Backing out of a dealership sales contract?
 

So I went into a dealership..test drove a car that i liked.. made a few offers back and forth..came to an agreement on the offer.

Signed some dealership sales form agreeing to the offer and submitted a $1000 deposit.

The new car wont be ready for a few days.. there's also my tradein which I still have and have to 'return to stock' (i.e. remove winter tires and put back stock tires).

So lets say i sleep on it and decide that 'nah, i dont want the car'..

1. from now until then, can I change my mind and cancel since I haven't signed any sort of vehicle delivery yet?
2. the finance mgr tore off the bottom half of my insurance paper / vehicle registration and kept it there. finance doesnt have a void cheque from me either.
3. deposit should be 100% refundable?
4. subject to finance approval but i know i'll be approved.

It is a reputable Acura dealership so it's not some gypsy kwan-do kingsway dealer.

i think you can back out but you wont get the 1000 deposit back?

Deposits are 100% refundable unless it says "Partial Payment". You just signed a proposal sheet I'm assuming, since it is subject to financing you need to make an excuse finance related, like you talked to your accountant or something and you can't afford the payments right now. You didnt do a credit app did you?

check with dealership
 

"Contract

See Purchase, Sales, Lease or Finance Agreement

"Cooling-off Period"

"Cooling-off" period only applies to leasing vehicles. After you enter into a lease agreement with the motor dealer, you may cancel the lease without penalty within the one full business day (which includes a Saturday) that a motor dealer is supposed to physically keep the vehicle in their possession. You may waive this requirement in writing. Contrary to popular belief, there is no cooling-off period on the purchase or finance of a new vehicle in British Columbia. A dealer may have a return or exchange policy, which the purchaser should get a copy of in writing prior to purchase. "


source: http://www.mdcbc.com/glossary_a-f.html

I can't speak on behalf of Acura... but I know Toyota will give you back 100% of your deposit before your vehicle delivery.

I was explained, they rather give you back 100% of your deposit... and not penalize you to gain only a few dollars here and there. They aim to keep customers happy and hope you would maybe... perhaps, in the future, purchase a different vehicle from them instead of being remembered as "the dealership that penalized me $30 bucks".

^ that's not the experience i had with Open Road Toyota in Richmond. the no good, greasy pig of a sales manager tried his best to scam my extended family into going through with a non-existent deal.

check the paperwork you signed to see if you can get the deposit back.

On the sales contracts I use, i always put , partial payments/deposits are non-refundable.

Why did you sign the deal in the first place, if you needed to think about it?

Is it a lease or finance? If it's finance you can't get your deposit back with that "cooling period", if it's lease i think you can.

Salesperson works on commision and you shouldnt have put a deposit unless you are 100% commited to buying the car.

Try buying a house, make an offer and then put a deposit on it. You will only get your money back if you fail credit approval if that was one of the subject terms.

I know a few acura managers in the lower mainland, I dunno what your situation was but if you were forced into the deal by the salesperson, i can see if i can help you get your money back, but if you busted the sales guys balls for an hour and made the offer , i would see you not get your money back.

how did it go?
got your money back?

k so i went there this morning.

1. it helps that one of the managers knows me from his time at another acura dealership and knows i've purchased 5 cars from that particular dealership. so he knows i dont play around...just this one time, things weren't fully realized.

2. they said the deposit will be fully refunded tomorrow when the finance team is back in.

3. got my registration back.

i think its because of my loyalty to the brand ( have had 10 acuras so far since 1999) that they want to keep me happy and didnt give me a hard time.

Good thing that you are getting your deposit back..
I know for sure - if you did not take delivery deposit is 100% refundable - This is the new car deler's rule - my friend was sales person and he told me when I had similar case and I got deposit back as well.

I love when people spread blatant misinformation. :failed:

While there are lots of situations that would result in a returned deposit, there simply is NO generic rule that requires any new dealer to refund any deposit on any car for any reason, that is just silly. You think that when you put a deposit down and Brian Jessel dealer trades the BMW Store for an M6 that you can just back out? Good luck.

Every dealer is required to work within the MDC rules, however, the rules do allow for the dealer to take non refundable sums of money, they just need to be very careful about it. You need to read ALL the terms of everything you sign, they should be making you sign a form specific to your deposit which states whether it is a deposit or partial payment, whether it is refundable, under what conditions, etc.

The OP had an easy out - the deal was subject to financing, so no matter what rate they can give him, he can just say that he doesnt agree with the finance terms and the deal will have to be unwound.

-Mark

I always thought generically deposit = no refund.

it's to secure the buy, and make sure no time/efforts wasted, if so, at least there's payout for the people who've worked.. but eh...

^ It was like that until dealers were passing it off as refundable but then screwing people. Often the deposit is needed to hold the car until you can come in to see it, or until the financing goes though. VSA made deposits legally 100% refundable, however like lowside mentioned and like I mentioned wayyyyy up there, if it is called a partial payment, or something along those lines, and the customer is aware it is non-refundable or has signed something stating that they cannot be refunded.

Final Update.

Deposit has been refunded.

thanks for everyones help on this. I dont usually cancel on deals like this but
this time around it wasn't an ideal sale in my books.

Nowadays deposits are simply put into place to try and guilt you into following through with your agreement. At least that's the way it feels to me. Unless they are "partial payment" they are refundable and therefore there is no reason to really put a deposit down at all.

If you want the car buy the car if you don't want it don't buy it. Saying... "Yea I want it here's a thousand to "hold it for me" until tomorrow" is just stupid IMO. The only way I would put a deposit down these days is IF the car was rare enough that you were actually worried about it being sold on you in the day or 2 you need to figure out your finances.

Berz out.

^ we take deposits to ensure the person has something tying them back to the dealership. If we have $1000 of the money, they have to come back in no matter what, if they don't want the car it just gives us another shot at them. If we don't have a deposit there is no reason to ever call us again.
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^Yup.
I've gotten a few deposits fully refunded when I was looking for my G.

north shore lexus was a bitch refunding my deposit those rude greasy cunt bags

^ lol, then why did you do business with them and put the deposit in the first place??

worst case scenario say a medical emergency came up in the family and it's not possible to commit to the payments at the moment and when you are confident you can pay it you will come back to them

if they still try to keep it just say your going to tell everyone you know to never come there and you will go out of your way to make sure X salesperson aint getting business

dirty, but effective :P

if they won't give you your deposit back. speak with the dealership GM and explain your situation and tell them if they do not want to give you back your deposit. you will be filling a report to VSA. From what salesman(different dealership) have told me. dealership and salesman can both loose their license. for doing that..as its illegal for them to keep deposit.

mind you the GM was shocked that i knew about VSA. (not alot of people know about complaining to them )


at least that's what i did with a local honda dealership. salesman wont show me the car or give me a test drive. after doing deposit and everything. so i backed out. spoke with the GM. took a few nice phone calls making some BS until i told them i will be submitting my complain to VSA for keeping my deposit. bammmm same day i got my refund back..


http://www.mdcbc.com/ website for VSA

make sure the deposit is to locate/hold the car. not partial payment towards the car

It's only illegal for them to keep your deposit if it doesnt state in the terms and conditions. If you signed a non refundable deposit / partial payment and the dealership has to dealer trade for a car for you, they have all right to keep your deposit.

We ordered a car for a customer, custom ordered to his specs, he backed out and we kept his deposit. He didn't bitch about it, b/c it was custom ordered, and he knew MDC wouldnt do anything b/c it was in black and white that it was non-refundable