Testdriving a dealer car - what are my rights

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greenwing, Jan 30, 7:00am
Saw a Honda Fit on Trademe this morning, sounded just what we are after, so rang the car dealer and asked if it was convenient for us to come and have a look now.Arrived at the caryard within the hour, Car looked good, my wife and I took it for a short testdrive and liked it, and decided to purchase it. On our return the car salesman asked how it went, "yes nice car" I said, but then he announced that whilst we were testdriving it, the car had been sold to another party and they had paid a deposit (they'd seen the car previous day).
The car was listed with a price - there was no buynow. Do I have any rights in this situation as I feel the caryard should have given me first option on the purchase., I'm annoyed too as the caryard was some distance away so i wasted time and petrol.,
grangies, Jan 30, 7:11am
Unless you want THAT car and THAT car alone.

I'd just forget it and find another.

Seriously. It could end up costing you more for legal fees than it is worth.

Lawyers wont be interested.
madeinoz1, Jan 30, 7:11am
i think they have the right to sell to first person to make an offer. its a verbal contract. The fact you were out test driving at the time is a crappy situation but think they can legally sell it to first offer ! Good Luck
jmma, Jan 30, 7:14am
1st with the money always wins,
tgray, Jan 30, 7:16am
I understand you could be upset, but the first person to say they want to buy it unconditionally should get it. Yours was conditional subject to test drive.
Just bad timing unfortunately.
smac, Jan 30, 7:17am
Think about it, as you wander around in an open home, nobody should be able to make an offer!
sw20, Jan 30, 7:22am
Not a rare car so why get annoyed about it! Just buy another one somewhere else.
kazbanz, Jan 30, 7:34am
You are kidding me aren;t you!
What committment had YOU made to purchase the car when you arrived at the caryard!
Was the dealer soposed to turn down a definite confirmed deposit paid sale on the basis of someone wanting to test drive a car!
So the salesman should have said to you " Ohh yea someone else is interested so you need to pay a deposit NOW before test driving"
You can well imagine how that would have come across.
You had made NO committment to buy except in your own head.
We are da#$$#D if we tell you and D$$## if we don't
If this comes across as nasty Im sorry but for gosh sakes.
Hang on shoe on the other foot
WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS!
A guy came into my caryard and test drove my car.He SAID he was going to buy it so Ive turned away all other buyers telling them it was sold. Its been two weeks now and he still hasn't come back.
OR-Some people test drove my car and told me I HAD to sell my car to them (at the price they were offering)-is that right!

Incidently the honda fit auto isn't a particularly good car--the auto just aint much cop
westwyn, Jan 30, 8:37am
Many moons ago, we had a (insert nationality here) couple arrive, with "interpreter" (read: negotiator) in tow, to look at a Corona we had for sale. Nice car, right price. They drove it, came back, like it. Wanted to buy it. BUT- then the haggling started. And carried on. We said "no"- the price was the price. (It was well enough priced as it was, and yes, if a dealer has a car with good details at a sharp price, haggling is seen as grubbing.) It went on, and on, and on- eventually, getting really heated, it came down to the nub of the matter- the Negotiator wanted paying. Five hundy, to be precise, for "introducing" the clients- first we'd heard of them. Again- we said no. After another fifteen minutes, and ever-heated discussions in another language away from us, we came to a compromise- $200 "finders fee" to do business NOW. More shouting, haggling.

And then.

People from the day before, who'd been in to see the car, driven it, gone away to arrange finance, walked in, deposit in tow. The other salesman (the one who wasn't tied up with international relations) sat them down, took their deposit, signed them up- for the asking price.

Left it to salesman number One to inform our international friends the car had sold. And then it began. Clients obviously twigged they'd lost the ability to own the car they wanted, because of their "friend" and his fee. And the shouting turned to yelling, shoving, LOTS of very, very verbal stuff. could have pulled up chairs and sold tickets. It went on for a while, the buyers were furious, I have no idea what they were screaming but if I was the "negotiator" I'd be scanning the yard for any spare knives or weapons!

Moral of this story: Money talks. BS walks. And as a Dealer for the past 17 years now, I've heard more BS and lies from the general public, than the entire dealer fraternity could possibly have told.

In this case, unless money is down, the first person to commit to buying, is the buyer. That's why dealers usually ask for a holding deposit- while yes, it commits you to the car, it also secures it on the Dealership from (a) another salesperson selling it out from under your nose, or (b) another publicbuyer demanding to be able to purchase, if no deposit or contract is signed. Yes, it happens!

Never mind, the lesson from this is- choose something else, the Honda Fit CVT is not a wise choice!
greenwing, Jan 30, 8:51am
Kazbanz, - it was a manual not auto, and a low mileage manual example as this was, is hard to find which is why I'm annoyed.
I just feel the dealer should have waited 10 minutes for me to return from my testdrive and given me the option- "if you don't buy it now, this lady waiting here will". Surely I was first in the queue, rather than someone who had looked at it previously and then walked away to think about it.
3tomany, Jan 30, 8:56am
one of those days as a car salesman you go crap i wish i had two of them lol
xs1100, Jan 30, 8:58am
why should you be first in the Q,you were test driving car maybe other people had test driven the day before therefore using yr logic they still had first right and as far as yr gas did you reimburse the dealer for his gas used on yr test drive.sorry but as others have said first in first served and as kaz saidif the dealer turned around and said $500 deposit for test driveswould you of still gone.yes you missed car but probably best bet is to ask the dealer if he can source another of similar age/condition he should have some resonable wholesaling contacts
sw20, Jan 30, 9:00am
You don't make someone with money in their hand wait.
vivac, Jan 30, 9:01am
Nope, get your head out of the clouds, the world does not revolve around you.
jmma, Jan 30, 9:03am
Testdriving a dealer car - what are my rights.

Looks like you don;t have any rights(o:
r.g.nixon, Jan 30, 9:05am
Sure. You have the right to offer the company $hundreds or $thousands more - to get them to back out of the first deal and refund them! LOL!
greenwing, Jan 30, 9:10am
Well, I think ethics and business morals have flown out the window in the face of greed.
jmma, Jan 30, 9:15am
I think it's called " Making a Living"
thejazzpianoma, Jan 30, 10:04am
Assuming it was a CVT one you likely just dodged a bullet. be grateful.

I would recommend an alternative. but wouldn't want to risk a thread like "what are my rights when someone recommends a car and I find out the tyres are worn" so for that reason. I'm out.
a.woodrow, Jan 30, 10:13am
Sounds like the business has sound ethics and morals - they sold they car to the people who had looked the day before.
jmma, Jan 30, 10:16am
Never assume jazz, especially if you haven't read all the thread.
Hint post #10 OP says "Manual"(o:
michael.benn, Jan 30, 11:38am
Obviously it's not a great situation for you, sure, but to be fair a test drive is not a commitment to buy - and think about the other people who bought it! What if they had test driven the day before! Let's say the dealer had sold it to you because you were there, how do you think those other people would have felt!

One party had to lose out, unfortunately for you it was you this time. It happens. I guess just keep looking and move on :(
xs1100, Jan 30, 5:56pm
so if you were selling something and had someone standing in yr driveway with cash and someone out on a test drive who hadnt made a offer or mentioned any sort of conditions you would tell the first person to go away and just hope the test driver was satisfied and would make a similar deal OF COURSE NOT YOU ARE DREAMING but then it doesnt suit you in this particular moment so therefore you re trying to justify yr stand and quite frankly getting upset that the majority do not agree with so really probably time to move on find a similar car and next time before test driving sign a offer and sale agreement and put a deposit down subject to a test drive and problem solved
stabi360, Jan 30, 6:13pm
you have rights
the right to suck it uplol
im sick of hearing oh he/she did this what are my rights to try and get money out of them.
kazbanz, Jan 30, 7:49pm
Greenwing I have to tell you that you have really brightened up my day.
Look Ive been in this car sales game a fairly long time.-My oldest son is almost 17 and I was selling cars before I met his mother.
In those years Ive seen the industry change. A lot of times very much for the better (for the consumer) One thing that has changed a fair bit is that the "tyre kicker" ratio has increased dramatically as has the level of dishonesty amongst the public.
This very media has a lot to do with it.
I won't rant on endlessly but it used to be that on the whole people were pretty well decided they wanted a specific car when they were at the test drive stage.
Nowadays more and more people are looking at local dealerships as a place to test drive a car ,see if they like it then call someone perhaps the other end of the country to buy theirs.
Also as I explained the days where a handshake was a mans bond has gone so a car isn't sold untill the contract is sighned and money has changed hands. Untill then you are "just looking"
Again Im sorry for the cynical view but nowaadays the ONLY way a car is concidered SOLD is money in hand/contract sighned.
Could I ask you--On what basis did YOU decide you wanted a Honda Fit! Did you go into a caryard and see one! Did you perhaps test drive it! Then once you had done thast did you go online to see if there was a better deal to be had or maybee a lower milage example abvailable.!
That really has become the normal practice for car buyers
See what I mean!