Car Deposit Refund

[qwerty1988]

Ok so basically my girlfriend was shopping for a new car, saw one she liked and arranged to see it. It was at a local used car place in the showroom and she liked the look of it. She couldn't test drive it as they couldn't get it out and so agreed to take it for a test drive the following week. She agreed to pay a deposit after the salesman assured us that it was completely refundable if she changed her mind and she signed a 'used vehicle order form' to confirm her deposit which has nothing on it about non-refundable or refundable deposits. A week later she had the test drive but felt the car drove poorly, and told the salesman that she no longer wished to purchase the car, at which he replied that he was surprised and that if he'd known she wasn't going to purchase the car he wouldn't have had an MOT done on the vehicle. It was because of this, he said, that he would not be refunding her deposit even though she had not requested the MOT or had any knowledge of it.

 

Can anyone tell us if she is entitled to her deposit back or not? Also if anyone happens to have any information as to what the law stipulates in this kind of circumstance it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[BankFodder]

They will say that they received the deposit in order to hold the car a week so that it could be test driven - and that this is what they did.

I don't think that you are in a very easy position.

 

How much was the deposit?

[qwerty1988]

The deposit was 200 pounds. He did say it was refundable if she changed her mind though, so shouldn't they refund it?

[raydetinu]

Why would you pay a deposit just to test drive a car?

A deposit is paid to retain an interest or option to purchase and these are usually non-refundable unless the contract or receipt says otherwise.

In this case it would come down to what was actually on the receipt; You say a used vehicle order form? did it have the registration or anything about part payment, deposit for etc.