Reed – Whilst I am sure that nobody means to deliberately mislead you, some of the advice that you have been given in response to your questions is incorrect.
It is perfectly possible to cancel an order at any time up until the point that you accept the car by entering your PIN. There is no penalty or comeback for doing so. Try to avoid paying a deposit as it’s easier if you do cancel. It’s not a requirement to pay a deposit – you pay the AP when you take delivery of the car – but dealers are allowed to request a deposit and whilst most don’t, a small number ask for one.
A lot of contributors to this forum have cancelled orders over the years and there are others who were awaiting the 1st Jan price list to decide whether or not to allow their orders to continue or cancel and order something else.
It is always advisable to test drive a car before ordering, but if you are eligible to order now and you think that a car would be right for you but, for some reason, you cannot test drive one for some months (new model due out etc) then yes, you can order it now to get in the queue and if a subsequent test drive proves that it is unsuitable then you can cancel and re-order something else. The new order doesn’t have to be with the same dealer or manufacturer but, understandably, the Motability system will only allow you to have one active order at a time!