Distance Sale - All online BUT Test Drive
Discussion
Hi,
I have a question about whether or not this would be construed as a distance sale.
I paid a £500 deposit for a vehicle from a main dealer Audi dealership. This isn't a £99 deposit to hold the car via a Click + Collect sort of scheme that most dealers do these days, it was an actual deposit as I subsequently signed a piece of paper (This is from the dealership), stating that I would purchase the vehicle, and was approved for PCP finance with a deposit of £2500 with the remaining £2000 to be paid closer to delivery.
This was all done without seeing the car.
I then decided to test drive the vehicle a week later.
A week after that, I paid a further £2000 balance on the deposit, and then had it delivered to me on Monday (I did not collect the car from them).
I am having second thoughts on the car purely because of the interest on the PCP loan (12.8%).
It's making me worried that the car will go into negative equity in the event I decide not to hand it back at the end of the term. I would rather have the flexibility of being able to sell it privately and do whatever I want halfway through. I would rather just hand the car back and try and find another car with less interest.
The dealer is saying that because I did test drive the car, it is no longer a distance sale, and they're refusing to take the car back (This is all within 14 days).
I'm just curious because I can't find anything about my specific scenario, is this a distance sale or not? I have seen posts saying if you enter the dealership at all, it no longer means it's a distance sale, but the document I have from the dealer says "I/We hereby agree to purchase from you subject to the terms and conditions hereof" and was signed BEFORE I decided to test drive the car.
I understand it's a bit of a grey area, so if someone could tell me where to go if it is indeed a distance sale, it would be really appreciated. It isn't really the end of the world if it isn't, I would just prefer to keep my options open.
I have a question about whether or not this would be construed as a distance sale.
I paid a £500 deposit for a vehicle from a main dealer Audi dealership. This isn't a £99 deposit to hold the car via a Click + Collect sort of scheme that most dealers do these days, it was an actual deposit as I subsequently signed a piece of paper (This is from the dealership), stating that I would purchase the vehicle, and was approved for PCP finance with a deposit of £2500 with the remaining £2000 to be paid closer to delivery.
This was all done without seeing the car.
I then decided to test drive the vehicle a week later.
A week after that, I paid a further £2000 balance on the deposit, and then had it delivered to me on Monday (I did not collect the car from them).
I am having second thoughts on the car purely because of the interest on the PCP loan (12.8%).
It's making me worried that the car will go into negative equity in the event I decide not to hand it back at the end of the term. I would rather have the flexibility of being able to sell it privately and do whatever I want halfway through. I would rather just hand the car back and try and find another car with less interest.
The dealer is saying that because I did test drive the car, it is no longer a distance sale, and they're refusing to take the car back (This is all within 14 days).
I'm just curious because I can't find anything about my specific scenario, is this a distance sale or not? I have seen posts saying if you enter the dealership at all, it no longer means it's a distance sale, but the document I have from the dealer says "I/We hereby agree to purchase from you subject to the terms and conditions hereof" and was signed BEFORE I decided to test drive the car.
I understand it's a bit of a grey area, so if someone could tell me where to go if it is indeed a distance sale, it would be really appreciated. It isn't really the end of the world if it isn't, I would just prefer to keep my options open.
Edited by ChrisP1999 on Tuesday 30th April 15:42
You're right, I could. The issue is the monthly payments become very high at that point as it's essentially HP then and I would rather have some sort of PCP loan as I like the flexibility of it. I don't even know if anywhere does PCP refinancing apart from Lloyds, but they only sell it to customers who have been with them for 3 months and I am not one of those people 
I can see why the dealer is trying to play hard ball. The car is good, but you changed your mind after the sale because of the interest rate, thats not really on them. Anyways, it would seem its a bit of a grey area but your best bet is to get onto Citizens advise and dont drive the car or put any more miles on it.
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 define a distance contract as (my bold): “distance contract” means a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded
If you'd both agreed to the contract prior to your test drive, then the sale would come under a distance contract.
If you'd both agreed to the contract prior to your test drive, then the sale would come under a distance contract.
Edited by Forester1965 on Tuesday 30th April 16:32
We would see that as a distance sale, how we see it is:
If a deposit is taken and an order signed by the purchaser, all remotely prior to the purchaser setting foot in the dealership, regardless of them then setting foot in the dealership or not after signing the order, it is a distance sale.
We have a £99 refundable 48 hour holding policy, we take the £99 but don't produce an order for them to sign, they then come in, see the car, say yes they will go ahead then sign an order, the order has been signed on the premises, this not a distance sale.
If we took £99 over the phone, emailed an order which they then signed, they then popped along to see the car and still went ahead, it would be a distance sale as the order was signed off the premises prior to them coming in.
Yours sounds like a distance sale OP from how I read it.
If a deposit is taken and an order signed by the purchaser, all remotely prior to the purchaser setting foot in the dealership, regardless of them then setting foot in the dealership or not after signing the order, it is a distance sale.
We have a £99 refundable 48 hour holding policy, we take the £99 but don't produce an order for them to sign, they then come in, see the car, say yes they will go ahead then sign an order, the order has been signed on the premises, this not a distance sale.
If we took £99 over the phone, emailed an order which they then signed, they then popped along to see the car and still went ahead, it would be a distance sale as the order was signed off the premises prior to them coming in.
Yours sounds like a distance sale OP from how I read it.
OutInTheShed said:
The interest rate seems about normal?
Small differences in interest rate don't change things very much.
If you are worried about 'negative equity', don't buy a car on credit without a big chunk of the price being a deposit.
You still have a 14 day 'cooling off' period?
A finance cooling off period, not a car purchase cooling off period, the finance can be withdrawn from within 14 days, however the car still needs paying for. Small differences in interest rate don't change things very much.
If you are worried about 'negative equity', don't buy a car on credit without a big chunk of the price being a deposit.
You still have a 14 day 'cooling off' period?
HTP99 said:
We would see that as a distance sale, how we see it is:
If a deposit is taken and an order signed by the purchaser, all remotely prior to the purchaser setting foot in the dealership, regardless of them then setting foot in the dealership or not after signing the order, it is a distance sale.
We have a £99 refundable 48 hour holding policy, we take the £99 but don't produce an order for them to sign, they then come in, see the car, say yes they will go ahead then sign an order, the order has been signed on the premises, this not a distance sale.
If we took £99 over the phone, emailed an order which they then signed, they then popped along to see the car and still went ahead, it would be a distance sale as the order was signed off the premises prior to them coming in.
Yours sounds like a distance sale OP from how I read it.
This is my logic too but the dealership isn't having any of it.If a deposit is taken and an order signed by the purchaser, all remotely prior to the purchaser setting foot in the dealership, regardless of them then setting foot in the dealership or not after signing the order, it is a distance sale.
We have a £99 refundable 48 hour holding policy, we take the £99 but don't produce an order for them to sign, they then come in, see the car, say yes they will go ahead then sign an order, the order has been signed on the premises, this not a distance sale.
If we took £99 over the phone, emailed an order which they then signed, they then popped along to see the car and still went ahead, it would be a distance sale as the order was signed off the premises prior to them coming in.
Yours sounds like a distance sale OP from how I read it.
The business manager said they spoke to their head office about it and they said they're satisfied that it wasn't a distance sale.
I'm aware there's the motor ombudsman but I don't know if I should keep pressing on the dealer or go to them. Obviously I don't have much time left for all this plus 80% of the board thinks I'm not right in my thinking anyway
Bomberman333 said:
This is my logic too but the dealership isn't having any of it.
The business manager said they spoke to their head office about it and they said they're satisfied that it wasn't a distance sale.
I'm aware there's the motor ombudsman but I don't know if I should keep pressing on the dealer or go to them. Obviously I don't have much time left for all this plus 80% of the board thinks I'm not right in my thinking anyway
Take a look at the regulations and check the dealership have complied with everything they need to. The important stage is when the contract was concluded (that's the point when you and the dealer both committed to the purchase, not when you took delivery). If you signed the contract to buy the car prior to any visits to the premises, it's a distance contract. The business manager said they spoke to their head office about it and they said they're satisfied that it wasn't a distance sale.
I'm aware there's the motor ombudsman but I don't know if I should keep pressing on the dealer or go to them. Obviously I don't have much time left for all this plus 80% of the board thinks I'm not right in my thinking anyway
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/cont...
HTP99 said:
A finance cooling off period, not a car purchase cooling off period, the finance can be withdrawn from within 14 days, however the car still needs paying for.
Some people will tell you you have the right to withdraw from the agreement to buy the car.The car may then belong to the finance co rather than the dealer?
If you got say a bank loan, completely independently of the car dealer that would obviously be different.
Cylon2007 said:
This is clearly NOT a distance selling situation.
You are thinking rejecting the car because you are now not happy with the interest rate YOU accepted on the deal.
You have no justified reason for rejection, don't know why you think you would have, no grey area here at all.
Does a 14 day cooling off period not apply to financial commitments? You are thinking rejecting the car because you are now not happy with the interest rate YOU accepted on the deal.
You have no justified reason for rejection, don't know why you think you would have, no grey area here at all.
HTP99 said:
OutInTheShed said:
The interest rate seems about normal?
Small differences in interest rate don't change things very much.
If you are worried about 'negative equity', don't buy a car on credit without a big chunk of the price being a deposit.
You still have a 14 day 'cooling off' period?
A finance cooling off period, not a car purchase cooling off period, the finance can be withdrawn from within 14 days, however the car still needs paying for. Small differences in interest rate don't change things very much.
If you are worried about 'negative equity', don't buy a car on credit without a big chunk of the price being a deposit.
You still have a 14 day 'cooling off' period?
I suspect the OP is perfectly allowed to cancel albeit an admin charge of some sort of pro rata use of the car cost to be paid.
interstellar said:
Take a loan over 60 months not 36
Then the payments will be lower and after 3 years you are effectively left with 2 years payments which you can call your balloon!
Brilliant financial advice, you can see how people get into financial trouble when they only thing they care about is the monthly payments, not how much it costs them in total.Then the payments will be lower and after 3 years you are effectively left with 2 years payments which you can call your balloon!
Going back to the OP I would say this is a distance sale as you agreed to purchase the car and signed the paperwork remotely without ever having seen the car.
The fact you looked at the car after agreeing to buy it is a moot point, the original agreement was signed without having seen it.
Bomberman333 said:
This is my logic too but the dealership isn't having any of it.
The business manager said they spoke to their head office about it and they said they're satisfied that it wasn't a distance sale.
It doesn't matter what the business manager thinks, he can't just ignore the rules and regulations because he believes it doesn't apply in this situation. I had the same thing last year, I cancelled an order for a car the day before it was due to arrive in the country. The sales manager was saying I couldn't cancel it, but I kept repeating the distance selling regulations (I had never set foot in the dealership) and eventually he gave in and gave me my deposit back.The business manager said they spoke to their head office about it and they said they're satisfied that it wasn't a distance sale.
Edited by ThingsBehindTheSun on Tuesday 30th April 19:09
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
interstellar said:
Take a loan over 60 months not 36
Then the payments will be lower and after 3 years you are effectively left with 2 years payments which you can call your balloon!
Brilliant financial advice, you can see how people get into financial trouble when they only thing they care about is the monthly payments, not how much it costs them in total.Then the payments will be lower and after 3 years you are effectively left with 2 years payments which you can call your balloon!
Edited by ThingsBehindTheSun on Tuesday 30th April 19:09
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