I have been really stupid, new car

Check t and c's there will be a cooling off period.

I was also going to say that the cooling off period would be for the credit agreement. If you'd agreed to buy the car outright it would be different.

I had a cooling off period in my contract. It has nothing to do with buying a car, and everything to do with statutory rights in terms of credit agreements.

I work for a car finance company as the car will be registered in September your finance isnt live so you can with draw from the finance.no questions asked. you should have the contact number on the paperwork the dealer gave you. if you cant cancel via the lender contact the dealer say your no longer interested due to work commitments changing and walk away

I once paid a deposit for a car, but when I thought about it I just didn’t want the car. I had signed the paperwork, but rang salesman next day and apologised, but said I couldn’t buy the car (I had been v ill and think I was trying to make myself feel better - daft I know). I lost my deposit, but was saved from having to buy an expensive car I didn’t want.

There is no cooling off period if the finance agreement has been signed on trade premises and the car has been delivered. However, you haven’t taken delivery of the car yet and they can’t force you to take it. Car dealerships are actually quite reasonable if you are up front with them. Give your sales person a call and explain that you simply cannot afford to go ahead. If you don’t get anywhere with him/ her, contact their head office.

LBC radio consumer hour at 8pm this eve with Dean Dunham the chief ombudsman at The retail ombudsman. If anyone will know the facts regarding your situation he will.

There are car purchase related questions each and every week so you're clearly not the only one who isn't sure of your rights.

If you've paid any deposit upfront then realistically they are likely to nab that. You will always have 14 days to cancel the finance contract for a lease under consumer credit rights. If the dealer hasn't taken any deposit then they could be annoyed but nothing they can do about it in reality. They won't try to enforce your agreement to buy a car, especially if they've not incurred any actual costs.

I work in car sales, have done for 16 years. Just call and cancel, its not a big deal at all.
It happens all the time, we know people get excited and sign up without thinking. We don't ever retain deposits unless it was specific factory build and the car is already in build.

If they didn't take a deposit they may well have had an inkling that you might cock on the deal. In my dealership it wouldn't even go down as a cancelled sale if no deposit had been taken.

Be prepared for a barrage of phone calls from them, upon receipt of your email. That's if you even get an acknowledgement. What will you do if you don't hear from them (my experience is that they're pretty bad at responding to phone calls, let alone emails)? It could end up at Head Office, and take a few days to filter down to the branch. Or "your" sales person might be off on holiday for a week or two. How much are you going to stress that they haven't received it? Wonder about sending a second one?
Take control. Pick up the bloody phone!

If you do what @WaxOnFeckOff suggests, they’ll quite possibly offer you a deal you can afford. The reason I say this is because new car registrations are at an all time low. Post retirement we decided (reluctantly) to drop down to one car, so we went into the showroom last week to sort out the details of handing one back at the end of the contract.

We were quoted figures for handling both back and replacing them with a big car and a runaround, both brand new. When we said that figure was more than we could afford, they knocked £100 a month off it. Dealerships are desperate to sell new cars at the moment. I’d put money on them cutting you a deal.

Just quickly ring up and tell them you've changed your mind because you actually cannot afford it.

Can’t believe some people are blaming the sales person. It’s the OPs fault, no one else’s

Hope you get it sorted, OP

14 Day Change of Mind for Distance Selling does not apply for bespoke .

I found this out after my DParents had dealings with a company that came round the house , sent a salesperson at an arranged time (so not Cold Calling) but basically didn't leave for over 3 hours and did all the "Special Discount if you sign today/ because you're over 65yo" routine .

I don't know if there was any co-ercion, I wasn't there but you can see from the house they are elderly (not ageist but there are signs to look for) .
The Customer Services were aggressive to me ( I know I couldn't do anything because it was not my name on the contract) but informed me the Change of Mind is 7 days for bespoke . (Which I have no idea if these were , they are standard size products , no special adjustments made )

Anyway , back to the car ..........yes ask if you can cancel. It must be easier at this stage than a few months down the line

you did not initiate this, they asked you to go in

Yes, they asked her to go in. The salesman didn’t come to her house and frogmarch her to the showroom where he imprisoned her and wouldn’t let her leave until she signed the order form. When will people stop infantilising women by making everything they do wrong someone else’s fault. She’s a grown woman ffs. She could have said no.

I would go in and cancel - you won't be the first and you certainly won't be the last. The stupid thing would be to go through with it because you're embarrassed about it.
If you do phone them, ask them for their email address so that you also put it in writing, and equally they MUST also confirm the cancellation back to you via email.

Can you get someone to go with you if you aren't feeling very assertive?

Worst case say you felt pressured and put on the spot and you dont want to have to escalate a complaint as mis selling so can they just cancel it. Bit harsh on the salesman but if it gets it cancelled and he doesn't actually get into any trouble then needs must.

No don’t try to lay the blame on someone else for your stupidity. It’s a shitty thing to do.

@gingersausage because we don't always have time to read it all.
If it's not useful, just scroll past.
No harm done!

It just order. You can cancel. Only if you drive new car off lot are you stuck.

If there's no dipper, then just cancel. If you had left one, they'd be well within their rights to retain it.

Have you signed a finance agreement yet?

My garage did this to me, I said no but to be fair, it is high pressure and they can be sharks. I now go elsewhere for my car service so they have lost my custom!

Send a recorded letter (or whatever the current Royal Mail term for that is, registered, special delivery) if you don't want to speak to them but don't just do nothing. Only you can sort this out.