Paid deposit and now they're cancelling the contract??

amrose20

Hi guys, 
Went car shopping on Saturday, found one, paid a deposit of £500 and arranged to pay the balance on weds collect Thursday. 
Today I received a phone call to say that they had mis valued the car and that they could no longer sell for the agreed price and that it was actually 7K more than agreed. Where do we stand on this, as we have the the receipt for the original price? They have said that they will refund the deposit but that they are able to cancel the order. Would appreciate any help as its time sensitive.
Thanks,

[Deleted User]

As long as they return the deposit, it's fine. 

Jenni_D

The devil is in the detail ... was the price astonishingly cheap for the car? If yes then they can likely claim it was a unilateral error which allows them to rescind the contract and put you back in the position as if the contract had never existed.

What make/model/year of car, and what was your purchase price?

amrose20

All my Deleted_User said:

As long as they return the deposit, it's fine. 

How?? All my research says that the deposit is legally binding?

Grumpy_chap

amrose20 said:

Hi guys, 
Went car shopping on Saturday, found one, paid a deposit of £500 and arranged to pay the balance on weds collect Thursday. 
Today I received a phone call to say that they had mis valued the car and that they could no longer sell for the agreed price and that it was actually 7K more than agreed. Where do we stand on this, as we have the the receipt for the original price? They have said that they will refund the deposit but that they are able to cancel the order. Would appreciate any help as its time sensitive.
Thanks,

A difference as much as £7k should be obvious - did you agree a "steal"?

amrose20

Jenni_D said:

The devil is in the detail ... was the price astonishingly cheap for the car? If yes then they can likely claim it was a unilateral error which allows them to rescind the contract and put you back in the position as if the contract had never existed.

What make/model/year of car, and what was your purchase price?

We did think it was cheaper than average but they said they ran the numbers when we were on a test drive and when we came back and agreed on 25K they then said they would just check them again which they did and said yep can do it for 25K.

All I've found online says that the deposit is legally binding?

Seat Tarraco, 2021, 25K

amrose20

Grumpy_chap said:

amrose20 said:

Hi guys, 
Went car shopping on Saturday, found one, paid a deposit of £500 and arranged to pay the balance on weds collect Thursday. 
Today I received a phone call to say that they had mis valued the car and that they could no longer sell for the agreed price and that it was actually 7K more than agreed. Where do we stand on this, as we have the the receipt for the original price? They have said that they will refund the deposit but that they are able to cancel the order. Would appreciate any help as its time sensitive.
Thanks,

A difference as much as £7k should be obvious - did you agree a "steal"?

No! They said that they could do it, at no point did they say it was a steal etc. We weren't expecting to buy that car, we were just test driving it and when we came back they said that they could do it within our budget

pinkshoes

amrose20 said:

We did think it was cheaper than average but they said they ran the numbers when we were on a test drive and when we came back and agreed on 25K they then said they would just check them again which they did and said yep can do it for 25K.

All I've found online says that the deposit is legally binding?

Seat Tarraco, 2021, 25K

Stop focusing on what online says.

If the car was priced sensibly then yes you will have a case.

If the £25k agreed was far too cheap then if it was clearly a mistake they are entitled to cancel.

Looking on Autotrader, the prices are £22,250 to £45,000 depending on spec and mileage.

Was this a very base model with over 20,000 miles on the clock? If so, then £25k is a fair enough price.

If we are talking a higher spec model with lower mileage then I would be swaying towards a mistake.

Could you give us a little more detail about the car?

Manxman_in_exile

amrose20 said:

Jenni_D said:

The devil is in the detail ... was the price astonishingly cheap for the car? If yes then they can likely claim it was a unilateral error which allows them to rescind the contract and put you back in the position as if the contract had never existed.

What make/model/year of car, and what was your purchase price?

...All I've found online says that the deposit is legally binding?...

Try looking online for "unilateral mistake".

(Although my personal view is that if you have actually asked them "Are you sure that is the correct price?" and they come back and say "Yes, it is" then the law should make them stick to it).

Aylesbury_Duck

amrose20 said:

All my Deleted_User said:

As long as they return the deposit, it's fine. 

How?? All my research says that the deposit is legally binding?

I'm afraid your research hasn't been very comprehensive, then.  What sources have told you it's legally binding?  From what you've told us about the situation, it's not clear cut at all.

The_Fat_Controller

As the purchase is time sensitive, get your deposit back and look elsewhere..

You will not be able to force them to sell you the car.