Trying to get deposit back on car “purchase” before lockdown & other issues

kazimojo69

Hi. Hoping someone can help. My daughter put a deposit down on a car before lockdown. I paid £1k to reserve the car (value of £5295) as it was her first loan and to reduce the cost.  She was unable to collect it before lockdown as she had to change age her licence to a UK licence which meant also having a full medical. All the paperwork was sent to DVLA and then we went into lockdown. Obviously during this time, the garage was closed and DVLA have amassed a backlog now. She has chased DVLA several times and feels pressurised by the garage to “ask for supervisors” at DVLA to speed her application up. In fact the garage really upset her last week when she found the DVLA are now beginning to work through the batch of licences where hers is and the garage told her to tell them today or tomorrow if it had arrived. There is no way it would arrive in that time. So I emailed the garage and said she would be pulling out due to the ongoing pressure from them which was leaving her stressed. They have emailed back to say the deposit is non refundable and it would not be sent back, but as a gesture of goodwill, they would hold the price etc if the car was still available when her licence arrived.  Yes, they have put it back on for sale! The only paperwork she has is a copy of her loan agreement (she has not started paying on this yet). I do not recall being told at any time the deposit was non refundable.  Having looked on the internet, it mentions generally via google that special circumstances may mean  getting the deposit back.  Surely a worldwide pandemic would constitute this with the knock on effect of DVLA etc. Can anyone offer any advice please. I’ve emailed (calmly) stating that they should have replied to me saying the deposit was non refundable and did I still want to go ahead and cancel. But wasn’t given that option just “your intention is to cancel and we accept that”. Then put the car back up for sale !!!  Thanks in advance. 

Scrapit

kazimojo69 said:

Hi. Hoping someone can help. My daughter put a deposit down on a car before lockdown. I paid £1k to reserve the car (value of £5295) as it was her first loan and to reduce the cost.  She was unable to collect it before lockdown as she had to change age her licence to a UK licence which meant also having a full medical. All the paperwork was sent to DVLA and then we went into lockdown. Obviously during this time, the garage was closed and DVLA have amassed a backlog now. She has chased DVLA several times and feels pressurised by the garage to “ask for supervisors” at DVLA to speed her application up. In fact the garage really upset her last week when she found the DVLA are now beginning to work through the batch of licences where hers is and the garage told her to tell them today or tomorrow if it had arrived. There is no way it would arrive in that time. So I emailed the garage and said she would be pulling out due to the ongoing pressure from them which was leaving her stressed. They have emailed back to say the deposit is non refundable and it would not be sent back, but as a gesture of goodwill, they would hold the price etc if the car was still available when her licence arrived.  Yes, they have put it back on for sale! The only paperwork she has is a copy of her loan agreement (she has not started paying on this yet). I do not recall being told at any time the deposit was non refundable.  Having looked on the internet, it mentions generally via google that special circumstances may mean  getting the deposit back.  Surely a worldwide pandemic would constitute this with the knock on effect of DVLA etc. Can anyone offer any advice please. I’ve emailed (calmly) stating that they should have replied to me saying the deposit was non refundable and did I still want to go ahead and cancel. But wasn’t given that option just “your intention is to cancel and we accept that”. Then put the car back up for sale !!!  Thanks in advance. 

what is stopping you buying the car? The lack of daughters licence isn't their problem. Buy the car, park it up, sort the licence, use it and be satisfied.

kazimojo69

It’s the loan company apparently that need the UK licence info. They’ve seen her other licence which was in date.  But they will only allow her to take the car.  So I can’t pick the car up on her behalf. 

angrycrow

Sorry but it is not the garages fault that she does not have a licence that meets the requirements of her chosen financier. She should have ensured she had the means to pay before agreeing to buy.

The garage can deduct reasonable expenses from any deposit refund. It appears they have stored the car for 3 months and now they need to spend more money advertising it again. If they use finance to pay for stock  they will have incurred interest.

There should be some refund of the deposit but don't expect it all back. Other lesson to be learned is don't put up such a big deposit. 

kazimojo69

angrycrow said:

Sorry but it is not the garages fault that she does not have a licence that meets the requirements of her chosen financier. She should have ensured she had the means to pay before agreeing to buy.

The garage can deduct reasonable expenses from any deposit refund. It appears they have stored the car for 3 months and now they need to spend more money advertising it again. If they use finance to pay for stock  they will have incurred interest.

There should be some refund of the deposit but don't expect it all back. Other lesson to be learned is don't put up such a big deposit. 

She did shave a licence.  She was a uni student and had a non uk licence which she can drive on.  She applied for finance as she has no credit record and wanted to start this off. She has been accepted for finance but asked to change her licence to a Uk licence. That’s wasn’t the problem.  We went into lockdown a few days later and DVLA have been closed (which she eventually found out from them in June.) DVLA have a 2 million case backlog working with a third of staff. So there will be a delay.  The garage was closed and reopened last week. So they couldn’t sell cars on that time. The sales advisor has been at home. We’ve asked if she can take it as she has a licence and can afford the finance but she has to wait for the new uk licence.  It’s been the bullying tactics of pushing her that has forced our hand to opt out. They couldn’t sell cars and she couldn’t get her licence and is still in a huge waiting list.  The garage have harassed her about DVLA, but anyone that has seen the news lately, knows what a mess the DVLA are in at the minute.  It took her all week last week to speak to an advisor and not have the line cut off as their message states they are very busy.  So there’s no problem with finance or her having a licence. She’s been driving on it in the uk whilst at uni with no problem 

kazimojo69

I give up.  It’s obviously ok for someone to bully another person when it’s not necessary. And by that I mean the garage bullying my daughter.  The car has been static for 3 months because they have been closed. They were perfectly fine with that. Doesn’t matter where the money comes from, a deposit was paid. Now she can’t do anything because she is waiting for the DVLA. The garage was quite happy to wait and for that to happen at the time. A pandemic closes most businesses and now its her fault !!! All I want them to do is stop harassing her and bullying her into something that she can’t do anything about and they were well aware of it.  She has finance confirmed. All ready to go.  What happened to “Be Kind” ??  Seems non existent with people these days! 

AdrianC

kazimojo69 said:

I give up.  It’s obviously ok for someone to bully another person when it’s not necessary. And by that I mean the garage bullying my daughter.  The car has been static for 3 months because they have been closed. They were perfectly fine with that. Doesn’t matter where the money comes from, a deposit was paid. Now she can’t do anything because she is waiting for the DVLA. The garage was quite happy to wait and for that to happen at the time. A pandemic closes most businesses and now its her fault !!! All I want them to do is stop harassing her and bullying her into something that she can’t do anything about and they were well aware of it.  She has finance confirmed. All ready to go.  What happened to “Be Kind” ??  Seems non existent with people these days! 

But why is it all waiting on DVLA?
Because she can't raise the money to buy the car she contracted to buy.

And why can't she raise the finance to complete the contract she entered?
Because she doesn't meet the requirements of her chosen lender.

bigadaj

kazimojo69 said:

I give up.  It’s obviously ok for someone to bully another person when it’s not necessary. And by that I mean the garage bullying my daughter.  The car has been static for 3 months because they have been closed. They were perfectly fine with that. Doesn’t matter where the money comes from, a deposit was paid. Now she can’t do anything because she is waiting for the DVLA. The garage was quite happy to wait and for that to happen at the time. A pandemic closes most businesses and now its her fault !!! All I want them to do is stop harassing her and bullying her into something that she can’t do anything about and they were well aware of it.  She has finance confirmed. All ready to go.  What happened to “Be Kind” ??  Seems non existent with people these days! 

Why not find finance elsewhere, a bank loan maybe?

elsien

If your daughter counts that as bullying,  then she potentially needs to learn to be a tad more assertive. All she has to do is tell them she'll let them know when the licence arrives and to stop calling her. 
Then you tell them you don't want the car any more but are then surprised when it's put back up for sale?
The garage may be being pushy, but it's hardly surprising now that things are moving again.

Aylesbury_Duck

Your daughter committed to buying a car, the whole process froze during lockdown, the garage is open again and quite reasonably they want her to complete the purchase.  Her problems with her licence are not the garage's concern.  They've done the reasonable thing of offering to hold the price, you've cancelled the purchase so they're understandably trying to sell the car to someone else, the proceeds from which will be used to refund some of your deposit.

Alleged bullying is a separate matter, not related to the contract your daughter entered into.

Grumpy_chap

Can you / your daughter get finance through any other route?

Or, will the dealer hold the car if you say you still want it?  To give you time to get the license and finance sorted?