I was disagreeing with kezo, Glos Guy. My reply was written before yours but was delayed sending, for some reason.
I’m inclined(ish) to agree with you and Glos Guy. However my point being is you normaly sign for any factory options or they form part of the vehicle contract and you normaly pay upfront for any factory options. Whilst the contract you sign when ordering a vehicle can easily be revoked prior to entering your pin, the monies paid for the factory fitted options still fall under the contract, even though the actual vehicle has been canceled. The dealer could argue he wouldn’t be able to sell the with factory options, which we know is bull sh!t. If that were the case the dealer would be entitled to keep the money, charge a cancelation fee or refund you in full for the factory options. I could be barking up the wrong tree!
Yes, you are barking up the wrong tree Kezo! Options selected by a customer do not form part of the contract. You might sign an order form confirming the details of the car ordered (including options) but it’s important to understand that this is admin and not a contract. We never enter into a contract with a dealer. The only contract that we enter into is with Motability Operations, and that contract only commences once we enter the PIN on day of collection (when we have checked that the car being given to us is exactly as per the order). The dealer is simply an agent acting on behalf of Motability Operations, for which they receive a fee (plus volume related bonuses, but that’s nothing to do with us or Motability).
Once it’s understood that we never enter into a legally binding contract with a dealer, it’s easier to understand why if we cancel an order any moneys paid should be returned. As an aside, it’s not always a requirement to pay for options up front. I added quite a few to our BMW and paid for them on the day we collected the car.
I have never cancelled an order but, if I was to do so, I would only do it before the car was built. I think it’s poor form and unfair on the dealer to cancel once the car exists (unless the wrong spec has been built). However, legally the customer could still cancel the order, as no contract has been signed yet. As Wigwam correctly states, the dealer would have to make a claim that they had incurred a loss (which is extremely unlikely, as they could always sell the car and, even if they gave away the options free – which they wouldn’t – they’d probably still make more profit than had the car gone to a Motability customer). However, any such claim would have to be made against Motability Operations and not the customer – another reason why it would never happen!