for transport costs etc so depending on how much this deposit is I would consider it lost. They have to mitigate the loss but until they resell this car they won't really know how much that loss is.

Fosterdog

Is this an Evans Halshaw branch? If so all he has to do is test drive the car and then he gets the deposit back even if he no longer wants buy it. That's the only chain I know of that routinely takes a deposit to transfer cars between dealers.

DoaM

Fosterdog wrote: »

That's the only chain I know of that routinely takes a deposit to transfer cars between dealers.

I didn't read the OP as a deposit to transfer the vehicle, rather a deposit to purchase the vehicle. It was only later that the requirement to transfer it from another dealership location was clear.

jcol wrote: »

the garage claimed that it was out of the forecourt at that time but would have it the next day.

If it is EH then this could be a fortuitous escape clause for the OP's son.

jcol

Thanks all for your replies;


Ive spoken to my son and he's said the following;


3 times they verbally agreed for him collect the car, in which they failed to deliver. It wasnt coming from another garage, it was actually coming from the place they bought the car from.


So they had purchased the car, probably from an auction and were already awaiting transfer to their garage anyways. It was just pushed back and back due to it being near christmas.


Also, he said the car that was in the photo wasnt actually the car that they were selling. They were photos of another car they had sold before in the past.


So they were advertising a car they did not have possession off and they were also using photos of a different car due to this, so surely the car wasnt as seen?


He seeked some advice and he was told he might be able to claim under the consumer rights act. They brought a new law in for companies who dont deliver a service. The customer is entitiled to some/all of their money back if they fail to deliver?


In your opinion, do you think it was worth persuing? The deposit was £500, the company didnt lose any money as they already had to transfer the car regardless if it was purchased or not and they didnt actually have the car there to sell, so whether i bought it or not, they could not of sold the car so they lost no money?


Edit. Not EH

Aylesbury_Duck

At £500 I would definitely pursue it, but again, without knowing what contract terms your son signed, I can't see how anyone can give definitive advice. It's all semi-informed speculation. It seems that your son has spent time finding all the reasons they haven't been entirely clear or honest rather than actually understanding what he committed to.

Get him to dig out the contract he signed/agreed to and understand what it says.

TrickyDicky101

What I don't understand (and as already mentioned above) is why on earth did your son go and buy another car without first getting his deposit back?