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Lost deposit?


rob63

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I'm not too sure as to just where I stand with this; I recently called a dealer with regards to an advert for a Z, prior to travelling to see the car I asked all the relevant questions along with "barring stone chips is it dent free?" and the answwr was "yes, it's perfect". Anyway, went to see it and straight away noticed a previously 'worked' dent, not happy as I'd pretty much decided it was the car for me. The dealer offered to repaint the panel and I agreed under the proviso that it was a flawless finish. After several follow up phone calls from the pushy salesman to seal the deal I agreed to part with a deposit and paid this with my credit card.

 

A few days later my personal circumstances changed and unfortunatley I was no longer in a position to go ahead with the sale. I called the dealer immediately to be told that as the repair had been carried out I would lose most of my deposit, I would not however be liable for the fact that the first respray was poor and the car was having to be re-worked.

 

Does anyone know, or can offer advice as to how I stand with this? Obviously I don't want to cause any ill feeling with the dealership but at the same time would appreciate not having to lose a substantial sum of money.

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Depends on how much your deposit was, and at the end of the day, that is what a deposit is for - to protect against a buyer pulling out.

 

I think a reasonable outcome would be to cover the cost of the repair within reason, or any costs the dealer has incurred as a result of you saying you'll take the car, plus maybe another 15% because they'll feel they've been messed about.

 

Sorry to hear your circumstances have changed, hopefully you'll get in a zed soon enough.

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Unforunately i hate to say this, but deposits are and always have been used for protection or holding of something, protection to the seller. If time is wasted.

 

So unfortunately they have no legal right to hand the deposit back to you, as you were willing with handing them the deposit.

 

I used to be a salesman, SFC also at Phones 4 U so i know every trick sales use

 

:(

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Thanks guys for you replies, to be honest that's how I envisaged it also.

 

Just feeling a bit miffed at the cost of resraying the panel, £500, and having to lose that amount from my deposit. Seems a bit steep.

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Taking he cost of repair out of your deposit is reasonable.

 

£500 for spraying a panel is the expensive bit. Typically I'd expect to be charged £70-£120 for spraying a panel depending on how much work it needs.

 

I work within the trade so know how much retailers should be paying for the type of work.

 

Or, they won't be in business for much longer with prep costs like that.

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You can reasonably argue that they could not sell the car during that period

 

as it was in the garage having work done ie: panel sprayed, which you are

 

prepared to pay for, and by you paying for this work you have contributed to the

 

overall condition of the car making it more salable, and you are agreeable

 

to them retaining £150 from your deposit for this work.

 

They may try and bargan with you and then agree £200 in full and final settlement.

 

Also tell them you will be back to them for a new car soon. Worth a try.

:thumbs:

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Taking he cost of repair out of your deposit is reasonable.

 

£500 for spraying a panel is the expensive bit. Typically I'd expect to be charged £70-£120 for spraying a panel depending on how much work it needs.

 

I work within the trade so know how much retailers should be paying for the type of work.

 

Or, they won't be in business for much longer with prep costs like that.

 

I fully agree with the posts above, I understand my position with regards to the deposit but I do consider £475 plus vat to be a bit excessive. The panel required no filling etc just rubbing down and respraying.

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Car dealers dont pity anybody Toad....!!

 

Another attack could be

 

"The car was not as described that's why the work had to be carried out".

 

and you will be having a trip to Trading Standards unless you get your deposit back..

Car Dealers and Trading Standards do not get on..!! They wont want you going near Trading Standards. :starwars:

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Have you inspected the pain job? Had you not called and gone and visited, you could have asked for the deposit back and say you dont want to have a botched job on the paint as its been redone twice. They wouldnt have been able to fight that, but as it stands, you pulled out, and thats what the deposit is for. Not sure if there is anything in law that says a deposit has to be based on the money they could or could not have made while that car was being held for you. If you pay a deposit, at the end of the day, you have to be happy to lose it. If it was too much money, you should have argued not to pay that much as a deposit.

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did any paperwork/agreement get signed with t's and c's of the basis and obligations of both parties?

 

Who did the respray?, ask to see the invoice

 

wouldn't want to write off the full £500 just yet.

 

might be a case for a certain squirrel of this parish?

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Ring your credit card company and raise a disputed charge. I'm not sure where you stand legally, but I don't see how a deposit is ever non refundable unless

Unforunately i hate to say this, but deposits are and always have been used for protection or holding of something, protection to the seller. If time is wasted.

 

So unfortunately they have no legal right to hand the deposit back to you, as you were willing with handing them the deposit.

 

I used to be a salesman, SFC also at Phones 4 U so i know every trick sales use

 

:(

 

They also have no legal right to keep it though, unless there is a signed agreement stating this. Even then, I'd be calling my credit card company and raising a dispute. Just becuse someone's time has been wasted, doesn't mean they get to keep £500... God I salesmen... pushy arrogant *******... (Not directed at you Dean :))

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Hang on a minute...

 

 

Bloke goes to buy a car. Puts down deposit on promise of work being done. Work gets done, and then the bloke calls up and says "oh sorry, I don't want the car anymore, can I have my deposit back?". Sorry, but why should the dealer have to suffer in any way, shape or form for this? Not only do you have his cost for the actual spraying that's come from another party (I assume), but you've also got his time for sorting it all out and then his time having the car in stock and not trying to sell it. That's a lot of wasted time and money, and he's not in the job to simply do people a favour.

 

If you put down a deposit on a car and then pull out, you should lose the whole lot. A deposit is there for the protection of both parties, and if one person puuls out why should the other suffer any kind of loss at all? Sure, as a gesture of goodwill he may want to give some back, but given you're unlikely to go back there to buy anything from him then I wouldn't blame him for keeping the lot. Sorry chaps, this is the real world where people have to make a living. He is fully entitled to keep the lot assuming the paperwork is correct, credit card or not, and if the paperwork isn't correct only then does it become the dealer's problem.

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Ring your credit card company and raise a disputed charge. I'm not sure where you stand legally, but I don't see how a deposit is ever non refundable unless

Unforunately i hate to say this, but deposits are and always have been used for protection or holding of something, protection to the seller. If time is wasted.

 

So unfortunately they have no legal right to hand the deposit back to you, as you were willing with handing them the deposit.

 

I used to be a salesman, SFC also at Phones 4 U so i know every trick sales use

 

:(

 

They also have no legal right to keep it though, unless there is a signed agreement stating this. Even then, I'd be calling my credit card company and raising a dispute. Just becuse someone's time has been wasted, doesn't mean they get to keep £500... God I salesmen... pushy arrogant *******... (Not directed at you Dean :))

 

No dont worry those days are over, run my own website and business, and the last thing i need to do is sales work, infact i cant get enough stock in to cover the business it gets!!!

 

If anything im trying to lower the amount of customers haha.

 

Funniest thing about it, is i have never advertised it once, never used adwords, offline ads, nothing! :)

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This might well be the real world and maybe all the paperwork and T&C's were in order, but it would be a cold day in hell that I gave up on £500 without exploring all the avenues first. I'm not for a second suggesting that the car dealership should be screwed over, but at the end of the day, they still have the car to sell and can presumably get more for it now it has been repaired, so their loss, if any, should be minimal.

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For the record, I'm not disputing that the dealer should be reimbursed, I do however fail to see that a single panel respray should cost in excess of £500. I am aware I have to pay for the work carried out, and that's all I'm liable for. I'm also fully aware that the dealer fails to reply to any of my efforts to contact them, email or phone calls.

 

It doesn't bode well that it's been resprayed not once but twice now...

 

Factor in the "yeah it's mint, no car park dings at all..." Defect on the door and resprayed wheels, in black, just because they thought it would look good. With hindsight I should have walked away, hands up my fault.

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Your right, it is steep. It should be repairs that you agreed to prior to purchase + any re-advertising costs (autotrader etc).

 

I don't know how you are going to go about paying a fair amount for the repair, and getting them to agree. I'm sure someone on here can help with that.

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