<prompt> Human: I tried to buy a car from a guy down the street from me but I didnt have all the money at first and asked if he would be selling it soon. he claimed he had a couple of people looking at it and if i wnted to buy it I could put 400 down as a deposit. when i originally made the deal i had taken the car for a test drive and it was fine. now something has happened to it because it wont run. i asked the man for my deposit back and he said hes gonna think about it but this isnt the deal we agreed upon and he may not give me my money back. So does he keep my money and the car? I live in California and i have all conversations recorded over textAssistant: If you want to take him to small claims court, youll likely win. You cant change a product working car to broken car after the deal has been made. Youll have to prove it was working when you put the deposit down. In theory, you can still get ownership of the car if you want. Human: i feel like with a deposit I should be able to get it back when ever I want if i never see or use the product right? am I wrong in thinking that?  <response>: Deposit is to hold an item for you; meaning he will not use it or sell it to anyone else. Thus no, deposits are normally non-refundable since the seller may have given up other sales to hold it for you. BUT if it was working when you put the deposit down, and now it is not, he obviously has been using it since it broke sometime between. It has to be delivered in the same condition that you saw it in. 