Thread: Screwed by a car yard

Originally Posted by RVR110

Interesting. Presumably a contract that is binding for you to buy the car would be binding for them to sell the car. Read the contract carefully as you may have avenue for recourse, although that may not be practical to pursue.

I'm sure that if you had backed out then they would have tried to hold you to that same contract. It at least forms grounds for a formal complaint to the relevant consumer/fair trading department.

Putting aside the questions of binding verbal contracts, specific vehicle sales legislation and intent, normally one of the provisions for a contract to be binding is "valuable consideration", so IMHO as no deposit, was still at pending stage.

IIRC, he did offer to put a deposit on it.

If I buy a car from anyone, I will give a deposit of say $200 and ask for a receipt for the deposit.

There should be a clear statement of a time limit for full payment which will usually be demanded by a dealer Eg full payment within 7 days.

This gives the dealer the option of selling the vehicle if the full payment is not received.
If you haven't paid anything, then you can just walk away , and the dealer has no economic recourse.

If you have paid a deposit , you are in a good position as in NSW anyway it costs a dealer $1500 to contest a Fair Trading claim so a threat is often enough to get your deposit back if say you find the car has an undisclosed fault.

It works both ways and I am sure the dealer has seen many many people sound super enthusiastic then walk away.

It is in your interest to pay a deposit so don't be put off if the dealer says it's not necessary. Perhaps when he qualified you he was of the opinion that you were likely to be a walk away and left his options open.
Regards Philip A

I got myself a d1 just over a year ago from a dealer,told him i`ll be back in a week and pay for it, no deposit changed hands ,all done with a hand shake,maybe not many old schoolers left.When i picked her up i took down a carton of coronas.

It's a diesel 80 series... the market is insane for them... I've played it. Would get upwards of twenty calls a day, does not surprise me in the slightest that they let it go to someone who was ready with the money. Lot space is at a massive premium...

That's the game. Better luck next time

Some second hand car salesmen (salespersons?) seem to be human. I may have been luck to strike one of them.

I found my Defender in a Toyota dealer's yard. When I showed some interest in it, the salesman didn't seem to be particularly pushy and seemed quite genuine in what he told me. In fact, I remember one of his first comments was, "It drives like a truck."

I had a short test drive and went home to do a few calculations and to have a lengthy discussion with the Minister for Finance.

The next day I told him that there were some things I wanted to check that I could only do if i took the vehicle home and had it all afternoon. He was happy for me to do that, possibly encouraged by the fact that I had to leave my car at his yard.

Apparently he copped quite a ribbing from his colleagues about whether he would ever see the vehicle again. A couple of years before, he had a customer fail to return from a test drive and the vehicle was only recovered some time later when another thief broke a window on the car in an attempt to steal it from the first thief.

It wasn't till after everything was signed and the money was paid that he mentioned in conversation that someone else had showed interest in the vehicle after I had first indicated that I planned to buy the vehicle unless I found something seriously wrong with it. I can't think of any reason he would have lied about someone else wanting to buy it as I had already paid for the vehicle by then. If he had mentioned it before, then I would have suspected that he was just trying to pressure me.

That is only the second time in my life I have dealt with a car salesman and the entire time, I felt that I was being allowed to make up my own mind.

On quite a few occasions I have been given used cars to drive home to see if it is a car we could live with and like it enough to buy it. Home is 100 kms from the car yards. Speaking of trust and car salesmen - on two different occasions at two different yards when I took the car back the next day they were surprised to see it in that they thought I would keep it for a week for a good tryout. No deposit, drivers licence, my car or anything else left as security. All done on a handshake.

67Hardtop - you were hard done by but maybe it was a blessing in disguise in that you avoided some expensive Tojo repair costs needed in the near future. Better luck next time.

Originally Posted by russellrovers

hi a small deposit would have held it

Sometimes.


Looked at a GQ Patrol at local dealer some years ago. Deal was made, deposit given and papers signed on the proviso it would take 3-4 days to get the finance organised.
Got a phone call from them the next day asking if finance was done..... said no, had appointment with credit union later the same day.
They rang me the next morning to tell me the car had been sold to another. I had to ask about getting deposit back.


This was my second bad experience with them, wont be another.