Just back from a visit to my local high-volume dealer where I talked to the sales manager, and he totally disavowed the claim that a deposit is always refundable under the law here in Ontario when a car is ordered if no VIN is on the contract. He said regulations are different in various provinces but here under OMVID rules the way it works is that you specify the car you want and there is a mutually agreed upon time for waiting for the car written into the contract; if that is exceeded, then your deposit can be reclaimed.
The rationale he gave for this makes a lot of sense from a dealer perspective, they don't want 20 orders on the books from customers who have deposits down at several dealers because they are trying to get their car ASAP, which will lead to many if not a majority of their deals being cancelled and leaving the dealer stuck with incoming cars for which they may not have customers.
If you look at the
OMVID page on refund policies in Ontario it makes no reference to a refund being a right if there is no VIN on the sales agreement. Here's what it says about buyer cancellation and deposit refund:
Quote:
You may send a letter to the dealership provided that your contract was recently signed and you have not taken possession of the vehicle, AND,
you wish to cancel the agreement under one of the conditions specified in the back of the contract but mutual consent has not been given.
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