Returning a deposit paid on a used car
Discussion
My son and I went to see a car on Saturday. The salesman confirmed it was a one owner car and that 'it would have had 3 or 4 services' and they would service it again before sale. The car is a 2016 C250d. My son paid a £500 holding deposit with an agreement to collect today when the car had been serviced and had a new MOT. They couldn't provide any service history details as DVLA hadn't returned the log book to them yet and the details are only held online now. They couldn't confirm who the previous owner was, but it was 'unlikely to be a leasing company'.
Today they have provided details of one service, carried out in 2017 at 6,000 miles. The odometer reads 39,000. I've told my son to leave it as the service history is incomplete and this isn't what we were led to believe he was buying.
We were told the deposit would be refundable if the car wasn't as he described, but not if my son was simply changing his mind.
Where do we stand legally as regards getting the deposit refunded?
Today they have provided details of one service, carried out in 2017 at 6,000 miles. The odometer reads 39,000. I've told my son to leave it as the service history is incomplete and this isn't what we were led to believe he was buying.
We were told the deposit would be refundable if the car wasn't as he described, but not if my son was simply changing his mind.
Where do we stand legally as regards getting the deposit refunded?
Bluesgirl said:
My son and I went to see a car on Saturday. The salesman confirmed it was a one owner car and that 'it would have had 3 or 4 services' and they would service it again before sale. The car is a 2016 C250d. My son paid a £500 holding deposit with an agreement to collect today when the car had been serviced and had a new MOT. They couldn't provide any service history details as DVLA hadn't returned the log book to them yet and the details are only held online now. They couldn't confirm who the previous owner was, but it was 'unlikely to be a leasing company'.
Today they have provided details of one service, carried out in 2017 at 6,000 miles. The odometer reads 39,000. I've told my son to leave it as the service history is incomplete and this isn't what we were led to believe he was buying.
We were told the deposit would be refundable if the car wasn't as he described, but not if my son was simply changing his mind.
Where do we stand legally as regards getting the deposit refunded?
The service details aren’t only held on line. When a Mercedes is serviced the owner is given full documentation and that should stay with the car. Our SLK is being traded in tomorrow and I have just collated all the MOT certificates and paperwork for each annual service since 2015 up to last October.Today they have provided details of one service, carried out in 2017 at 6,000 miles. The odometer reads 39,000. I've told my son to leave it as the service history is incomplete and this isn't what we were led to believe he was buying.
We were told the deposit would be refundable if the car wasn't as he described, but not if my son was simply changing his mind.
Where do we stand legally as regards getting the deposit refunded?
In fact when each set of service documents is handed over, the back page shows the printed record, from the ‘online’ system, of earlier services, without full detail, meaning each service report is a full record, so all you really need is the last service paperwork.
You should easily get your deposit back if the car isn’t as described, then run away.
Bluesgirl said:
Thank you. Unfortunately, the ad states 'service history' rather than 'full service history', so I'm not sure whether this puts us on dodgy ground. I wasn't aware of this until today.
To me the original 3 or so services is a history - one alone is just 'was serviced once'. History indicates pattern.Whatever that, the fact is the dealer also explained this service history as being 3 or so on record, which was not true.
Seems straightforward to me but sure, is always stressful so keep at it, keep mentioning the above and how you had every right to expect a history with 3 stamps at least.
Thank you for your thoughts. Yes, to my mind, the 6,000 mile service is just giving the car a once over to make sure everything's working properly, it's after that the changing filters and fluids is of such importance, especially on a diesel engine.
Well we'll see what they say tomorrow when we tell them we're not going ahead.
Well we'll see what they say tomorrow when we tell them we're not going ahead.
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