I respectfully disagree. There was no enforceable contract. According to the "Statute of Frauds", contracts for real property or goods in excess of $500 must be in writing.

Whoever mentioned something about getting exactly what you pay for is correct.

There are two distinctly separate issues here:
1. the deposit
2. the sale of the car

In regards to the latter, there is no sale as someone astutely mentioned the statute of frauds requirement. No signature by the prospective buyer, no sale.

In regards to the deposit, the dealership has every right to keep it. The agreement/contract here was to take the car off the market for a $500 deposit. There was a valid contract when the buyer gave his credit card number and the dealership took the car off the market to anyone else.

1. Offer: I'll sell you this car for $XXXXXX for your $500 deposit
2. Acceptance: Awesome. I'll take it.
3. Consideration: Here's my CC#. Great. We'll hold the car for you and won't sell it to anyone else.

The dealership doesn't have to have anything in writing as merely taking a deposit and holding (v. selling) a car doesn't fall under the statute of frauds requirement.

To sum up:
1. the dealership cannot make the buyer buy the car.
2. the dealership can keep the deposit because they fulfilled their obligation/end of the bargain when they took the car off the market.

If anyone thinks I'm wrong, please support your argument so that I can give a substantive reply.

That's the first sane posting on this subject.

There have been many instances here where people put down deposits on 'in stock' cars, or have dealer order a vehicle to their specifications, and then walk away and expect no ramifications of that action, and expect their full deposit back. I do think the dealer can expect some or all of the deposit to cover their costs. Bottom line, don't 'do a deal' if you aren't completely prepared to follow through. If you want to put some conditions on the deposit (color, options, time to deliver, etc) that's fine. But to expect a dealer to do work on getting you a car, or holding a car, with the option you can change your mind with no cost to you is a bit much, imo.

When I special ordered my car, I placed a $1k deposit. I made it clear to the dealer that I would expect my money back if the deal didn't go through for any reason. Their response was simply, "Of course, we aren't allowed to steal your money."

The dealer can't keep money based on a verbal contract for a $30k car. You know that. If the OP had signed an agreement agreeing to forfeiture of the deposit if he changed his mind, that would be a different story. Someone would have to be pretty dim to sign an agreement containing that language, though.

I don't need a substantive reply, but thanks for offering.

The dealership is going to be sugar and spice when they're trying to close the deal.

You have to separate the issues. There are 2 distinct contracts in question. There is one to hold the car and not to sell it to anyone else. The other is the sale of the car itself. Again, they can't make you buy the car as I stated above. However, and notwithstanding individual state laws, they can keep your deposit unless you agree that it will be a refundable.

I beg to differ.;)

Is the car you gave the deposit on still at the dealer? Or have they sold it? If it is gone they did not hold up their end of the alleged deal. They are stalling you so your 30 days are up with your charge card company. After 30 days it would be harder for you to get your money back.

Florida Statutes state that a dealer can only keep a deposit if the purchaser signs an agreement stating same. I think that's fairly clear - maybe it's different in other states, but it shouldn't be. My source is the Florida Division of Consumer Services website - I don't have time to do the research to cite F.S., but it's in there.

Actually, the buyer did not hold up his end of the bargain when he repudiated. At that point, the dealer is actually required by law to mitigate their damages and try to find another buyer.

It actually does vary from state to state. As I stated above in a previous post, 'notwithstanding individual state laws.'

Many states do not have this type of statute. In the absence of such a statute, my .02 is correct.

well, look at it this way.

let's say you, the single guy, walk in and see the car, agree to buy it for $30k, tell the dealer i will go to my bank and bring you $29k, here's $1k now, see you tomorrow. no contract was signed yet.

later that evening, a couple walks in, falls in love with "your" car, says they will pay $32k to take it home tonight, here's my money.

what happens?

dealer sells the car to the couple, calls you in the morning and says sorry about that, but we have another car over here for you else i guess you can have your $1k back.

dealer has every right to sell that car. he has the title and he can transfer it to anyone who pays. there's no guarantee that you will come back tomorrow with the cash, you might not even have it, or the bank might deny you a loan, you might get hit by a bus. there is no contract signed so you don't own anything yet.

how can you obligate the single guy if the dealer is not obligated as well? that's the argument for consideration that you need to present should this incident end up in small claims or conciliation court.

so, if the dealer says sorry to the couple, i can't sell you that car, it's taken already. that would mean the deposit should be considered non-refundable. doesn't mean the single guy is obligated to buy the car but he would lose his deposit should the dealer decide not to refund. you have to work it out.

doesn't mean you can't sue. but so can the dealership. and they will.

some states have a law that says car deposits are refundable. always. case closed. they don't want to deal with this crap.

other states, your deposit depends on the transaction. is it a new/used car? will the deal finance it or you? where there modification or customization done? how much was the "deposit"? was the car taken off the market? how was the deposit paid? who changed their mind? how long? what was said orally? did you sign a little piece of paper? can the car be [re]sold to anyone else? etc.

in this particular scenario, i believe the op is entitled to a refund of his deposit. not because he ultimately didn't buy the car, that's irrelevant in determining if a "deposit" is refundable. but because there was no understanding that the deposit was non-refundable. combine that with the fact that he used a credit card makes it that much easier (i.e. the normal course of business is to use a credit card to hold a small amount as a deposit).

if he had charged $3,000 to his card or if he paid $3,000 in cash, that shows intent....check your state law. you may already be protected. and ask your bank for a chargeback, not a dispute. keep in mind tho, if you force your money back, you may be sued by the dealer. all it costs is $25 and a couple of hours to try to convince a referee. they might even send one of the finance mgrs, no problem.

forget about all that contract stuff, for a car you have to have a written contract; no written contract no deal. the discussion is about the deposit and a judge/referee may split it 50/50 if the dealer has a good argument. he'll just weight both sides and whoever presents the most evidence....lol.

Thanks for all of replies and opinion guys. I would like to especially thank 15951 for his/her info. Upon researching the Florida Statutes myself, here is what I found:

501.976 Actionable, unfair, or deceptive acts or practices.--It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice, actionable under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, for a dealer to:

(10) Require or accept a deposit from a prospective customer prior to entering into a binding contract for the purchase and sale of a vehicle unless the customer is given a written receipt that states how long the dealer will hold the vehicle from other sale and the amount of the deposit, and clearly and conspicuously states whether and upon what conditions the deposit is refundable or nonrefundable.

The sales rep. never gave me any receipt or told me that the deposit was nonrefundable until after I backed out of the deal.:woohoo:

That's all well and good. But the dealer has the money, so you'll have to either persuade him to credit your card, or initiate a chargeback through your CC company yourself. Either way, it will cost you some time and effort. For $500 it is probably worth it, but in the big scheme it is about 1.5% of the original pruchase price. You'll have to weigh how much effort is warranted in pursuing this in case they don't see it your way. In the worst case you forfeit $500, but far better to lose that than to have purchased the car and been immediately unhappy with it. Then we would really be talking money in depreciation.

I'd start by giving the dealer the statute as stated above and telling him you want the money back. It may well be resolved on the spot, or not. Keep us posted.

It'll definitely be worth the time and effort. Like I said before, I hate confrontations, but I hate getting screwed out my money even more.

Very well said!

Some people are already spending their hard-earned money foolishly, but to get screwed out of their money by others is just plain WRONG.

Not sure how you see 2 distinct obligations here.

If the "contract" to buy the car is not enforceable, NO PART OF IT IS ENFORCABLE. That includes the deposit. There is no signed agreement whereby the dealer can keep the deposit. The deposit was made, one may argue, under an "oral contract". That contract cannot be enforced. The dealer cannot keep the money. There is not a "deposit contract". That doesn't make any sense.

Botom line: THERE IS NO CONTRACT.