Used Cars: was going to buy a used car, bill of sale, florida law

Question
i signed a contract to pay for the car in full the next day but they told me they have to do a back up contract by florida law to be able to hold the car for me legally untill the next day. but i dont want to buy the car so i was wondering if there is anything i can do to get out of it. i mean i never paid them anything never took the car off the lot

Answer
This is a tough one.  First off every state has their own rules and regulations pertaining to this, I am in oklahoma and I am not familiar with Florida laws.  If you were in oklahoma I would ask you to call the Used Motor Vehicle and Parts commission.  I have looked on the internet to try and find the same type of thing in Florida, and I have turned up no results. I would recommend you call the DMV of florida (850) 922-9000 and ask them to direct you to the appropriate place.  Now...if this had happened in oklahoma here are my thoughts.  It would be true that to legally hold a car the next day, you would have to sign a contract, but more times than not, that is just used to secure a deal.  In oklahoma it would really depend on what type of contract you signed, if you just signed a bill of sale, no money switched hands of any kind, no title work had been done, you would probably not be bound to purchase the vehicle.  Now if you had signed a contract, in which you were financing the car to make payments, you would probably be held to the vehicle. You indicated you were to pay cash in full, which would mean you were not financing the car.  As sad as it is, most dealers should let you out, but the ones who could care less about "People" may not feel the need to do so.  Now having said that, I can relate with them on making you sign something, but if they did not require you to make a non refundable cash deposit to hold the vehicle, they dropped the ball.  Normally the reasoning behind a non refundable cash deposit is in the event you back out of the purchase, they keep the money, simply because they may have missed another deal on the vehicle because they were holding it for you, and your deposit goes towards that misfortune.  If this had happened at my car lots, or any car lots that I have worked for, they would let you out, and go on about their business.  Like I said, it just really depends on FLORIDAS rules and regulations and the dealership you are dealing with.  I hope this is helpful and I hope all goes well for you.  Let me know if I can help with anything else.
Jay