Dealer holding a car without deposit

[rotaryjam]

Hi all

I wanted to get your thoughts.

I'm interested in a car, so I rang the dealer yesterday and offered a deposit and to view this Saturday.

They declined, saying someone else was coming Saturday but they hadn't given a deposit.

Is it just me that thinks its mad that I'm offering to secure the car with a deposit now yet someone else gets first dibs on the car?

Interestingly, another dealer had taken a deposit on a similar car but was inviting me to view and take it away before the other person - very bad form in my opinion.

[vikingaero]

Rule of selling is - first person to turn up with the money is the real buyer,

Whilst a deposit shows some intent, you could still reject it and demand your deposit back, so the dealer will have lost both buyers.

[samoht]

It's perfectly reasonable to me to offer to hold a car for someone who's arranged to come and view it in a few days, without asking them for a deposit.

A refundable deposit to hold a car is simply a way of demonstrating commitment. If a buyer has signalled commitment by investing time & energy in finding out about it and making arrangements to travel to see it, that could equally persuade a seller they are genuinely interested.

Taking deposits can get messy if it's not 100% clear what level of commitment is being made on both sides, so it's not necessarily worth the seller getting into.

And realistically if you want to sell a car, the buyer probably has a job Mon-Fri, so holding it until Saturday is often going to be necessary.

What I'd have done if I were the dealer is provisionally offer for you to come after the other buyer this Saturday. That way the dealer gets two viewings tomorrow, and he can (honestly) tell the other interested party that someone else is coming later today, which will concentrate minds. (And obviously let you know ASAP if the other buyer takes the car).

[PistonTim]

Up to the dealer what they do with their car.

However if you turned up 'cash' in hand so to speak to take it away Im sure you would be seen favourably.

[coldel]

Have to agree, unless the dealership has something that says a deposit will hold it and the terms of that deposit - they have every right to decide not to take it. Taking a holding deposit that means nothing other than 'I will come look at it' really has low value to a dealer

[Dan W.]

Depends on the garage, We now do not take deposits to hold a car until someone views it.

We give our word if you say your coming for an appointment its yours until then, If someone comes in the meantime we take their details and let them know if it sells or not.

As others have said we stopped taking deposits to secure - view cars as too many people were taking too long to come and view the car and also just generally treating it as placing a hold on the car and then trying to re negotiate

[Roger Irrelevant]

If you pay a deposit the garage can't do much with the money in case they need to give it back at short notice and they can't sell the car either so I understand why they might not place much value in a deposit. Tbh if they've already said that they'll hold a car for somebody else until they view it on Saturday - deposit or not - it would seem very bad form for them to let you have first dibs.

[Mark V GTD]

The thing is Op you’re not ‘securing’ the car by paying a deposit because you want to view it and then make a decision to buy it or not.

The only way around it is to turn up today, look at it and tell them you want to buy it there and then.

[HTP99]

Mark V GTD said:

The thing is Op you’re not ‘securing’ the car by paying a deposit because you want to view it and then make a decision to buy it or not.

The only way around it is to turn up today, look at it and tell them you want to buy it there and then.

That is how I read it, we will take a deposit on a car but that is them committing to buying it unless they turn up and it isn't as described by us then they can have their deposit back, we expressly state that they are buying it for the price agreed at the time, never had an issue with this approach.

We do not "hold" cars for people, can you not get down first thing before the other appointment turns up?

[rotaryjam]

The thing is I am trying to secure and buy the car.

I intend to buy it unless it's not as described.

To me, saying you'll view is no commitment whatsoever

Leaving a deposit is a commitment and to my mind that should trump the above.

If that person doesn't buy, he's lost 1 sale and has put me off viewing so now 2 potential sales

If I don't buy he's lost 1 sale and is £200 up, he can then sell to the next person

[Mark V GTD]

Ok then, in that case you need to call them now and tell them you wish to proceed with the purchase and how much money do they need at that point to secure the car.

You should also ask them (and I take it this is a used car) what happens if the car is not as described when you turn up to collect it.

[Roger Irrelevant]

I understand your point of view OP but perhaps the dealer is just a man of his word, has already said to somebody else that he'll hold it until they view it on Saturday and so that's what he's going to do? And though I don't doubt your bona fides, 'unless it's not as described' leaves an awful lot open to interpretation meaning that a £200 deposit isn't much of a commitment at all - the dealer could equally envisage a scenario where he takes a deposit from you, tells the other person that the car's gone so they're now pissed off, you turn up and decide it's 'not as described' for some flimsy reason and demand your money back. To be clear - I'm not saying you would do that, but the dealer doesn't know that. Can you ask the dealer whether if you turn up first thing on Saturday, view it and like it, then he'll sell it to you?

[super7]

Mark V GTD said:

Ok then, in that case you need to call them now and tell them you wish to proceed with the purchase and how much money do they need at that point to secure the car.

You should also ask them (and I take it this is a used car) what happens if the car is not as described when you turn up to collect it.

Saying the car is not as described is too subjective to hold any weight. You turn up, don't like it and walk away.

Having just bought an XC60, I previously looked at a Disvovery Sport. The salesman asked for £500 to secure it, I told him i'd take my chances as there were plenty of Disco's around. He then refused to even talk to me as I was not serious if I didn't leave the deposit and accused me of wasting his time. I went and bought an XC60 instead!

[DaveE87]

I had similar with a private seller recently. I offered to travel to them that day and pay full asking price - it was priced accordingly and I was happy with description etc. However, they wouldn't even consider it as someone else wanted to view it days later. I explained that I could only collect that weekend as they were 300 miles away but again said I'm happy to travel that day and pay full asking price.

The potential viewer didn't turn up. I then offered to send a deposit to hold it for me and they declined that too. I didn't bother responding after that.

There's timewasting buyers but there's also a lot of timewasting sellers. With your situation it's understandable as they have a business with a reputation to maintain, but when I'm selling a car privately it's first come first served.

[Scrimpton]

I had almost exactly the same situation when I bought my 911. I offered a deposit to hold a car but the dealer had promised the guy who made an appointment first and didn't want to go back on his word. Fair enough in my book. I'm not sure why you're getting bent out of shape about it tbh. Maybe the other buyer would be prepared to leave a deposit as well if asked. What then?

[Monkeylegend]

rotaryjam said:

The thing is I am trying to secure and buy the car.

I intend to buy it unless it's not as described.

To me, saying you'll view is no commitment whatsoever

Leaving a deposit is a commitment and to my mind that should trump the above.

If that person doesn't buy, he's lost 1 sale and has put me off viewing so now 2 potential sales

If I don't buy he's lost 1 sale and is £200 up, he can then sell to the next person

He has only lost one potential sale if neither of you buy, he will only sell it once.

[Canon_Fodder]

Scrimpton said:

I had almost exactly the same situation when I bought my 911....

Bonus points awarded for gratuitous mention of 911 ownership

[samoht]

Canon_Fodder said:

Bonus points awarded for gratuitous mention of 911 ownership

The membership criteria for PH was changed from owning a TVR to owning a Porsche back in 2005-06, didn't you get the memo?

[Mark V GTD]

super7 said:

Saying the car is not as described is too subjective to hold any weight. You turn up, don't like it and walk away.

My comment was made in the theoretical context of the buyer having potentially paid a substantial deposit over the phone.

[Scrimpton]

Canon_Fodder said:

Scrimpton said:

I had almost exactly the same situation when I bought my 911....

Bonus points awarded for gratuitous mention of 911 ownership

Haha, I leased the Ioniq without even having looked at one in a dealership purely because it was cheap and electric, the idea of being bothered about a specific one is a bit mad.