Thanks conmankiller,

As I suspected I had not signed anything and the dealership are more than happy for me to be a cash buyer. They are still persisting with £400 gap insurance though, I have checked out a couple of quotes online which are far cheaper so plan to tell them where to stick that too!

I plan to be more sensible in future when making large purchases!

Many thanks.

A lot of laws strike me as very odd, but hey we don't make the laws...we are just expected to abide by them. !

It's fact though, the same applies for loans. Example; you go into a lenders licenced trading offices and sign for a loan and bang !...you're obligated to proceed....no cooling off period.

On the contrary take it home to sign it and you have a 10 day cooling off period, in which to re-think and change your mind.

conmankiller:

Cooling off periods are not applicable for agreements signed on the traders licenced premises, only if you sign the agreement away from their premises i.e. home or work does a cooling off period apply.

I had thought wrongly that if a credit agreement was being entered into while on traders premises, that there was a cooling off period. In this case it does not matter, as the OP has not signed an agreement.

It strikes me as odd that if you are away from a trader premises, that you are protected by cooling off period but have no protection on trader premises because you have voluntarily made the effort to do this. I would have thought that people would need more protection when on traders premises, because fuelled by excitement of buying, they are more likely to be attracted into signing up.

Huckster

Cooling off periods are not applicable for agreements signed on the traders licenced premises, only if you sign the agreement away from their premises i.e. home or work does a cooling off period apply.

However, that is academic... as at this moment you have not signed any agreement. Until you sign and the authorised signatory at the finance company co-signs to accept, then you are allowed to withdraw without penalty if for any reason the finance deal does not proceed.

The deposit in full has to be returned where a deal that was dependent on finance being arranged through the dealer does not conclude, under what's known as a three way connected lender liability finance agreement. Ask the garage for your deposit and tell them you don't wish to proceed, it's that simple or put it in writing...if they don't co-operate see your local trading standards dept.

Had this been a full cash deal, they would have been allowed to retain some of your deposit to cover any, "reasonable" out of pocket expenses they could demonstrate they had incurred.

Hi Huckster,

I don't believe I did sign a credit aggrement as they hadn't done credit checks at the time, but if i do have a 14 day cooling off period it is only 9 days after I last went into the dealship so should be ok. I have been pre-approved for an online loan, the APR% is less and even over a longer term I don't pay as much interest (plus I don't have to worry about daft clauses such as staying under 12,000 miles or having a lump sum to pay after 4 years). I have just called the dealership to let them know I don't want their finance however they are busy and I am awaiting a phonecall back.

Many thanks.

Hi

Have you signed a credit agreement with Fiat or dealership? If, so there is a cooling off period of 14 days for you to withdraw.

What I would do in your shoes, is make sure you can get a loan elsewhere and what the APR% would be. Then put this on hold and go back to the Fiat dealership to negotiate. The dealership should be able to arrange for a credit agreement that suits you better and may be willing to match the APR% you have been able to get elsewhere. If they can't, advise the dealership to cancel the credit agreement if within the 14 day period and arrange the other loan.

The dealership will come across this situation on a daily basis. Many people get so excited that they will sign up to anything. Then after the excitement has worn off, they then think about having to pay for the car.

huckster

Hi,

A week ago I test drove a new fiat and decided it was the car for me, not being in the financial position to put down a large deposit I discussed finance options with the sales person and put down a £500 deposit. I signed something (its all a bit of a blur) i'm assuming it was to say all my details were correct for the credit search. I was advised they would do a credit check and advise me if i'd been successful, which I was, I still have to take in i.d and a number of other documents for my scrappage of my old car. I have been thinking about the finance they offered me, this included a mileage limit and a lump sum of over £3000 to pay in 4 years time, although the monthly repayments were affordable I decided I would feel better getting a high street loan and not worrying about these things. Am I tied into the finance they have offered me? As far as I know I have not signed a finance agreement.

Many thanks.