Used car deposit

Hi all,

I've had a look for similar situations to mine and can't quite seem to find something alike, so thought I'd post to here.

Last Sunday I went to look at a car at a used car garage in Leigh. I liked the look of the car, and the shifty-eyed salesman and his mate decided to give me the "it's gonna go quick", "it's a lovely colour isn't it", nonsense you'd usually find. After originally being offered a reasonable amount to trade in my car, as well as a "12 month warranty", I was still on the fence of purchasing, so the salesman suggested a deposit (the same price as the warranty, £290) to take the car off sale so I could think about it.

After asking him FOUR times, that I was still unsure of the purchase and to confirm that the deposit was simply to take the car off their website/autotrader, I decided to go ahead and place a deposit, giving me time to think about the car - keep in mind this was even before I test drove it. I'd signed a 'vehicle invoice' (looks pretty standard amongst the car sales world) which shows the 'deal' I'd been offered and the trade of my car etc. it states the deposit at the bottom of the invoice. Attached is the receipt for the £290 I'd paid using my credit card for the 'deposit.' Signed and dated.

Tuesday comes, I get a call from the original salesman saying "Hi, the car has flown through it's MOT with no advisories etc etc..." I even then confirmed on the phone that day that I was still unsure of the purchase once again confirming that I was still thinking about it. Wednesday evening II went to test drive it with my dad and even then, in person, I still had not confirmed that I would purchase the vehicle. Side note, to say it had passed it's MOT was definitely dodgy, it had a NAIL completely embedded in the drivers side front tyre, not even mentioning the other 3 utterly bald tyres...Oh, and the extra 1.5k miles on the clock to what was advertised.

After thinking and assessing my options, and finding numerous faults and discrepancies during my test drive/observations of the car I rang yesterday afternoon and told the company that I did not want to purchase the car and thanking them for their time. The gent then told me that I was legally bound to buying the car and that the deposit was none refundable, along with my intent to buy the car. He pretty much said I'd signed a contract that meant I was buying the car with no option.

After being massively upset by this and reiterating to the other salesman that what he was telling me was completely the opposite of what I'd been told in the garage, FOUR TIMES, he just said I'd have to ring back in the morning and speak to the salesman directly.

I decided to ring the citizens advice bureau and got some relatively useful advice from them regarding where I stand on what the gent told me on the phone, including my ability to get the refund of the £290. They told me to create a letter directly to the garage and quote the consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2008 act, what was agreed and a significant factor of the deposit was based on what they had told me and I'm excercising my rights to unwind the contract within 14 days, requesting a refund within the same period of time. At this point I'm not even fussed about the £290 - I just do not want to buy that car.

What's my standpoint?

Thanks for your time everyone!