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

Ergates

They need to have the log book transferred, they need to be taxed and they need to be insured.

Obviously, technically these don't need to happen just to transfer ownership - but if you're buying a car at a car dealership then it's pretty much a given that you're going to want to drive it.  I think you might have a hard time convincing a court you'd taken possession of the car if it's still on the dealers lot, you've not paid the vast bulk of the balance, you've not taxed it you've not insured it and dealer is still the registered keeper.

Or look at it another way - if you paid a deposit on the a car, then it was stolen from the dealership overnight, would you still expect to pay the dealer the balance?

Grumpy_chap

cx6 said:

I will reproduce the section here so you can read it properly then i'm outta here. There was an offer, acceptance and indeed some money paid. Unless there was some specific term in the paperwork then a contract was created and the OP owns the car and indeed should insure it against loss damage etc

Where there is a contract for the sale of specific or ascertained goods the property in them is transferred to the buyer at such time as the parties to the contract intend it to be transferred.

For the purpose of ascertaining the intention of the parties regard shall be had to the terms of the contract, the conduct of the parties and the circumstances of the case.

18Rules for ascertaining intention.

Unless a different intention appears, the following are rules for ascertaining the intention of the parties as to the time at which the property in the goods is to pass to the buyer.

Rule 1.

—Where there is an unconditional contract for the sale of specific goods in a deliverable state the property in the goods passes to the buyer when the contract is made, and it is immaterial whether the time of payment or the time of delivery, or both, be postponed.

Offer - acceptance - consideration.  YES
But, the OP has not shared what that contract is for.  It may only be to reserve the car for a few days until the sale contract is concluded.

If the contract is for the sale of the car, then that will almost certainly have Ts&Cs on the back saying exactly when ownership  of the car transfers.  In all car purchases I have ever done, that is always at collection and full payment, not just paying the £500 deposit (which is really nothing more than the garage having surety you are not wasting their time).  Indeed, it would be practically impossible to have insurance in place from the point of signing the form in the Dealer's office, unless that was "free 7-day drive-away insurance".

The operative part of the quote seems to be "Unless a different intention appears" which is almost certainly going to be the case and therefore "Rule 1" never gets reached.