I have ordered a new car from a main dealer, specced how I want it and paid a deposit of c 5% of the purchase price. The deal is on finance, with a manufacturers deposit contribution. The car has a build date of 8 September.

I'm now having second thoughts, so can anyone on here give me an idea on whether I can cancel and walk away, with my deposit refunded, or am I going to be hammered?

For interest, the car is a Jag F Pace 3.0 V6 diesel in Portfolio spec.

Thoughts welcome

Thanks

Andy

Depends what you've signed......

How long ago did you order ? Would the build slot be worth having and can the spec still be changed ?

As Alistair says, it's all down to the T's & C's of the contract. The dealer has taken the order in good faith and has committed to buy the same from Jaguar. With a production date of the 8th, the spec will already be locked down by JLR.

The sales person and the rest of the staff have done their job and can still fairly expect to be paid for the work that they've done.

My own purchase contract states that, should I terminate the agreement, the dealer will need to re-market the car. Any loss in the selling price and all of the costs of sale (including any original commission) would become chargeable to me, less the value of my already forfeited deposit. I would expect to be out of pocket by many, many, thousands of pounds, although it's uncertain if they'd want to attract the publicity associated with taking a customer to court if I were to refuse to pay.

You really are at the mercy of the dealer, especially if you just "want out". However, should you be thinking of buying a more expensive new JLR product, then I'm sure they'd look at it favourably and your losses would be significantly less.

It might help to understand in what way you no longer feel comfortable to go ahead and what (if anything) you might like to do instead.

As Alistair says it depends on what your contract says. Some finance deals might have a cooling off period during which you can cancel, but that would be less likely to apply to the car purchase bit of the deal. So I'd be surprised if you could walk away and get your deposit back.

The good news is that the car has not yet been built. Assuming you have a binding contract and breach it (by saying you don't want to proceed with the purchase) then the dealer must try to minimise his loss. There is probably no point in leaving Jaguar to build and deliver the car, the dealer trying to sell it and then charging you for the difference between your price and what they eventually get. They would be better to cancel with Jaguar. Perhaps the slot can be used for someone who wants a Velar. There will be some cost and hassle for them, so maybe the easiest for them is to cancel with you and keep the deposit. But step 1 will be for you to read the contract, assess your rights, and then speak to them and see what they say.

Good luck. Only Range Rovers since 1988

Do bear in mind that the factory make very, very, little. Apart from body pressings, welding and painting, they simply put together some fairly large scale sub-assemblies which are built off site and then delivered in order to arrive at the track side just in time and fully in sequence. There are no boxes of stock lying around to call on to enable late changes.

Once the last build amend date has passed, there is no real prospect of making any changes, as the factory and all of their subcontractors are pretty much committed to building exactly that car, in exactly that slot.

Thanks Gents, that was what I thought. I will carefully read the T&Cs, but if I cancel now it will cost me I'm sure.

Maybe I'm feeling guilty for not getting another FFRR, but they are SO expensive now. For what the F Pace is costing me new only gets me a 3-4 y/o L405, which is a bit too old for me. I've got too used to the luxury of the current fattie though so whatever follows has to have the same kind of luxury.

Good luck to you and hope it all works out

I bought a car from a dealership

If you bought a car from a dealership, your cancellation and refund rights are different if you are buying in person or buying via phone/online (distance selling).

To buy a new or used car from a dealership, you generally need to do two things:

Sign a vehicle order form (which is a binding contract)
Pay a deposit.

Once you have done these two things, you have committed to buying the car. The dealer takes the car off sale so no-one else can buy it, and you arrange to make payment for the vehicle before taking possession of it.

When you sign a vehicle order form, you are signing a legal contract to buy that vehicle. You are committing to purchase the vehicle at the price shown, with any extras listed on the order and subject to any caveats listed on the order.

If you are part-exchanging your old car, you are contracting to sell the car as presented to the dealer at the price listed.

Buying a car in person from a dealership
A vehicle order signed on the dealer’s premises has no cooling-off period. Once you sign it, you are legally committed to everything shown on the form.

Obviously you have consumer rights that allow you to return a faulty car for a full refund. But you don’t have the legal right to simply change your mind either before or after taking delivery. You have signed a contract and you are expected to fulfil it.

A dealer may be prepared to negotiate changes to the contract in order to keep you from walking away. But they do have the moral high ground here as it’s you who wants to change the contract.

*http://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/bought-a-car-and-changed-my-mind/

Andy -pm sent!

Thanks for that very helpful message Gary.

DB, pm sent.

I will be taking the Jag.