I have been really stupid, new car

[OldGrinch]

Not really an AIBU but need to vent. I am currently on a personal contact hire lease for my car which is coming near the end of contract. The car went in for a service last week and the dealer asked me if I wanted to pop in for a "chat" afterwards. Now I know this was a v bad idea as they only ever want to flog you another new car and I couldn't really afford it. Work had spoken to me about doing some extra hours so possibly more money in future but nothing confirmed. Anyway, I thought I would just go for the chat with car dealer which was utter stupidity in itself. I have ended up signing an order form for a new car for September, I don't want the car anymore, but don't think I can cancel as signed the agreement on dealers premises. Also work have now said the extra hours won't be possible after all . Has anybody been in a similar situation and managed to get out of it? I know I've been a massive twerp.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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

@OldGrinch hope you were able to cancel. Good luck

I was pretty certain it was 28 days to cool off. Either way, I have been in the same situation, where my ex signed up to a new car for me, but then started demanding certain things of me if we were going to do it. Such as I had to give up on my nursing training and go back to full time work etc etc. Anyway I called them a couple of days edits I was due to pick it up, and said I wouldn’t be taking the vehicle anymore. That was prob about ten days after the initial signing. He was desperate to talk me around in to still having it, but I stood my ground.
Long story short they couldn’t make me have it, but I had paid a £200 deposit which I lost. I hope this helps (this was a ford garage btw).

^before not edits

@70isaLimitNotaTarget. I have just successfully retrieved £3k through the small claims court in almost exactly the same circumstances. The company insisted the item (a bed) was bespoke when my elderly parents tried to cancel. Fortunately the small claims court disagreed.

What affordability checks did they do? Car sales is likely to be the next PPI so they will be wary if they haven't checked circumstances. I'd also suggest dealing directly with the Dealer Principal who will be the one to sign off contract cancellation only.

Failing that go on Social Media complaining how you were mis sold and name the dealership.

Cheap cars are far better than ones on finance unless you're earning above £60K p.a. And remember, if you buy a cheap car you actually own it no matter what it is, something those with a PCP can't claim.

itsjustafly - top person - everyone who does buy a new car (or more likely take out a finance agreement on one rather than actually buy it) should go to you.

They do a credit check.

Credit check and affordability aren't one and the same thing. Hence the big risk of it blowing up in the car industries face.

Also hence the fact that if you've got poor credit history and repayments looks ropey then you just get quoted a higher interest rate to cover the extra risk of repossession, rather than told you can't afford it and declined.

Did I say they were the same thing? How would an affordability check work? Nobody would ever buy a car if they went into the detail they do for a mortgage.

Did you mange to cancel it OP?

OP please call CAB for advice quickly as I believe if there is a linked finance agreement then you may be able to cancel that, this should in turn cancel the related purchase (the car) good luck

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS 14 DAY COOLING OFF PERIOD

There is a 14 day right to withdraw which means you BUY the goods using cash or other means, but you are still obliged to buy the vehicle (this applies if you have already signed the finance agreement, which I assume you have??)

Lawyers have come on here and explained definitively that there is no cooling off period, yet still people are telling OP to cancel. Honestly, if you don’t know what you’re talking about it’s incredibly dangerous to purport to give legal advice.

Don’t email OP they can pretend they haven’t seen it and if you don’t get a confirmation you’ll have to phone to chase up anyway.
Just call and explain as several other posters have said.