Cancel order

yknaa

Howdy

Just wondering about a situation arising where you need or want to cancel an order placed for a new car with a dealer. Does this happen often? Is it 'not the done thing' to decide not to go through with the deal during the time between ordering a car and its arrival?

Thanks in advance

copacetic

happens all the time, you will likely lose your deposit in the 'current climate' though.

R.O.R

Not really the done thing, but you might get your deposit back if it's something they can take in to stock.

If it's a factory order with loads of extra's the dealer will be really pi$$ed. If it's a 1.9Tdi Comfortline Passat with only metallic, you might get away with it.

handbraker

Unless u got a pretty good reason like a delay on the car getting shipped you are likely to loose the deposit.

galwaytt

It may not have been the 'done thing' when we were awash with cash, for face reasons.

Cold economics won't be long turning that on it's head.......of course you can cancel the order. If you can't pay for the car/afford it, don't proceed. The amount you'd lose in depreciation etc etc, is far more than you'll lose by walking away from the deposit. Any reasonable person could not be, but sympathetic to a genuine reason to cancel. I've had 2 x houses cancelled, but there's no point in me digging in on it, as people are, well............just people like myself.

Now, as for refund of the deposit, that's a grey area. Unless it's written that it's non-refundable, I'd assume you're entitled to it back. Again, you're relying on human nature here, it's a long road has no turn etc, for the garage that goes down the road that developers have been at on gazumping, etc in times past...........

Citizens Advice / Consumer agency could probably advise you better on the legal aspect of your deposit.

-Chris-

What's the car and spec? It'll have a bearing.

Have you asked the dealer?

yknaa

Thanks for the advice. I had my head turned by another car and was thinking of changing. I haven't paid a deposit. As it stands I will complete the order but was interested to know my options.
Thanks

Honey-ec

I've had it happen to me and the only time I was seriously p*ssed off over it was at a lady who wanted to cancel her order the day before she was due to COLLECT the car - it was registered to her and everything.

The first dealer she had gone to rang her to see if she had made a decision, she told him that we had offered her a better trade-in price and so she had ordered from us. The dealer then said he'd match our price and put her in the next spec up (alloys & body coloured mirrors, basically).

She genuinely couldn't see the problem when I pointed out that the car was already registered to her (she knew this, as I'd rang her the day before with the reg. number). Tbh, I was more annoyed at the other dealer than at her. Yes, everyone tries to undercut everyone else, but if the customer tells you they've already bought off someone else, you back off.

Stevie Dakota

So what happened? Did she take your car and if not, what do you do once its registered in her name????

Honey-ec

We offered her the difference in price between the spec she bought and the one the other dealer was putting her in and she stuck with us. I think we made a grand total of about €60 on that deal by the end of it...

I don't even work in the industry anymore, but every time I see a car from that other dealer it puts me in a bad mood!