what the hell is wrong with some people,

i agreed to sell my car too someone, deal done, £1000 deposit paid as there was 2 other interested parties.

off my own back i spent a good 400 quid sorting little niggles he hadnt even seen.
nothing major, just 2 new rear tyres, geometry, an electric window switch and some little trim pieces for the boot

had the car proffesionaly valeted inside and out today and filled with petrol ready,
Drove it from Brighton to him up near Birmingham as he wasnt insured,

he shows up 2 hrs late with 4 friends and decides the original deal wasnt good enough.

long story short after lots of haggling we couldnt reach an agreement so i brought my car home, i've spent £300 on it today between valet and fuel not to mention fixing the niggles and i now have to refund his deposit,

Some people just annoy me.

OH and it pissed down all the way home

and i missed the junction onto the M25 from the M40 and ended up in Central London,

Pretty crappy day really,

I've never bought a car where the guy filled up beforehand. I'd say you you went out of your way, and I'd be a bit steamed too.

Why are you refunding his deposit?

The point of a deposit is a commitment to buy and to compensate the seller should you renage on the deal.

So what was the point of the deposit?
I'd be wanting at least a cut of it to cover your costs as you mention

As above.

He could swing for the deposit as far as I'm concerned.

He welched on the deal - goodbye deposit.

Yep, dont give him his deposit back! Thats the whole point of taking one!

Does he know where you live?
Is he big and ugly?

Seriously he renegged on the deal and commited to buy. Tell him to shove the deposit and if he doesnt like it he can take you to court where it will more than likely cost more than the 1k to get his money back. The only reason he had "mates" with him is that he was trying to act like a heavy. If he comes to you give us all a shout and we will me your mates and turn up to help you. Imagine that all the people off the forum at yours for cup of tea and a fight

Keep the money

Definately dont return the deposit. Think of it as compensation for your wasted time and work.

Agreed.

I certainly wouldn't offer the deposit back.

However, I'd get some advice from a solicitor before outright refusing to give it back.

There's every chance you're within your rights to keep it, but personally, I'd like to be sure, that way if he does get arsey, you can ignore him.

Give the citezins(sp) advice a call. I can highley recomend them

Don't necessarily keep all of the deposit but work out what it cost you to take the car to him (fuel, time, additional mileage, valet etc)

Whatever sum you decide to retain, let him know that you are keeping it for purposes of compensating your expenses .

Well i didnt want to get into an argument with four 20 something lads last night so i didnt say too much about the deposit other than i'd sort it out.

I'm going to speak to him today and explain i've missed out on 2 other sales now and found myself out of pocket so i'll be refunding part deposit.

The money isnt even the real issue.

Its the time i wasted,

the fact i had too drive my car in the pissing rain when i never use it in the wet.

and now i need to go through the hassle of re-advertising it.

and i need to wait even longer for a BEC

Think there may be a lesson for all of us there, If a buyer really wanted the car he would have arranged insurance and collected it ?. Before getting in touch with him about returning the deposit at least get in touch with C.A.B. . The money you have spent on tyres may be irrelevant to the deal as you have fitted them off your own back ??

i would keep the money you have spent and give him the rest to get him off your back,

I think you have tried a little too hard here . As mentioned, a serious buyer would have arranged insurance and collected the car. In 30 odd years of buying and selling cars and motorcycles I have never delivered or had delivered a vehicle. Delivering like that really does put you at a disadvantage - you have done so much you look desperate for a sale (whether the case or not) and a lad with his mates behind him makes haggling very difficult for you. I believe you are morally due full expenses for the trip - not the tyres/valet/niggles fixing if that was not agreed with him. If you added value to the car with these extra costs then they still exist in the value of the car and it should now be worth more. Check with CAB for your legal position on return of deposit - it could be that unless you told him it would be forfit then you may have to return all/part of it. Good luck and it's all part of life's learning process.

As above really.

Work out your expenses for fuel, and time, and deduct it from the deposit.

Personally, i wouldnt refund the deposit at all as it was he that decided he no longer wanted to purchase the car.

If you put a deposit on a car at a dealership, you wouldnt get it back if you backed out. The idea being that it demonstrated commitment from the buyer, and prevents the dealer from selling it on.
You would normally only get the deposit transferred to another vehicle or returned if your very pally with the dealership.

I would have driven to him as well, as his deposit shows commitment, but i wouldnt have spent any more than needed to get the car ready.

well to be fair the inital deal we agreed was fair on both parties i felt.

i figured if i sorted the niggles i knew about that he hadnt spotted when it came to finishing the deal there would be absolutly no cause for any hassle.

I only agreed to take the car too him after he had paid me a deposit.
It wouldnt have been much of an issue as i had friends i could visit not too far away so didnt really mind taking the car for one last drive before handing her over.

Unfortunatly he showed up 2 hrs late and by the time everything was done it was hammering with rain, late and getting dark so i decided to just set off back home.

I'll just put this down to 1 of lifes experiances and never do anything for anyone again

What a complete scumbag. As above, keep a proportion of the deposit to cover your expenses and dont forget to add in the cost of readvertising the car. It sounds like he's had every intention of trying to get your car cheaper by turning up with his 4 mates to act as intimidation. I feel for you mate - some people just havent got a clue so definately make sure he pays for it.

when you say he hadn;t spotted the niggles, had he viewed thec car before giving a deposit?,

if he did then as above, thats his problem, but did you you agree the deposit was no refundable or not?

I was going to buy a part built 7style car from someone a couple of years ago I paid the guy a deposit and was going to go back to uk and trailer it back to Spain.
I then found out it was not possible to re register it back here in Spain. so I caled the seller andwas very sorry for wasting his time and he offerd me the deposit back.!!

Which I refused as I felt bad about wasting his time and he could have sold it to someone else .
so I dont think he will be to suprised at losing some of the deposit, as its him whos backed out of an agreement.
Paul

thing is this isnt really about the deposit for me,

its just annoying that he was happy enough to put down a deposit then go back and change his mind,

If it wasnt for a couple of bec's selling before i could go look at them, (Matt C's) and the black and orange Mac 1 on Pistonheads i might have bought 1 or put a deposit down and left myself in abit of a mess,

quote:

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thing is this isnt really about the deposit for me

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What deposit?

Well you put 2 new tyres on it, that's what £150?

Then sorting out the scratches and bits of trim, another £350

Then petrol, call it £60 (I can easily put that much in mine) and the time to drive down there what's that 2-4 hours each way at £x per hour, then two hours waiting and the drive back. Keep the deposit, tell him it's paying for your time at however much an hour will cover it and he's f**king lucky you were there at all with him being 2 hours late.

If anyone's 2 hours late with me I make them look like a right tit and tell them I've been and gone pal, and of course I'll come back (maybe, next week )

Deduct your expenses (not the work on the car) and give him back the rest. Matter of principle.

lesson to be learnt - do not go out of your way to sell a car. If someone is serous, they will come to your address.

second lesson - never turn away other propsective buyers until you have the cash in your hand - been there, done that ......

third lesson, even if you have peeps are ringing up to view and they say they will pay full whack - don't believe them but sell to first cash buyer that comes close to your asking price.

may not be nice way to deal by having queue jumpers but cash talks and say nice things too.