Strange legal question
Discussion
A friend of mine (yes, really!) placed a deposit down on a new build RR Sport a couple of months ago with a view to taking delivery on 1st April. A property deal he was closing fell through the day before he was due to pick it up and he called the garage immediately to delay delivery and ask them not to register the car for a while. It appears the garage had already registered the car, which at the time he accepted was not a major problem as he intended to take the car but not for a few weeks.
Life got a tiny bit worse, he was then turned down for credit and and he asked his GF to sign the finance documents which were converted into her name and she duly did. He still hasn't taken delivery nearly two months on as he hasn't got the difference between the deposit and the finance so he now finds himself paying for a car he hasn't got.
So in a nutshell it appears the garage have originally against his instructions registered the car and then sent the finance documents off to gain £35k+ as quickly as they could. I now think due to further bad property deals he wants to pull out of the car but he's the legal owner of a car he can't see and now the car is of course used!
Without taking the pi$$ (he may have made the odd bad decision recently!), where does he stand?
Life got a tiny bit worse, he was then turned down for credit and and he asked his GF to sign the finance documents which were converted into her name and she duly did. He still hasn't taken delivery nearly two months on as he hasn't got the difference between the deposit and the finance so he now finds himself paying for a car he hasn't got.
So in a nutshell it appears the garage have originally against his instructions registered the car and then sent the finance documents off to gain £35k+ as quickly as they could. I now think due to further bad property deals he wants to pull out of the car but he's the legal owner of a car he can't see and now the car is of course used!
Without taking the pi$$ (he may have made the odd bad decision recently!), where does he stand?
jamesuk28 said:
1. His girl friend is a fool for signing those documents, she is now liable.
2. When he paid the deposit he entered into a contract (allowing for any cooling off period) Personally I think he is now in the s
t.
James, wouldn't argue with point 12. When he paid the deposit he entered into a contract (allowing for any cooling off period) Personally I think he is now in the s
t.That's what I thought re point 2 but wasn't sure if the garage had committed an offence?
Re the contract point he needs to speak to a Solicitor, As the car is now "used" technically its worth considerably less than the original price. From the dealers point of view they will obviously look to recoup this loss from your friend.
As you mentioned on the phone there are other factors to bear in mind. I would say its worth him telling the dealer the full facts and both parties simply walk away.
As you mentioned on the phone there are other factors to bear in mind. I would say its worth him telling the dealer the full facts and both parties simply walk away.
I think this is one for a solicitor.
The reason I say this is that this will come down to the exact way the situation was handled, and secondly exactly what the contracts and the finance is for.
The garage really have not done anything wrong. Secondly from their perspective, they have done a deal, and now left with both a lot of hassle and a car filling their car park.
It *may* be the case that somewhere through the contracts it could be argued that your mate is not the legal owner yet. Indeed, most contracts of sale have something like 'Goods remain the property of X until paid for in full'.
Therefore, the goods may still be the property of the dealer. However, legally he may be liable for their losses is what could be seen as a breach of contract. They would have to mitigate their losses as much as they could though, and this would mean flogging the car. It may be that someone comes along and buys it for list price and therefor your mate could walk away scott free.
My advice would be to take all the documents to a solicitor, and then explain the situation to the dealers and hope they are kind without having to get the solicitor involved.
The reason I say this is that this will come down to the exact way the situation was handled, and secondly exactly what the contracts and the finance is for.
The garage really have not done anything wrong. Secondly from their perspective, they have done a deal, and now left with both a lot of hassle and a car filling their car park.
It *may* be the case that somewhere through the contracts it could be argued that your mate is not the legal owner yet. Indeed, most contracts of sale have something like 'Goods remain the property of X until paid for in full'.
Therefore, the goods may still be the property of the dealer. However, legally he may be liable for their losses is what could be seen as a breach of contract. They would have to mitigate their losses as much as they could though, and this would mean flogging the car. It may be that someone comes along and buys it for list price and therefor your mate could walk away scott free.
My advice would be to take all the documents to a solicitor, and then explain the situation to the dealers and hope they are kind without having to get the solicitor involved.
defo a solicitor job, but surely if he's never taken delivery then he hasn't received the goods? I guess it's the difference between them storing the car for him & the car having not actually recieved the car yet for what ever reason. The sticking point I can see is that he's requested them to hang it rather than them failing to deliver in a reasonable timescale (which may have been his out).
Good luck with it though.
Good luck with it though.
Bernie-the-bolt said:
So in a nutshell it appears the garage have originally against his instructions registered the car and then sent the finance documents off to gain £35k+ as quickly as they could.
...you say in your first para that they had already registered the car before he asked them not to? He needs good legal advice having given the full correct details including timescales. I'd imagine though that he's stuffed (well actually she's stuffed).
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