Buying a used BMW online

teki88

I am interested in buy a car from BMW, I found a car online that I am interested in.  There is a option to buy online, the BMW site requests for £500 deposit to secure the car online.

If when collecting the car from the dealer in person after securing online with the deposit, the car is not as described or has faults of body damage that is not visible or stated online can I request for a refund of the deposit?

Many thanks for your advice. 

DoaM

What do the T&Cs for placing the deposit say? (We're not psychic, nor have we looked at the website you've found as you've not told us).

teki88

DoaM said:

What do the T&Cs for placing the deposit say? (We're not psychic, nor have we looked at the website you've found as you've not told us).

Hi DoaM, here aretare terms on the site.
Your order or reservation is an offer to the selected retailer to buy the vehicle. The offer is accepted and a contract for sale will be concluded once the retailer confirms your order or reservation. When you make a payment to purchase a product, you will automatically receive notification of the payment reference by email. The payment confirmation you receive is acknowledgement of your payment, pending acceptance by the retailer. Confirmation of the order of the vehicle will be sent by separate communication via a confirmation of order notice. Please be aware if your payment is in relation to a Stock Vehicle or Approved Used Car, the vehicle’s availability will be confirmed by the selected retailer. If the vehicle is no longer available you will be informed by your selected retailer and you will receive a full refund. In other circumstances where the selected retailer cannot continue or does not continue with your order or reservation you will also receive a full refund. You can cancel your order at any point until the retailer has sent you a confirmation of order notice.

macman

The deposit is not refundable, you are agreeing to purchase the car by paying it.
Why are you so keen to buy a car that you have not seen, from a dealer you have not met, and without negotiating the price? Would you really buy any other item on that basis?

AdrianC

You aren't buying a car "from BMW". You're buying it from a garage who happen to have a franchise to be a BMW dealer.

Is the car itself covered by the BMW approved used scheme?

neilmcl

macman said:

The deposit is not refundable, you are agreeing to purchase the car by paying it.
Why are you so keen to buy a car that you have not seen, from a dealer you have not met, and without negotiating the price? Would you really buy any other item on that basis?

That's incorrect I'm afraid. As the deposit was paid via distance means then the order can be cancelled and the full deposit be refunded.

teki88

neilmcl said:

macman said:

The deposit is not refundable, you are agreeing to purchase the car by paying it.
Why are you so keen to buy a car that you have not seen, from a dealer you have not met, and without negotiating the price? Would you really buy any other item on that basis?

That's incorrect I'm afraid. As the deposit was paid via distance means then the order can be cancelled and the full deposit be refunded.

Hi neilmcl,
Thank you for your reply, I am trying to learn if the distance selling rule applies here as I would like to secure the car online and then when I get the chance to see it to have the opportunity to get my deposit back if the car has imperfections that's not visible on the website?
Thanks

teki88

AdrianC said:

You aren't buying a car "from BMW". You're buying it from a garage who happen to have a franchise to be a BMW dealer.

Is the car itself covered by the BMW approved used scheme?

Hi, the car I'm interested in is on the official BMW used car website. 

AdrianC

teki88 said:

AdrianC said:

You aren't buying a car "from BMW". You're buying it from a garage who happen to have a franchise to be a BMW dealer.

Is the car itself covered by the BMW approved used scheme?

Hi, the car I'm interested in is on the official BMW used car website. 

That's nice.

It's still not BMW (UK) Ltd selling it. It's the dealer. If you see a car on Autotrader, is it Autotrader selling it? If you see a car on FB Marketplace, is it Facebook selling it? BMW's used car website is just a route-to-market for franchise dealers to advertise their used stock.

So it is covered by the BMW Approved Used scheme? Do BMW do the same (usually 30-day-1k-mile) no-quibble exchange that most AU schemes do? A quick glance at their website says no.

AdrianC

teki88 said:

neilmcl said:

macman said:

The deposit is not refundable, you are agreeing to purchase the car by paying it.
Why are you so keen to buy a car that you have not seen, from a dealer you have not met, and without negotiating the price? Would you really buy any other item on that basis?

That's incorrect I'm afraid. As the deposit was paid via distance means then the order can be cancelled and the full deposit be refunded.

Hi neilmcl,
Thank you for your reply, I am trying to learn if the distance selling rule applies here as I would like to secure the car online and then when I get the chance to see it to have the opportunity to get my deposit back if the car has imperfections that's not visible on the website?

DSR does not apply if you visit the vendor's premises prior to concluding the transaction.

If you see the car before agreeing to defintiely buy it, then that's a pretty good indication it's not a distance sale.

Grumpy_chap

AdrianC said:

DSR does not apply if you visit the vendor's premises prior to concluding the transaction.

If you see the car before agreeing to defintiely buy it, then that's a pretty good indication it's not a distance sale.

In this case, the deposit would be refundable.
Other sin this thread have interpreted the deposit as non-refundable.