If i was planning on buying a car and put down "X" as a deposit, and haven't taken possession for the car or signed a title transfer form or anything, can I still back out of the sale?

If I signed a "Motor vehicle purchase agreement" but decide I can't go through with the sale, what penalties can I face, other than losing my deposit?

[Edited on March 22, 2009 at 1:38 PM. Reason : ]

3/22/2009 1:15:07 PM

what did the agreement say that you signed, your answer is probably there

3/22/2009 1:19:24 PM

there is no such thing as a "non-refundable" deposit in the state of NC. you can get your deposit back. just tell them that as much as you'd like to purchase the car a current situation isn't going to allow it and that you need the deposit back.

3/22/2009 1:29:01 PM

this

Quote :

"there is no such thing as a "non-refundable" deposit in the state of NC. you can get your deposit back. just tell them that as much as you'd like to purchase the car a current situation isn't going to allow it and that you need the deposit back."

you might have to bitch some

3/22/2009 1:31:49 PM

So the purchase agreement can be cancelled, right? I read through it and it didn't say that i was obligated to buy the car, which is what I am concerned about

3/22/2009 1:49:14 PM

then what DID it say?

you can probably get out of it.

3/22/2009 1:50:33 PM

Sounds like you can get out of it, but you're going to need to stand up for yourself and your rights, and remember that they will do everything in their power to keep you from doing this.

3/22/2009 2:10:08 PM

There's only the following clause related to backing out in the purchase agreement:

"Dealer shall have the right to retain as liquidated damages any cash deposit made by Purchaser upon failure or refusal of Purchaser to accept delivery of the motor vehicle ordered hereunder."

Thing is, I made my deposit with a credit card. Looks like I can have that charge cancelled, in that case?

3/22/2009 2:21:05 PM

yea - if they won't refund you, just file a complaint with your CC company and they will forcefully refund you

3/22/2009 3:35:44 PM

expect a call from their lawyer then. esp if you signed your deposit away

3/22/2009 7:00:34 PM

btw, this would be an excellent question for consumerist

tips@consumerist.com

[Edited on March 22, 2009 at 7:01 PM. Reason : why are you wanting to back out?]

3/22/2009 7:01:38 PM

i doubt you can use the "cash" vs "credit card" arguement to get out of it.

[Edited on March 22, 2009 at 7:13 PM. Reason : w]

3/22/2009 7:11:50 PM

Quote :

"expect a call from their lawyer then. esp if you signed your deposit away"

Why will their lawyer contact me? The fine print in the purchase agreement that I signed says that if I refuse the car they'll keep my cash deposit, so I'm assuming that refusing the car is one of my rights, is it not?

3/22/2009 7:36:47 PM

Sure, refusing their car is absolutely your right...just like they have every right to keep your deposit.

3/22/2009 7:56:00 PM

Yep. You can not buy it, obviously.. I mean, it sounds like the contract explicitly states that.

Obviously you aren't getting your deposit back though unless they're just overly nice.. and I doubt they are

3/22/2009 7:57:28 PM

how much was your deposit? If it's not much, just take your loss and move on.

3/22/2009 8:48:01 PM

(Education is expensive, no matter how you get it.)

3/22/2009 9:10:56 PM

Quote :

"Obviously you aren't getting your deposit back though unless they're just overly nice.. and I doubt they are"

so you're saying these days there's no distinction between cash and charge? i could understand them keeping a cash deposit, since it's cash, but a charge that i can dispute?

3/22/2009 9:19:50 PM

In my experience a deposit puts a hold on something, and if you decide against it, the other party gets your cash and moves on to the next buyer.

3/22/2009 9:26:41 PM

stop the teasing, what kind of car was it ?

3/22/2009 9:27:14 PM

Quote :

"(Education is expensive, no matter how you get it.)"

3/22/2009 9:40:20 PM

Quote :

"i could understand them keeping a cash deposit, since it's cash, but a charge that i can dispute?"

sorry I forgot that it's a credit card deposit.

you can definitely dispute the charge with your credit card company. they'll probably even instantly give it back to you.

the problem though is that while the contract states any "cash" deposit, I have a feeling they'll try (and possibly successfully) say that the credit card was a "cash" deposit. You may win in the short term but I'm not sure about long term. I mean, it's worth a shot. Personally I'd just assume I'm not getting the deposit back and if you do then great.

3/22/2009 9:48:57 PM

unless you're talking about more than a $1,000 dollars, it's not going to be worth the car dealers legal fees to have a lawyer get their money back after you cancel the credit card payment.

3/22/2009 10:18:51 PM

well, if you won, you probably wouldn't have to pay their legal fees, and might not have to pay yours.

but it sounds like your claim is dubious at best, and probably unethical at any rate.

Why are you trying to bail on the deal to begin with?

3/22/2009 11:03:51 PM

i dropped a 20 dollar bill in the foodlion parkin lot today


fuck.

3/22/2009 11:11:13 PM

so, basically, you're trying to renege and screw them out of their deposit...

3/22/2009 11:11:32 PM

Quote :

"Why are you trying to bail on the deal to begin with?"

Car is hard to find at dealerships right now. A dealer got one in locally however it had some extra features I didn't really want and the color kinda sucks, but i figured now's my chance to own one and I decided to sign. Didn't get much of a deal, only scored 1000 off sticker and I kinda feel like I rushed into the decision without thinking it through (financially). Now I don't really think I want to buy brand new right now. I mean, I can afford it, but don't really want to spend so much.

I realize this does sound pretty insensitive, and I'd be happy if they gave back at least half of my deposit, but I'm just trying to evaluate my options here.

[Edited on March 22, 2009 at 11:44 PM. Reason : ]

3/22/2009 11:43:43 PM

If you win the credit card dispute, and the dealer loses the deposit with the credit card agency.....instead of hiring a lawyer to sue you, couldn't they just send you to a collection's agency and ruin your credit?

3/22/2009 11:55:55 PM

Quote :

"stop the teasing, what kind of car was it ?"

3/23/2009 8:27:16 AM

Yeah, I don't think they are going to give a shit that you rushed into your decision.

3/23/2009 8:49:57 AM

I'm guessing you went for something silly like a camaro.

I can't imagine any car being 'hard to find' right now.

3/23/2009 3:21:18 PM

Quote :

"stop the teasing, what kind of car was it ?"

3/23/2009 4:20:35 PM

I want to say that a Motor vehicle purchase agreement holds no water and that they would have to refund the deposit... Only because some dealerships will send a marginally qualified person home with a car and a signed agreement, and then demand the car back if financing cannot be secured. Meaning the person can't keep the car just because they signed the agreement. I don't know what the NC version of the agreement is, though.

However, if you "ordered" the car and they had to ship it via truck from somewhere else (I am assuming this is what you did), good luck with the deposit...

3/23/2009 4:27:08 PM

Quote :

""Dealer shall have the right to retain as liquidated damages any cash deposit made by Purchaser upon failure or refusal of Purchaser to accept delivery of the motor vehicle ordered hereunder.""

I agree with ^. The keyword is ordered.

3/23/2009 5:00:33 PM

^I didn't see that until just now, haha.

You could cancel the charge and have your CC company deal with it, but the dealer is going to try to get that money back somehow, and they do have a basis for it. I don't know about the cash vs. CC deposit, either. There's got to be a precedent in NC already, I just don't know where to look.

[Edited on March 23, 2009 at 5:57 PM. Reason : a]

3/23/2009 5:43:40 PM

Quote :

"stop the teasing, what kind of car was it ?"

3/23/2009 7:11:34 PM

wtf is all the arguing about here? i've already told you you can get your deposit back.

reread:

Quote :

"there is no such thing as a "non-refundable" deposit in the state of NC. you can get your deposit back. just tell them that as much as you'd like to purchase the car a current situation isn't going to allow it and that you need the deposit back."

also reread:

Quote :

"I want to say that a Motor vehicle purchase agreement holds no water and that they would have to refund the deposit..."

at least one other person knows what's up.

3/23/2009 8:38:06 PM

The "motor vehicle purchase agreements" I have seen were just sheets that the salespeople get you to sign when you finally agreed to a price and they could get their manager to sign it. It might as well be napkin.

3/23/2009 10:20:56 PM

First of all I'm a little curious as to why you will not say what kind of car we are talking about, just for shits and giggles. In any event it completely depends on the wording of the purchase agreement. From the sound of the wording you quoted yes you should let them keep the deposit. Most franchise dealers are going after every dollar they can right now and will most likely pursue legal action if you dispute the credit card charge.

From a personal and professional standpoint I will say that what you are doing is unethical. You asked the dealership to hold the car based on you giving them a deposit. If this is a rare car as you say they very well may have passed on selling the car to someone else. If you don't want to buy it that's fine, however there is a reason you gave a deposit.

3/25/2009 10:21:12 PM

Well, I ended up going back to the dealer and explained how I didn't want to buy a car with a whole bunch of extra options, etc and asked for my deposit back. He told me he wanted to work with me and get me what I wanted and offered to call a few other dealerships and see if he could find something that would work out for me. A few hours later, he calls me up and says he's found one with just the base options in Richmond and he'd be able to give it to me for 4000 less than the one he had if I didn't mind the extra mileage of being driven down. Only thing is I have to wait about a week.

So I will soon be a proud owner of a 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX sedan in 5 days!

[Edited on March 25, 2009 at 11:30 PM. Reason : ]

3/25/2009 11:19:07 PM

Damn, he worked you good.

Nice car, by the way.

3/25/2009 11:32:11 PM

you should really do your deposits by check, that way you have at least a day to stop it

and as long as you pay your card on time and dont do it often, they will not pay any item you despute

awhile back, i went to a restaurant to watch a game, we finished eating and i paid my bill with about 10 mins to go (left a good tip too), but at that point the waitress just ignored our requests to refill our drinks

i desputed the charge, and didnt hear anything from the restaurant, and they didnt get paid

3/25/2009 11:45:46 PM

^what a jackass thing to do

3/26/2009 1:08:27 AM

they should have done their job

besides, i doubt the bitch ever got in trouble

that was the whole idea, i wanted someone to call me so i could bitch about it

but no one ever did

3/26/2009 2:08:55 AM