How can I get a car down payment back?

Questioner

Today we bought a car at a garage, the car is meant to be exported to Guinea (Conakry). Since it takes time to arrange the export papers we agreed to make a down payment first. We transferred 1000 euros to the garage owner and agreed that we would transfer the remaining 3000 a few days later. Immediately after the down payment we called the exporter and he told us that a new law had just been passed in Guinea whereby cars older than 8 years may not be imported. The car we had just bought was 15 years old. We immediately called the garage owner (we had already left) and told him the story. He immediately said that we would not get our money back and that it was our problem and that he had nothing to do with it. We looked and he is not affiliated with the bovag so the dispute committee is not an option. So we are looking for a way to get our money back. We would like to hear if you have an idea how we can approach this.

Lawyer

Dear sir, You can only cancel the purchase if you purchased the car on the condition that you would receive permission to export it to Guinea. Unfortunately, I cannot inform you otherwise. Do you have any questions? Please feel free to ask. Yours sincerely,

Lawyer

Dear, If one or the other was known at the time of purchase - the export - to the garage, then the agreement can be terminated. Even if you had discussed financing for the purchase. If not, I have to disappoint you and you are 'stuck' with the purchase and you will lose your purchase amount.

Questioner

Dear all, Thanks for the quick reply, the mechanic was aware that the car was for export and that we can only finalize everything after we have contacted the exporter. This was clear but at that time we did not know about the changing law and regulations. What I find a bit strange is that in this area the buyer apparently does not enjoy any protection from the law. You have no cooling-off period or return period. Are car sellers then exempt from everything when it comes to down payment? At Bovag you are standard 15% off if you want to cancel it (I read that on their website). In other words, if a car seller is not affiliated with it, he can do whatever he likes. We negotiated for maybe 15 mn, then he made the invoice and we transferred the money, less than half an hour later we explained the situation to him. This happened on a Saturday evening, so it can't be a question of costs he made or opportunities he missed. Thanks