Why won't our dealer release a Skoda Citigo for sale to us for three months?

My wife has agreed to buy a Skoda Citigo Elegance ex-demo and has paid a deposit of £500. The car was advertised on an official Volkswagen / Skoda site as available on 11 October, but the dealer says this was an error and he should not be selling the car until 5 December. We have agreed delivery on 26 October, but the Skoda dealer says he cannot release the V5C to us until 5 December. On reflection we think we would be unwise to accept this arrangement, and that we should have the log book when paying the purchase money - or cancel the deal and ask for the refund of the deposit as we are not willing to wait until 5 December.

Asked on 12 January 2012 by JB, via email

Answered by Honest John

This is a standard pre-reg deal. The car is supplied at a special discount to the dealer as a demonstrator and the condition of the discount is that it remains registered to the dealer until 5 December. This became a big issue with brokers due to a court case this year. We lost all this broker business as a result of exposing them. See: www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/legal--motoring-advice/2.../

Tags: consumer rights buying a new car pre-registered cars

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