May exist
- A short cooling-off period, in some states
- A dealership’s own return or exchange offer
- Your rights if the car turns out to be faulty
Doesn’t exist
- A national 14 or 30 day return window
- A right to return a car because you’ve changed your mind
- A cooling-off period on a private sale
No national return window
Shops often let you bring something back within 14 or 30 days, and it’s natural to expect the same of a car. There isn’t an equivalent. No national law gives a buyer a set number of days to return a car they’ve decided they don’t want, whether it came from a brand’s dealership or anywhere else.
What does exist is narrower, and there are three things worth separating. A state cooling-off period. A dealership’s own return policy, if it has one. And your rights if the car turns out to be faulty, which work differently again. The wider question of returning a car to a dealer after purchase covers all three.
Cooling-off periods
A cooling-off period is a short window after signing in which you may be able to cancel. For cars it’s set by state law, so whether you have one, how long it lasts and what it costs all depend on where you bought the car.
Where they exist they tend to be short, often a business day or a few. Using one usually costs a fee that comes off your deposit. In many states a new car isn’t covered at all, and a private sale never is. Some contracts include a waiver, so it’s worth checking what you signed. Your state’s consumer affairs body is the place to confirm what applies to you.
If you’re inside a window that applies, the deadline is what matters, so move quickly and put the cancellation in writing.
A dealership’s own return policy
Some dealerships, and occasionally manufacturers, offer their own return or exchange policy, sometimes as part of a promotion. These are voluntary. They set their own conditions, which commonly include a kilometre limit, no damage, and a deadline that’s strictly applied. Read the policy itself rather than relying on what was said at the sale, and keep a copy.
A policy like this adds to your rights. It can’t take any away, so a dealership can’t use it to avoid dealing with a fault once its window has closed.
If something is wrong with the car
Then you’re not really asking about a return policy. A fault is judged under the consumer guarantees, and they don’t run on a 14 or 30 day clock. What matters is the fault itself, how serious it is, and whether a car of that price and age should have it. That can be weeks or years after you bought it. If the car is brand new, see can I return a brand new car to the dealership. If you’re not sure the problem counts, what counts as a defective vehicle is the place to start.
How a return happens once it’s agreed is covered in how to return a car to the dealership. Whether one may be on the table for your car is the part we look at. Send us the paperwork and we’ll tell you honestly whether there may be a claim worth making. See what you may be owed and how the free review works.
Not sure where you stand? Send us the paperwork and we’ll take a look.
Further reading. the ACCC on consumer guarantees, the rights that apply whatever a dealership’s own policy says.