BMW AUC - paid deposit now changed mind

[eastsider]

Mate paid £1k deposit on an AUC X5 yesterday, today a much better private one came up price £4k less.

What are his changes of getting out of the AUC and his deposit back?

- Fess up to the dealer and ask them nicely to return it - changed mind etc (he's checking paper work to see if cooling off period)
- Niggle on the AUC eventually reject it get dep back that way?

[Fox-]

eastsider said:

Mate paid £1k deposit on an AUC X5 yesterday, today a much better private one came up price £4k less.

What are his changes of getting out of the AUC and his deposit back?

When I bought an AUC they told me the £1k was totally refundable if I changed my mind.

[Soovy]

eastsider said:

Mate paid £1k deposit on an AUC X5 yesterday, today a much better private one came up price £4k less.

What are his changes of getting out of the AUC and his deposit back?

- Fess up to the dealer and ask them nicely to return it - changed mind etc (he's checking paper work to see if cooling off period)
- Niggle on the AUC eventually reject it get dep back that way?

What was agreed? Seems to me that if he's just changed his mind he shouldn't get it back.

A deal's a deal. Or at least it used to be.

[V8mate]

Soovy said:

A deal's a deal. Or at least it used to be.

We've had a second world war since that was the case, chap.

[Johnboy Mac]

Soovy said:

What was agreed? Seems to me that if he's just changed his mind he shouldn't get it back.

A deal's a deal. Or at least it used to be.

I've never come across a main dealer who wouldn't refund a deposit of a used car.

Edited by Johnboy Mac on Wednesday 21st March 18:45

[Soovy]

V8mate said:

Soovy said:

A deal's a deal. Or at least it used to be.

We've had a second world war since that was the case, chap.

Yes, we have. Sorry. As you were.

Nurse bring my pills.

[anonymous-user]

Legally they have to refund the deposit assuming they have not incurred any costs (i.e fitting new tyres as part of the deal)

If they have incurred costs then they are entitled to take this out of your deposit.

[jamoor]

Whats the point of leaving a deposit :/

[Soovy]

Joey Deacon said:

Legally they have to refund the deposit assuming they have not incurred any costs (i.e fitting new tyres as part of the deal)

If they have incurred costs then they are entitled to take this out of your deposit.

Depends what was agreed.

[eastsider]

Thanks chaps, he's off to see the private one lunchtime today hopefully that will work out and the 'negotiations' with bmw can begin.

[Sump]

Your mate sounds like a douche.

[eastsider]

Sump said:

Your mate sounds like a douche.

Ha ha, what for wanting out of his deposit or wanting an X5 in the first place!

He's not normally such a spanner. This is what happens when he goes off to buy a car without talking to me first!

[eastsider]

If anyone is interested in how this ended, the dealer gave him his deposit back. They tried a bit to keep it towards a future purchase, or give him 50% back, but he stuck to his guns and they gave in on the same phone call.

[Lloydm]

Dear All,

I was in exeactly the same situation. I went to see a main dealer car in London, but wasnt entirely sure that I wanted to buy it. It had a fair bit wrong with it, but the dealer said they would fix it all. I asked what would happen it I wasnt entirely happy with the result? They said they would refund my deposit.

However I stated that I had to have this in writing, which they gave to me in the form of an email. I changed my mind the next day, pulled out, and they refunded my deposit with no problems.

My advice is to get any such verbal agreements in writing, then its cast in stone, however I think BMW would have refunded it anyway. My experience so far is that BMW are very reasonable.

Lloyd.

[TheEnd]

jamoor said:

Whats the point of leaving a deposit :/

I think it is for the buyer's benefit, to hold on to the car and not sell it to anyone else.

[2GOOD]

If you are in any doubt, a deposit does not have to be returned by the dealer unless it was agreed that it was refundable for any reason before it was placed. Most main dealers will refund, the smaller dealers are less likely, however I use to work at a privately owned main dealer who took an order from a customer, for a car we could supply quickly. We didn't know that the customer had already placed a deposit with the dealer in the next town. They needed to get the car in from their other branch though. Customers request for his deposit back was refused, so he threatened legal action, at this point the dealer sued him for loss of profit & won!
The lovely privately owned dealership I worked for, who would give a deposit back because we didn't want bad publicity no longer exists. The dealer group who sued are still with us & even bigger.

[Fox-]

2GOOD said:

at this point the dealer sued him for loss of profit & won!

You can sue for 'loss of profit' in the UK? Really?

Sure he didn't sue for his costs incurred?

[Pickled Piper]

TheEnd said:

jamoor said:

Whats the point of leaving a deposit :/

I think it is for the buyer's benefit, to hold on to the car and not sell it to anyone else.

I have had several main dealers; BMW, Audi and Jaguar suggest to me that I put down a deposit over the phone so that they would hold a car for me or transport it over from a partner dealership. In all cases they made it clear that if I didn't want the car on viewing it, the deposit would be returned in full.

I guess for the dealers it's an easy way of establishing the serious potential buyers from the tyre kickers. Very few window shoppers are going to put down £500 just to kick the tyres, even if they know they will get it back.

pp

[2GOOD]

Fox- said:

You can sue for 'loss of profit' in the UK? Really?

Sure he didn't sue for his costs incurred?

Loss of profit were the words used in the local evening paper at the time IIRC, certainly cost our customer a four figure sum.