Car dealer backs out of deal

purpleparrotuk

I purchased a new car on Saturday. I spent hours on the phone on and off checking the spec etc and they gave me a good price and monthly PCP rate. I got them to double check all the extras were in the quote and the price was correct. So I paid a deposit. They record all phone calls so everything I discussed will be on record.
Anyhow when the order form can through to sign there for a few expensive extras missing and the price was more than agreed. They said leave it with them and they will take a look. This morning they admitted they had made a big mistake and they can't honour that price. The price was from a car wow price match plus a discount on top. After waiting 5 days for them to decide this is the case where do I stand? In my opinion I have a verbal agreement and paid a deposit for a car they say they can no longer sell me. I am very disappointed to say the least.
Do I just have to get my deposit back and end up with no car since no one else will match this price?

williamgriffin

You're entitled to your deposit back putting you in the same position you were before paying. If they've made an error or don't have the spec you want you can't force them to sell the car to you. 

purpleparrotuk

williamgriffin said:

You're entitled to your deposit back putting you in the same position you were before paying. If they've made an error or don't have the spec you want you can't force them to sell the car to you. 

So there is no such this as a verbal contract since I paid the deposit? If we were allowed to be in the showroom to do this I would have had it in writing there and then.

williamgriffin

purpleparrotuk said:

williamgriffin said:

You're entitled to your deposit back putting you in the same position you were before paying. If they've made an error or don't have the spec you want you can't force them to sell the car to you. 

So there is no such this as a verbal contract since I paid the deposit? If we were allowed to be in the showroom to do this I would have had it in writing there and then.

Yes there is such thing as a verbal contract but since the car dealer would send you a written contract it would be easy to prove what it contained. Either way due to an obvious error spec and price they are allowed to withdraw. 

sheramber

If they had overcharged you would you still say you had a verbal contract  so will not ask for the reduced price?

Car_54

All contracts are verbal. Some are oral.

purpleparrotuk

sheramber said:

If they had overcharged you would you still say you had a verbal contract  so will not ask for the reduced price?

It depends what way it was overcharged. If I had agreed on a lower figure and they are trying to charge me more then yes I would ask for the money back. I have the dealer at least 2 opportunities to check things over and they said it was all correct.

Flight3287462

Just move on.  Pick your battles.

Your other option will be to try the courts and see if they agree with you.  It will probably be heard in 2025.

If you think the deal was right surely you should get pretty close to matching it elsewhere?

Grumpy_chap

I think, as others have said, the Dealer can simply cancel under E&OE.  How large was the error?  Was it so large that the OP should have been aware an error had been made?

The OP could just accept the deposit back but, as no-one else can match the erroneous price, the OP may be best to still negotiate with this Dealer and possibly get a good price still for the correct car, maybe even a "goodwill" betterment of the best deal (CarWow?)

I do have some sympathy, though, that the situation with errors and "sellers remorse" works one way but when people put a thread on here that amounts to "buyers remorse" (I ordered a car but really can't afford to go through with it an the Dealer won't cancel) it works the other way - Dealer error can be cancelled and consumers error can't be apparently.

burlingtonfl6

If you think you're going to be able to force the dealer into selling you a higher spec car at a reduced rate or you think you will get some compensation, think again.

photome

Did you think it was an error ?  what is the car and how much cheaper was it than everywhere else