Help with deposit return for car purchase

bris wrote: »

They can't force you to buy the car but they can force you to cover their losses.

And consider what all of those losses may add up to, that you would have to contest.

Some examples (non-exhaustive):
- Cost of space on the forecourt
- Dealer financing (i.e. additional interest on the finance the dealer will have on the car)
- Cost of salesman (e.g. how many hours did the salesman spend with you, how many may they have to spend with future potential purchasers)
- Cost of maintenance (e.g. additional cleaning of the car)
- Cost of administration (the dealer may well have initiated internal administration processes on the basis that the car had been committed for sale)
- Cost of delivery preparation (the dealer may have initiated final sales prep of the car - perhaps a fresh MOT, fluids etc).
A clever dealer could easily demonstrate that they have lost the majority of that £500 that you paid as a deposit.

In ascending order, this falls under the same banner as:

a) I booked a non-refundable hotel room and want to cancel. Why won't the hotel give me my money back?
b) I booked a non-changeable flight and now the dates don't work. Why won't the airline refund me?
c) I booked a cottage for a long weekend with a low deposit. I want to cancel it but the cottage owners are telling me I now have to pay the full deposit.
d) I booked a package holiday for a friend and I, but now the friend doesn't want to go. Why won't the holiday company give my friend their money?
e) I bought a car on PCP and misstated my mileage to keep the monthly cost down. Do I have to pay the mileage excess at the end of the contract?

And so on.

The moral of the story is always read what you are signing, whether or not you are handing over money at the time.

You will be dependent upon the dealer's goodwill. As others have suggested, consider another vehicle from the same dealer, and ask if they will transfer the deposit over. If that doesn't work, you could try calling their bluff and issue an LBA, but your fate is in the hands of the imaginary gods.

Ruthious wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. Great help. I think the dealer's goodwill is what I'm aiming for on this.

I'd go back to dealer (face to face, much more personal) and use a combination of some good old "please help me, you guys are so nice and I made a huge error" and follow it up with some "I've been told you can only keep the deposit to cover your losses".

As Cardinal says, if they really wanted to, they could probably justify their losses, but you are hoping they fall for "is it worth our time"

Just to add, this probably sounds patronising as hell, but these things are definitely learning experiences, and what might cost you £500 now, might save you a lot more the next time you are asked to sign something, so try to take that positive from this.