Car lease delivery delayed - right to cancel?

ub924

Hi all,

I ordered a new car on lease in September. Initial emails with the broker implied that they were available for delivery within 6 weeks, but by the time I had chosen a colour and signed the documents, that had changed to December. Further delays pushed it from early December to late, and it's now moved to the end of January. Obviously it could become later from here as that date can't be guaranteed at all.

When I signed the documents, the broker specified a cancellation fee (after the 14-day cooling off period) of approx £1500 if I cancelled after the vehicle had been ordered. However, given the repeated delays and no sign of the car actually being delivered, do I have any options to cancel from here? I have also paid an initial arrangement fee but no further lease payments etc yet.

I have offered them mitigation options of replacing the car with a model that is in stock but they have asked for more money (as it's a different colour), which I don't find acceptable. I'm mainly concerned about being drawn into a contract that goes later than I initially wanted. Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Car_54

What does your contract say about delivery dates and cancellation?

ub924

Car_54 said:

What does your contract say about delivery dates and cancellation?

The contract says the delivery date cannot be guaranteed. Cancellation is subject to the £1500 fee after the 14-day cooling off period (which has passed).

My question I suppose is whether there is some degree of consumer protection against repeated and indefinite delays to the delivery date that I could use as argument against being charged the fee (and ideally getting my arrangement fee back).

Mildly_Miffed

ub924 said:

I have offered them mitigation options of replacing the car with a model that is in stock but they have asked for more money (as it's a different colour), which I don't find acceptable.

Would that be changing from a standard no-cost paint colour to an extra-cost option? Or from one extra-cost to a more expensive one?

I'm presuming your original spec was a factory order.
Where is the assembly plant for that model located in the world?
Is that model in free availability generally, or is the financier just passing on a delay coming from the manufacturer?

Alderbank

ub924 said:

Car_54 said:

What does your contract say about delivery dates and cancellation?

The contract says the delivery date cannot be guaranteed. Cancellation is subject to the £1500 fee after the 14-day cooling off period (which has passed).

My question I suppose is whether there is some degree of consumer protection against repeated and indefinite delays to the delivery date that I could use as argument against being charged the fee (and ideally getting my arrangement fee back).

Yes indeed there is.

The purpose of a contract is to provide surety to each party, that is both parties can be sure that the other party will comply with the contract or face a penalty.

Yours is a consumer contract (I assume!). The Consumer Rights Act says that unless there is an agreed time or period in the contract, the trader must deliver your car not more than 30 days after the day on which the contract is entered into. If they don't you can treat the contract as at an end.

However you agreed different contract terms. The CRA says that you could have agreed any other terms with the trader, such as that the car must be delivered at the latest by 5 February 2026. If you had both agreed to do so, that would have been binding.

In short, the default protection against repeated and indefinite delays is that delivery must be less than 30 days unless the consumer has agreed to something different when the contract was made.

You might be able to argue that the terms you agreed to are legally unfair under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (quite a few consumer contracts are legally unfair).
Who is the contract with and what is the exact wording?

ub924

Alderbank said:

ub924 said:

Car_54 said:

What does your contract say about delivery dates and cancellation?

The contract says the delivery date cannot be guaranteed. Cancellation is subject to the £1500 fee after the 14-day cooling off period (which has passed).

My question I suppose is whether there is some degree of consumer protection against repeated and indefinite delays to the delivery date that I could use as argument against being charged the fee (and ideally getting my arrangement fee back).

Yes indeed there is.

The purpose of a contract is to provide surety to each party, that is both parties can be sure that the other party will comply with the contract or face a penalty.

Yours is a consumer contract (I assume!). The Consumer Rights Act says that unless there is an agreed time or period in the contract, the trader must deliver your car not more than 30 days after the day on which the contract is entered into. If they don't you can treat the contract as at an end.

However you agreed different contract terms. The CRA says that you could have agreed any other terms with the trader, such as that the car must be delivered at the latest by 5 February 2026. If you had both agreed to do so, that would have been binding.

In short, the default protection against repeated and indefinite delays is that delivery must be less than 30 days unless the consumer has agreed to something different when the contract was made.

You might be able to argue that the terms you agreed to are legally unfair under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (quite a few consumer contracts are legally unfair).
Who is the contract with and what is the exact wording?

Thank you!

By agreeing different terms, do you mean that I agreed to a contract stating the date couldn't be guaranteed? Given that is quite vague, would the CRA still apply there? Also a good point regarding the Unfair Contract Terms Act.

I am struggling to find if I was sent a copy of the contract after signing - certainly I can't find it and have asked them for a signed copy. In the "what happens next" email it states 6-12 weeks for delivery (dated Sept 17). At the point of signing I was advised of the cancellation charge of £1500 and confirmed I understood that cancelling after that point may incur charges.

--

Mildly_Miffed: thanks for this also.
The car I ordered was the no-cost paint colour option. The one they have physically in stock and could get to me sooner (although strangely still not this month apparently) is a different colour which was a cost option. My original spec was a factory order, from France (Renault). The model is freely available in that multiple brand new examples are listed for immediate sale on AutoTrader. The broker is just passing on a manufacturing delay.

MyRealNameToo

Alderbank said:

ub924 said:

Car_54 said:

What does your contract say about delivery dates and cancellation?

The contract says the delivery date cannot be guaranteed. Cancellation is subject to the £1500 fee after the 14-day cooling off period (which has passed).

My question I suppose is whether there is some degree of consumer protection against repeated and indefinite delays to the delivery date that I could use as argument against being charged the fee (and ideally getting my arrangement fee back).

Yes indeed there is.

The purpose of a contract is to provide surety to each party, that is both parties can be sure that the other party will comply with the contract or face a penalty.

Yours is a consumer contract (I assume!). The Consumer Rights Act says that unless there is an agreed time or period in the contract, the trader must deliver your car not more than 30 days after the day on which the contract is entered into. If they don't you can treat the contract as at an end.

However you agreed different contract terms. The CRA says that you could have agreed any other terms with the trader, such as that the car must be delivered at the latest by 5 February 2026. If you had both agreed to do so, that would have been binding.

In short, the default protection against repeated and indefinite delays is that delivery must be less than 30 days unless the consumer has agreed to something different when the contract was made.

You might be able to argue that the terms you agreed to are legally unfair under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (quite a few consumer contracts are legally unfair).
Who is the contract with and what is the exact wording?

@alderbank your comments suggest you are interpreting this as the sale of goods under the CRA but the OP states they are leasing the car not buying it. Under lots of other legislation a lease is considered a contract for supply of services not goods (eg VAT). Is it correct to assume its goods under the CRA?

Mildly_Miffed

ub924 said:

The car I ordered was the no-cost paint colour option. The one they have physically in stock and could get to me sooner (although strangely still not this month apparently) is a different colour which was a cost option. My original spec was a factory order, from France (Renault). The model is freely available in that multiple brand new examples are listed for immediate sale on AutoTrader. The broker is just passing on a manufacturing delay.

So the lease firm are well within their contractual rights, and the situation is outside their control.

How much are they asking for for the paint? They aren't willing to make a goodwill discount to allow you to vary the contract, and such is their right.

shera12

That sounds really frustrating. With repeated delays, you might have some room to discuss cancelling or renegotiating without paying the full fee, especially if the delivery is far beyond what was originally promised. Definitely worth checking the contract wording carefully and possibly getting advice from a consumer rights group sometimes brokers are more flexible than they first suggest.

Alderbank

MyRealNameToo said:

Alderbank said:

ub924 said:

Car_54 said:

What does your contract say about delivery dates and cancellation?

The contract says the delivery date cannot be guaranteed. Cancellation is subject to the £1500 fee after the 14-day cooling off period (which has passed).

My question I suppose is whether there is some degree of consumer protection against repeated and indefinite delays to the delivery date that I could use as argument against being charged the fee (and ideally getting my arrangement fee back).

Yes indeed there is.

The purpose of a contract is to provide surety to each party, that is both parties can be sure that the other party will comply with the contract or face a penalty.

Yours is a consumer contract (I assume!). The Consumer Rights Act says that unless there is an agreed time or period in the contract, the trader must deliver your car not more than 30 days after the day on which the contract is entered into. If they don't you can treat the contract as at an end.

However you agreed different contract terms. The CRA says that you could have agreed any other terms with the trader, such as that the car must be delivered at the latest by 5 February 2026. If you had both agreed to do so, that would have been binding.

In short, the default protection against repeated and indefinite delays is that delivery must be less than 30 days unless the consumer has agreed to something different when the contract was made.

You might be able to argue that the terms you agreed to are legally unfair under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (quite a few consumer contracts are legally unfair).
Who is the contract with and what is the exact wording?

@alderbank your comments suggest you are interpreting this as the sale of goods under the CRA but the OP states they are leasing the car not buying it. Under lots of other legislation a lease is considered a contract for supply of services not goods (eg VAT). Is it correct to assume its goods under the CRA?

I am interpreting this as a contract for the hire of goods. I'm sorry if my comments suggest otherwise to you.

Section 6 of the Act 'Contracts for the hire of goods' says

'A contract is for the hire of goods if under it the trader gives or agrees to give the consumer possession of the goods with the right to use them, subject to the terms of the contract, for a period determined in accordance with the contract.'

I agree that some leasing deals are a combination of contract for the hire of goods and also contract for the supply of services where the leasing company includes servicing, MOT, etc.

Grumpy_chap

Is the OP suffering any loss as a result of the delayed availability of the car?

Is this a consumer contract or B2B?  The OP says "lease" and true leases are more commonly B2B.