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Sorry this is so long but it is a difficult situation and would appreciate any advice you can give me. I am a 22 year old student and have $7,500 to buy a car. It may not be much to a car salesman but it is a lot to me.
 
Last Thursday I found a 02 Mondeo that has done 85000km at a car yard. I was interested so, after taking the car for a test drive, asked about taking it for a pre-purchase inspection. I do have a mechanic I trust but unfortunately he is on holiday so I needed to make other arrangements. The salesman tried to get me to use someone he knew for the inspection but I wanted someone independent so declined. I called the AA to get a mobile inspection but unfortunately couldn’t get an appointment for a few days so decided to take it offsite to get an inspection.
 
The salesman said I would have to pay a significant deposit before I could take it, which is the first time I have come across this. I paid a deposit of $500 and was given a receipt which showed deposit “subject to Inspection” but also showed balance to pay of $7,000 which made me nervous as I was only taking it for an inspection and wasn’t agreeing to buy it. I asked him to write “refundable deposit” on the receipt but he told me it was not needed as he had already specified subject to inspection.
 
I took the car for the inspection, which was not flash. I did expect there would be some wear and tear, but the list of problems was quite long and 2 of the issues I was told are an instant WOF fail. I went back to the yard I told the salesman what I had been told and that I couldn’t buy the car in that condition for the money they were asking.
 
We ended up in a heated debate because their mechanic (who issues the WOF’s) criticised the report from VTNZ and said things like: there is no way they can even test for that, that doesn’t need fixing, show me where the problem is, if you want a new car you should buy one etc.
 
After 20 or so minutes of debate we went back to the office and the salesman wrote on his copy of the receipt 3 things they were willing to fix and tried to get me to sign it. I refused to sign it and told him I wasn’t signing as that would commit me to buying the car which I wasn’t prepared to do at that stage. They never, at any stage, told me I would lose my deposit if the repairs went ahead and, based on what I had been told, the repairs they wrote down were needed to get a WOF. I thought that in refusing to sign anything and telling them why I wouldn’t sign, that I had done the right things to protect myself.
 
I did agree that, if they were going to go ahead with the repairs, I would get someone to have another look at the car after they had done the repairs. The mechanic also asked me if I cared whether the seatbelt colour matched which I said I didn’t, but I never committed to buying it, only to continue discussions.
 
Yesterday the salesman called and told me my car was ready to be collected, I told him I couldn’t do anything until later in the week (as my mechanic is still on holiday and when they called I wasn’t sure when he was returning). Within a minute he called me back and asked for my address so he could deliver it to me which I refused to give him.
 
I decided I should write an email to the salesman and the company to remind them of what I had previously told them: that I couldn’t do any more with the car until my mechanic returns next week, that I am unhappy with the results of the pre-purchase inspection, that I have never agreed to buy the car and I am unhappy with the service from them. I suggested that if they had someone else interested in the car they should sell it and return my deposit and if not I would contact them later in the week to arrange for my mechanic to take another look at it and give me a second opinion after they criticised the VTNZ report.
 
Again they ignored everything I said and replied only saying if I don’t go ahead I forfeit my deposit. Even though I still like the car and was intending to take it to my mechanic for a second opinion, I now have no interest in dealing with this company and have no confidence that I would get any level of after sales service given the experience to date. Is there anything I can do to save my deposit?

Walk away from this deal. You don't want to have dealings with an outfit that is trying to bully you into buying a car. It sounds like you only put down a deposit to take the vehicle for an inspection - as stipulated on the deposit slip - subject to inspection. In this case the inspection turned out bad. You haven't stated that any sale agreement has been signed, which is a good thing, therefore you should insist on them paying your money back to you. If you signed a sales agreement then it would be another story. If they refuse to refund the deposit money, ensure you hold onto the receipt and take the matter further - to the courts. (Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal - Dept of the courts - 0800 367 6838).
Keep us posted - would be interesting to know how it turns out.

I'm trying to walk away but am no prepared to Give them 500 for nothing...

Will give the number a call and get some info. Thanks for your help.

Success!!!!

I decided that the way to go would be to use the free MTA mediation service (as the yard is an MTA member as well and AA certified FYI) which says we had to attempt to rectify it on our own before we could go to mediation.

We questioned him about the deposit, and in particular, if I were to bring the car back after the PPI and say that the car was in too poor of a condition, I want my deposit back; would you have given it to me? The salesman admitted in front of the owner, myself and my mother that even though we had only wanted to get an inspection done, he would have not returned my deposit.

We threatened legal action straight away and left. They phoned me before I could get home to say that they would give me the deposit back and to come and collect it straight away.

When we got back to the car yard the owner told us he would give it to us after we sat down and listened to him as he tried to explain the process for the conditional sale and purchase of a car.

Even though we have gotten what we wanted, we still feel like we have been purposefully lied to, misled and coerced. Does anyone suggest taking it further as we see this behavior as a major contributor to the reputation used car dealers have.

Thanks AA you guys are wicked awesome,

Stroudie

Excellent result. You can lodge a complaint with theMotor Vehicle Traders Register or the MTA.