Dealership refuses to cancel contract and return our trade-in and deposit

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Utah

We visited National Auto Plaza (“NAP&#8221 on Saturday and interested in a test drive of a 2006 Nissan Armada. We returned from the test drive to notify the sales man of mechanical defects and other concerns about the vehicle but were overall really impressed with the Nissan Armada brand as it would meet our needs for pulling a trailer for our business and family transport. NAP insured us that all defects would be repaired and offered the vehicle to us at $21,000. They gave us $4,500 for our trade-in cash credit and even though we told our sales man we were having second thoughts on price and wanted to cancel the deal, we were pressured into signing late that evening.

Status: Signed the Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement for the vehicle
Did NOT receive the vehicle, was NOT delivered or accepted by seller
We did NOT drive the vehicle after signing the agreement
We paid $4000 cash on the loan balance
We surrendered our trade-in vehicle and was given a "loaner" vehicle by dealership
Loaner vehicle is a sedan and we notified sales man this would not work for our business
Assured that new SUV vehicle would be ready for pick-up following evening
Received copy of temporary permit for 2006 Nissan Armada although no work (inspection or emissions test) had been performed

Next day we sent email to NAP stating we would like to meet with them to discuss pricing of the vehicle, as we had found a dealer listing for the vehicle including VIN and photos for $3000 less than our purchase price and listing was less than 90 days old. After we work met with the Sales Mngr. to discuss email and vehicle deal.

Status: We did NOT drive the vehicle NOR receive the vehicle
Sales Mngr. confirmed all detailed requirements for "fixing" the vehicle would be completed by NAP
Sales Mngr. offered compensation for price difference in Free Oil Changes for a Year and $500 cash
We countered with proposal to have dealership pay for $1900 warranty that would cover vehicle for 3-years post-purchase
Both parties could not agree on compromise
We had to leave dealership in loaner vehicle, again stating to Sales Mngr. the car would not work for our business and we would suffer loss of income

That evening we sent a follow-up email to NAP stating per the Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement that within the Assignment by Seller section it states; "Seller Warrants: The Vehicle has been delivered to the Buyer in good condition and has been accepted by Buyer. If any of these warranties is breached or untrue, Seller will, upon Assignee’s demand, purchase this contract from Assignee. The purchase shall be in cash in the amount of unpaid balance (including finance charges) plus the cost and expenses of Assignee, including attorneys’ fees." Because we had NOT had the vehicle delivered this contract was in breach. The next morning we met with the Sales Mngr. and showed him the contract and terms. He sent us into see the Finance Mngr. who stated that he agreed that we should receive our refund and vehicle, however, he did not have the authority, and we would have to wait till 1 PM to see the owner. We stated that we had already taken time off work and that someone should be able to authorize the return as it was stated in the contract terms. After much delay I contact the Sheriff's office to gain some assistance in facilitating the return of our property. Unfortunately, the matter is a contract matter and even after the officer discussed the situation with the Sales Mngr. we were told, "it is not our policy to cancel a sale" and left with the only option of remedy through legal means.

Status: We did NOT drive the vehicle NOR receive the vehicle
Sales Mngr. denied us the cancellation of the contract and return of our trade-in vehicle and cash
Trade-in vehicle is parked in receiving and had not been sold by dealership
2006 Nissan Armada was parked in service area and did not appear to be fixed
Officer advised us to hire a lawyer to remedy

We are going to discuss with a lawyer but in the meantime what thoughts do you have on this situation?

Thanks in advance for your time.

You signed a binding contract to purchase the vehicle. You don't get to change your mind because you didn't do your homework and found a better price. (21k is too high a price for an 06 Armada unless in excellent condition with very low miles). The dealership only has the vehicle at the moment because they are performing repairs that were agreed upon. I'm sure they would turn it over to you right now if you said you didn't want the work done.

??

I appreciate your reply and have read your responses to others in this forumn. Aside from being a bit one-sided on the issue, do you have a referrence to law or some code that would back your point?

UCC/TARR -The Uniform Commercial Code or UCC has been enacted in all 50 states and some of the territories of the United States. It is the primary source of law in all contracts dealing with the sale of products. The TARR refers to Tender, Acceptance, Rejection, Revocation and applies to different aspects of the consumer's "relationship" with the purchased goods.

Uniform Commercial Code
Uniform Commercial Code

TENDER-The tender provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code contained in Section2-601 provide that the buyer is entitled to reject any goods that fail in any respect to conform to the contract.

ACCEPTANCE-The new car buyer accepts the goods believing and expecting that the manufacturer will repair any problem he has with the goods under the warranty.

REJECTION-The new car buyer may discover a problem with the vehicle within the first few miles of his purchase. This would allow the new car buyer to reject the goods. If the new car buyer discovers a defect in the car within a reasonable time to inspect the vehicle, he may reject the vehicle. This period is not defined. On the one hand, the buyer must be given a reasonable time to inspect and that reasonable time to inspect will be held as an acceptance of the vehicle. The Courts will decide this reasonable time to inspect based on the knowledge and experience of the buyer, the difficulty in discovering the defect, and the opportunity to discover the defect.

This code is also echoed in our In the Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement, Assignment by Seller section, it states:
Seller Warrants:
§ The Vehicle has been delivered to the Buyer in good condition and has been accepted by Buyer.
If any of these warranties is breached or untrue, Seller will, upon Assignee’s demand, purchase this contract from Assignee. The purchase shall be in cash in the amount of unpaid balance (including finance charges) plus the cost and expenses of Assignee, including attorneys’ fees.

As we have NOT been delivered the vehicle nor have we accepted the vehicle in good condition the contract is in breach per the Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement. We have sent NAP written notification that we "demand" the seller to purchase the contract.

However, since to the best of our knowledge the contract has not been funded by the loan it would make most sense to us to simply cancel the contract and return our $4000 payment and trade-in vehicle.

At the time of proposing this to the dealer no work had been complete on the vehicle and it would have been simple to just void the transaction without any actual cost to either party.

First of all, what you are quoting applies to new vehicles.

Secondly, you're using the laymans defination of the word "deliver". You're thinking deliver means they hand you the keys and you drive away. The dealership has "delivered" the vehicle; they are just fixing it as was agreed upon.

You're allowed to break a contract if there is a law or a clause that says you are allowed to break it. Barring that, it is binding on both parties.

From the dealer's perspective, it would not "make most sense" for them to cancel the contract. They almost certainly made a killing selling that truck to you.

How do you know that no work has been done?

Go ahead and talk to an attorney if you want; you would need one anyway to fight this.

TENDER-The tender provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code contained in Section2-601 provide that the buyer is entitled to reject any goods that fail in any respect to conform to the contract.

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and so far, the vehicle does not fail to conform to the demands of the contract.

ACCEPTANCE-The new car buyer accepts the goods believing and expecting that the manufacturer will repair any problem he has with the goods under the warranty.

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REJECTION-The new car buyer may discover a problem with the vehicle within the first few miles of his purchase.

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As we have NOT been delivered the vehicle nor have we accepted the vehicle in good condition the contract is in breach per the Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement. We have sent NAP written notification that we "demand" the seller to purchase the contract.

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Um, I think you are misunderstanding what that section of the contract is referring to. Additionally, if they were to "purchase" the contract, all that would mean is they carry your loan instead of the assignee, who is the bank that eventually funds this sale.

However, since to the best of our knowledge the contract has not been funded by the loan it would make most sense to us to simply cancel the contract and return our $4000 payment and trade-in vehicle.

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that would be nice if they wanted to but it appears they do not want to.

At the time of proposing this to the dealer no work had been complete on the vehicle and it would have been simple to just void the transaction without any actual cost to either party.

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other than their lost profit from the sale. Hey, there's an idea. Offer to pay them their profit realized and I will bet they will rescind the sale.

Tar

The example explaining TAR states "new car buyer" to define the TAR procedure. However, the UCC code is for consumer goods and purchases and is not specific to only a new car. In fact, I believe the "new" portion of new car buyer refers to the purchase of a new car that is not already owned, rather than the condition of the goods.

U.C.C. - ARTICLE 2 - SALES
..PART 6. BREACH, REPUDIATION AND EXCUSE

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§ 2-606. What Constitutes Acceptance of Goods.
(1) Acceptance of goods occurs when the buyer

•(a) after a reasonable opportunity to inspect the goods signifies to the seller that the goods are conforming or that he will take or retain them in spite of their non-conformity; or
•(b) fails to make an effective rejection (subsection (1) of Section 2-602), but such acceptance does not occur until the buyer has had a reasonable opportunity to inspect them; or
•(c) does any act inconsistent with the seller's ownership; but if such act is wrongful as against the seller it is an acceptance only if ratified by him.
(2) Acceptance of a part of any commercial unit is acceptance of that entire unit.


"Goods" is defined as:

(1) "Goods" means all things (including specially manufactured goods) which are movable at the time of identification to the contract for sale other than the money in which the price is to be paid, investment securities (Article 8) and things in action. "Goods" also includes the unborn young of animals and growing crops and other identified things attached to realty as described in the section on goods to be severed from realty (Section 2-107).


No where is it limited to a new (being not used) or used.

=jblissj;2779738] In fact, I believe the "new" portion of new car buyer refers to the purchase of a new car that is not already owned, rather than the condition of the goods.

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the law is funny about things. If they meant all cars purchased, they would have simply stated "cars" without adjective. Since they did specifically reference "new" cars, it is reasonable to believe they meant new cars.

Further, how do you buy an "old" car, which in your interpretation of the statement, would refer to a car one already owns. Can you explain how one would buy an "old" car? Using your claim, the term "new" is superfluous.

You're out of gas on this one.

Was just clarifying

Wasn't trying to be an expert on the law, but rather pointing out that the term "new car" was not in any law or code, but rather was an example explanation of how the code is translated into TAR process.

The code actually only refers to "goods" and does not limit application to new or used cars.

There is also an odometer misrepresentation in our paperwork, a temporary permit given on a vehicle that had not been inspected (to our knowledge), and what we believe could be vaguely construed as misleading advertising on price.

However, we aren't out to be sue-happy or even go into futher details about how the paperwork is missing information they should have completed, or the debate of the finer details on that.

I was interested in hearing opinion on the UCC code and how it is related to vehicle purchase and delivery cases.

Thanks!

The contract was formed at the moment you agreed to the offer (and there was consideration) and there was a signed writing as it is for goods for over $500. That is the acceptance required for formation.

Now, you're saying the car is "rejected" for any of a number of reasons. That does not make the contract go away. You have to have a valid reason for the rejection. And, if you do, that STILL doesn't make the contract go away. If it was rightfully rejected (for example they removed the engine before delivery) once you told them you reject it (per the legal method) they have a right to cure.

You have a car according to the terms of the contract. You cannot arbitrarily say you reject delivery on a whim. If there is something wrong with the car that is different from what you agreed on, let the seller know so he can fix the problem. If there is something wrong with the car that was not mentioned in the agreement, that is a completely different argument. Look also to 2-708.