Does anyone know about paying for a used car? I am suspicious and would appreciate advice!

[pickwickcrocus]

We have found a car we really like through a dealership and have put a deposit down. I have gone through the AA used car checklist, checked paperwork and done a Hpi check, all fine and value matches up etc.

This car is owned by the wife of the director of this dealership, and this is where our issue has arisen. When I spoke to Hpi and they asked about paying for the car, I said I wasn't sure how we would be paying yet and I would find out. Hpi said if we want to buy from the dealer (and get the protection they offer) then they must fill in the trade section of the log book. If we are treating as a private sale, it must be at the registered owners address, face to face with them.

My partner spoke to the dealership and they said (for tax reasons apparently) they would prefer the money to go directly into the husband and wife's account and the husband will bring proof of address to get round the fact that this is supposed to take place at their house.

The whole thing doesn't really sit right with me, but as I have never bought a car before I dont know if I am worrying unnecessarily. After all, it is their own personal car, I guess they are just using the dealership to their advantage which is understandable.

I feel that as there is such a large sum at stake, we should be doing everything by the book, though I know that people buy cars privately all the time. I'm going to speak to Hpi again in the morning to run this past them, but just wondered in the meantime if there was anyone out there with used car expertise or knowledge who may be able to offer a perspective on the situation.

Thank you.

That all sounds a bit odd. I'd find another car elsewhere TBH.

They are tax dodging, or they know the car is a dud and want to avoid their own warranty.

Have you had it checked out by somebody mechanical, AA, RAC, local garage you trust

Thank you. We haven't had a mechanical check, I said I would like to do one but my partner said he didn't think it was necessary. The dealership have offered us either a one or two year extended warranty which he said is treated as a seperate contract and isn't affected by how the sale is treated.

I took the car for a decent test drive and really liked it, but obviously things might not show up on a test drive that could crop up later.

On a personal level, these people do seem very straight forward, open and upfront and this is the opinion of both myself and my partner who are generally not bad judges of character.

My suggestion is that we treat it totally as a trade sale as there is no advantage to us in it being private. So pay to their business account and they fill in the trade section of the log book etc. However they have said they don't want this and I'm thinking our £500 deposit may now be in jeopardy. I guess I will just have to see what happens tomorrow.

did you know about the oddness before paying the deposit?

Who did you pay the deposit to? If its the dealership then they have renaged on the contact, not you. So you should be able to get your deposit back (the magic words are small claims court).

We knew that it was the directors wife's car but not that they wanted to treat it as a private sale. They said before they took the deposit that they sell cars this way all the time as they personally change cars every 3-6 months and sell them all through the business. We didn't think about the logistics of it and were keen to secure the car with the deposit.

The deposit was taken over the phone by debit card and I've just checked my account and the name next to it is the dealership rather than a person.

Then the dealership has entered into a contact to sell you the car, so if they don't intend to deliver then they should return your deposit.

Although of they're a boot chancy then the warranty is probably

Probably meaningless anyway.

Some traders do sale or return where they basically act as an advertiser and agent for the seller and take a cut of the proceeds. It's not necessarily dodgy but I imagine it is counted as a private sale for warranty purposes, so make sure you're paying the commensurate price for a private sale and not a dealer sale.

If you're not comfortable with it, walk away. You should be able to get your deposit back - all they could retain is e.g. preparation costs if they've washed/valeted and/or serviced it for you before collection.