Vehicle Deposit Question

[tennesseetiger]

Friend of mine has been trying to get his hands on a rare-ish car. Its a Volkswagen Golf-R to be exact. Very limited numbers floating around...dealership in Nashville kept telling him they would get one, so he put a deposit on it and after the deposit they kept pushing the date back on when the car would arrive.

Yesterday he drove to Atlanta and bought the car he wanted and drove it back. Dealership was refusing to give him the deposit back, but now they sound like they are willing to at least do a partial refund.

I was just curious if anybody else has had any experience with this type of stuff or not for future reference if I ever get in to a similar situation in TN.

[Sam1]

depends on what's in writing.

[DaveTN]

depends on what's in writing.

I am not an attorney and I don’t play one on TV, but I would guess that nails it. I’m sure our real life forum attorney’s will comment.

I bought a new truck last week and this is a statement on the front of the contract. I have no idea whether it is a correct statement or not; but it was there.

NO COOLING OFF PERIOD
State law does not provide for a “cooling off” or cancellation period for this sale. After you sign this contract, you may only cancel it if the seller agrees or for legal cause. You cannot cancel this contract simply because you change your mind. This notice does not apply to home solicitation sales.

EDIT:
I’ll add this… If I tell someone something is sold; that’s money in the bank to them. If I think I can find a better deal, or I need to inspect the item; the time for that is before I commit, not after.

There should have been a time frame in the contract. Who would sign a contract with no time limit? Here’s my deposit call me if you ever get one in? I don’t think so.

Your word is your bond; for both sides. Edited December 30, 2015 by DaveTN

[runco]

Sounds like the cost of impatience to me. 

[btq96r]

There should have been a time frame in the contract.

 

Bingo.  I'd imagine that the time frame is more friendly towards the dealership, however.

 

 

I would never get into a situation like this, but I'm very wary of auto dealers.  Almost to a point of paranoia.  A deposit so they can find a car is asking to be disappointed in my mind.  Having one on order pending delivery from the manufacturer is about as far as I'd go, and even only if I ordered it through a trusted source like my banks car buying service.