Overhaulin'

Private car sale deposit not refunded, is this right?

We are chasing our deposit back from a private car sale after a REVS check revealed that the vehicle had been written off in different state and is now been resold as an undamaged registered car. My wife was recently involved in a serious accident and we are concerned with the safety components of the vehicle (airbags etc) so we withdrew from the sale. Our deposit was given to hold on to the car whilst paperwork was being arranged however the seller is refusing to give back our money. Am I within my right to ask for my money back or is the seller legally allowed to keep our money?

Public Comments

1. Read your agreement and see if the deposit is 'non-refundable'. If it isn't stated, then you should get your deposit back.
2. In the US in my state, if there is a failure to disclose that the title of a car is salvaged then the deal can be revoked. This happened to me when the seller had me sign the title transferring the car but on the flip side I didn't see (which she had concealed from me in a way that I didn't notice at the time was concealed), the car was marked "Salvaged." Concerned, I called her and said, you never disclosed that the car was salvaged. Then she gave me a routine saying the car was really quite fine, it had so little damage that the salvage was done to just be nice and help her out (yeah right, that would be insurance fraud if true), so I asked for a revocation of the sale and transfer. I got my way eventually but not without a fight. Honestly if there's not something like that in Australia I'd be shocked. No one is allowing others to sell a car that's been totalled to be sold at full price since it's clearly fraud and it encourages others to drive around in cars that are not as safe as their intact cars.