deposit

busy_mom_2

I found a car i like advertised in auto trader as it was over 100 miles from my home I rang the trade seller and arranged a viewing for the following weekend with a view to purchasing the car if it was suitable. he said if i put down a deposit he would not sell the car till I had seen it. I offered £100 but he said it wasn't enough and wanted £300. i asked if it was refundable to which he replies yes so i went ahead a paid using my debit card. the person who was supposed to be buying mine pulled out of the sale 2 days after so I rang the seller and explained as my sale has fell through there was no point coming to see the car as I wasn't in a position to buy the car presently and didn't feel it fair for him to hang onto the car I may aswell test drive one local then return to him once mine sold and as long as the car was as described i may then proceed with the purchase. the seller is now refusing to give me my deposit back!!! i explained at no stage did I agree to purchase the car as i haven't seen or driven the car I offered to allow him to keep the cost of the re advertisement fees but expect a refund. i have written and requested the refund formally but he refuses to acknowledge me or reply. can anyone help or offer any advice??

Hintza

You bought an option to buy the car. You have decided not to proceed.

In my view the trader is entitled to keep the deposit.

The only thing you can do is ask whether it will count towards a future purchase.

busy_mom_2

But what if I went and looked at the car and found it not suitable or didn't like the way it drove, wouldn't i be entitled to a full refund then? I called 2 local gagages and they both stated they would refund deposits in these circumstances!

bicycle_repair_man_2

In those circumstances you would be but not in your circumstance.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Small claims court. You're not entitled to your deposit back, but he did tell you he would refund it - proving it is the difficult part.

A court date would certainly make him reconsider. Its only £30.

deltic_2

If you pay a deposit for anything you will not get a refund if you pull out of the deal. Sorry, but the whole idea of a deposit is to secure the deal for youself and stop other buying it, but also prevent the seller from selling it elsewhere. If the seller keeps their side of the bargain and you don't keep yours then they are entitled to collect their security deposit to compensate for having to potentially readvertise to achieve a sale.

Best advice: Never pay a deposit to anyone until you have seen the car, have confirmed you want it, and have the money to pay for it !

lauren_1

You would be hard pushed to proove why you gave him the deposit if you went to a small claims court. Wether your sale fell through or not you would still be seen as backing out of the deal.

**woody123**

Last year my dad viewed a car and liked it so he put £100 deposit down on it and on the way back he visited another dealer and saw a car better than the one he had just seen and wanted this one:mad: ... The dealer at this garage told him that legally he was entitled to his £100 back as long as the other trader hadn't done anything with the car i.e service, checks, valeting etc...

So the next day my dad went and got his £100 deposit back off this other trader no problem and no questions asked they just gave him back his cheque and he wripped it up..

So why isn't this lady entitled to her deposit back when she never even agreed to buy the car as she only secured it for a few days until she could get down there..?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

**woody123** wrote: »

So why isn't this lady entitled to her deposit back when she never even agreed to buy the car as she only secured it for a few days until she could get down there..?

If you want to secure a car, and do it with a deposit, then you have to pay for it.

You don't get something for nothing. The OP says the dealer said he would refund the deposit, thats different.

What do you think would happen if you put a deposit on a car, meanwhile the seller had an interested buyer, but you said you wanted to buy it - and later changed your mind? Thats why you pay for a deposit, and thats why you risk not getting it back.

**woody123**

Pew Pew Pew Lasers... I agree that when a deposit is paid then you risk losing it.. I've paid and received deposits in the past so can see the argument from both points of view..

I think maybe the OP should go down the lines of asking the trader to deduct any advertising fees from her deposit and refund her the difference.. That may be fair..

But what i was trying to say in my post was that if no work has been carried out on the car as a result of the OP paying her deposit to prevent if from being sold then she should be entitled to a proportion of it back..

I think private buyers don't give deposits back to buyers who pull out of the deal just so they can pay for the next weeks advertising which is fair enough..

busy_mom_2

Thanks for all the comments. I swap my car usually on average once a year have never had a problem with deposits in the past. I fetch cars from around the country and it was the garage who asked for the deposit and set the amount at £300. I can't afford to loose this sort of money which is why i was reluctant to put down this much. I wanted to try and find the same model locally to test drive first to avoid travelling over 100 miles in case the vechils wasn't suitable or couldn't fit the car seats in it. If he had stated the deposit was none refundable I would never of paid it in the first place. i have also offered to deduct the costs for him to advertise the car from the deposit. i have been in touch with trading standards and they are taking my caim on so fingers crossed!!!:p