Hey Guys... hopefully someone can help me out. My friend went to a small dealer to buy a car her budget was 4000 and she was going to buy at Toyota Camry.

She found a car that he had that sounded good, and was told to put a 400 dollar deposit on the car. Which she did in cash with a small yellow receipt for the deposit the dealer put on the slip non-refundable.

Now here is the problem, the only thing the receipt says in her name and that she gave him 400 as a deposit on a Toyota Camry and it was non-refundable.

Now here is the REAL problem, he sold the car to someone else; he did say that he would refund the money in the beginning.

A couple times he asked her to show up at the dealership to pick up the money but he was closed, and had signs up saying he had a family emergency and would be gone for a few days.

She called him this morning, and he is saying that the money was non refundable, and that she was given ample time to buy the car.

Is there something we can do to get our money back? He did sell the car to someone else during the time he was getting it ready for sale to her.

Please help, we are thinking small claims court but that cost 97 dollars, and that would be a lot of money for us as it is.

Thanks again

Look forward to your input.

 

In california, all deposits must be refunded.

 

^+1

 

Hopefully in tx. we can get our money back..

 

just take him to small claims court and get 97 more to cover your fees

 

+1 any reasonable small claims judge would give you the $400 plus small claims fees at the very least if what you're telling us is the whole story (not saying it isn't, just saying if it is you have a good case for small claims)

 

She should sue the guy. BUT, she may not necessarily win. Was the deposit a first payment on the car? Was it for him to "hold" the car for a specific number of days? And if the latter, how long was he supposed to hold the car for?

 

He was supposed to get the car ready for them, since there were brake issues, and he even said he would give us the money back, but then put a closed sign on the building.

He was very nice about it, he said the deposit was just for the car, however he just sold it to someone else, without getting with us, we were willing to pay the difference, its not that she didnt need the car, she still needs it.

They are a car short still, but without that money they cant get another car.

She is a college student and so is her brother, so you could imagine a 400 dollar hit isnt easy.

 

If your telling the WHOLE story then I would begin by talking to any attornies you know, followed immediately by a police report. The sooner you get the process going, the better off you'll be.

I'm curious as I didnt see it posted. How many days passed between each incident, like from deposit to his family emergency? how much time total passed from deposit to when he sold the car? Was there an agreement as to how long that deposit would hold the car? Lastly, were you late in that agreement? Those are all things that will factor in.

Good luck in getting your money back.

 

Not so sure how long it took, i want to say 3 weeks... it took him a week to show the car the second time and said it would take a few days to get the brakes fixed and ready for her to buy.

He then disappeared and stop answering his phone, and then later sold the car to someone else, and said that he would give her the money back, and then didnt give it to her, after i showed up the first time he was open, and he then told her that it was business and that he would not give her the money back.

The guy is totally a crook...

 

What an ***, some people have no class, take him to small claims court, thats BS.

 

F'ing asshat. Take his sorry azz to small claims.

 

F that, burn the mother****ing dealership down baby! Buuuuurn!

 

I'd be camping on his door step every morning until he gave it back.

 

Take it to court. Lesson learned though--never give the dealer even a penny until you're ready to drive that car off the lot. of course, the exception is if you're putting down a deposit on that soon-to-be released new car. But on a $4000 used car, nope...