Being shafted by a car trader
Discussion
Hi all, I hope someone can give me some advice.
I placed a deposit on a rare spec of BMW X5 with an independent motor trader over a month ago. A combination of MOT, his holiday, and some new tyres meant that the sale didn't go through quickly, but I was fine with this.
I am now being told that the car has a cracked cylinder head and a couple of other issues and that he has returned it to the friend he is selling it for, and wants to return my deposit.
OK you might think, nice guy, not trying to stiff me with a broken car. However I tracked down the owner and as far as she is concerned the sale is still going ahead, the trader certainly hasn't returned the car to her as he said he had, and she is unaware of any problems with the car.
Basically I suspect that he has been made a better offer for the car and has chosen to take it. However in preparation for collecting this X5 I have sold our family car, and cannot quickly replace it with another X5 from the classifieds as our spec requirements are quite unusual.
So, I would like to know how I stand legally with regards the trader going back on the verbal contract of sale.
Thanks in advance,
Dan
I placed a deposit on a rare spec of BMW X5 with an independent motor trader over a month ago. A combination of MOT, his holiday, and some new tyres meant that the sale didn't go through quickly, but I was fine with this.
I am now being told that the car has a cracked cylinder head and a couple of other issues and that he has returned it to the friend he is selling it for, and wants to return my deposit.
OK you might think, nice guy, not trying to stiff me with a broken car. However I tracked down the owner and as far as she is concerned the sale is still going ahead, the trader certainly hasn't returned the car to her as he said he had, and she is unaware of any problems with the car.
Basically I suspect that he has been made a better offer for the car and has chosen to take it. However in preparation for collecting this X5 I have sold our family car, and cannot quickly replace it with another X5 from the classifieds as our spec requirements are quite unusual.
So, I would like to know how I stand legally with regards the trader going back on the verbal contract of sale.
Thanks in advance,
Dan
Danstable said:
verbal contract of sale.
"Prove it."Forget it and find another one.
Had something similar happen once when I pushed a trader well beyond his comfort zone in terms of discount. Got a call the next day saying the car had many things wrong with it, and it's no longer for sale.
lets face it short of taking him to court for your reasonable losses you'll struggle to get anything from him more than your deposit back. If he's selling it on behalf of someone else he may try to say its a private sale if any issues occured.
You could always try and make the same value offer to the actualyseller as the dealer must be taking a cut somewhere
edit: remember private sale - no warranty, so your offer to the dealer will need to be reduced due as you'll need to take out a warranty etc etc etc....
You could always try and make the same value offer to the actualyseller as the dealer must be taking a cut somewhere
edit: remember private sale - no warranty, so your offer to the dealer will need to be reduced due as you'll need to take out a warranty etc etc etc....
Edited by andburg on Friday 3rd March 10:39
R E S T E C P said:
"Prove it."
Forget it and find another one.
Had something similar happen once when I pushed a trader well beyond his comfort zone in terms of discount. Got a call the next day saying the car had many things wrong with it, and it's no longer for sale.
He took a deposit. Why else would he provide his bank details to me? Besides, although I said verbal contract, I've only spoken with him once, all negotiations have been done by email, so I have a record.Forget it and find another one.
Had something similar happen once when I pushed a trader well beyond his comfort zone in terms of discount. Got a call the next day saying the car had many things wrong with it, and it's no longer for sale.
hornetrider said:
I've learnt two things today. That X5s are available with a manual and with cloth.
Although I still haven't seen cloth!
They are the unicorns of the X5 world, I've seen a handful of manuals but only this one with a cloth interior. I can't even find cloth interiors for sale from breakers, I'd be happy to retrofit cloth in to a leather car if I could find any! Although I still haven't seen cloth!
Danstable said:
They are the unicorns of the X5 world, I've seen a handful of manuals but only this one with a cloth interior. I can't even find cloth interiors for sale from breakers, I'd be happy to retrofit cloth in to a leather car if I could find any!
I dare say if you were that keen on cloth you could have the leather seats professionally retrimmed for around a grand or so. Might be an option considering how few there are - it would certainly open up more purchase options for you.Danstable said:
jmsgld said:
What's so rare about the spec?
Cloth, manual, diesel, low mileage, late build date. Feel free to find me another.Then I looked at BMW's configurator. You can't buy new ones with cloth or manual gearbox... You can't deselect leather on BMW's approved-used, but you can the transmission. There are precisely 0 manual box X5s nationally. Out of 2,000 X5s on Autotrader, 25 have manual boxes. Three of them are the same car, the only one less than a decade old. And that's leather. And automatic, because they've cocked up the listing in SO many ways.
Yup, they're unusual.
A cloth/manual X5 sounds a lot like a contradiction in terms, though. I could understand manual with an X5M, but with a diesel? Can I ask WHY you want this rocking-horse-manure of a car? Is it sheer perversity, or...?
TooMany2cvs said:
I was going to say "If you're that picky about the spec, just order a new one."
Then I looked at BMW's configurator. You can't buy new ones with cloth or manual gearbox... You can't deselect leather on BMW's approved-used, but you can the transmission. There are precisely 0 manual box X5s nationally. Out of 2,000 X5s on Autotrader, 25 have manual boxes. Three of them are the same car, the only one less than a decade old. And that's leather. And automatic, because they've cocked up the listing in SO many ways.
Yup, they're unusual.
A cloth/manual X5 sounds a lot like a contradiction in terms, though. I could understand manual with an X5M, but with a diesel? Can I ask WHY you want this rocking-horse-manure of a car? Is it sheer perversity, or...?
Having had an e39 530i with an auto box I would rather do without the worry of an imminent failure. I'm talking about an e53 X5, I'd be less concerned with the auto in the newer model.Then I looked at BMW's configurator. You can't buy new ones with cloth or manual gearbox... You can't deselect leather on BMW's approved-used, but you can the transmission. There are precisely 0 manual box X5s nationally. Out of 2,000 X5s on Autotrader, 25 have manual boxes. Three of them are the same car, the only one less than a decade old. And that's leather. And automatic, because they've cocked up the listing in SO many ways.
Yup, they're unusual.
A cloth/manual X5 sounds a lot like a contradiction in terms, though. I could understand manual with an X5M, but with a diesel? Can I ask WHY you want this rocking-horse-manure of a car? Is it sheer perversity, or...?
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