If you put some amount of money down even if it's a proportionally little to the sale price it makes it a binding agreement with a receipt as a confirmation that there was an exchange. This can become legally inforceable and may cause someone to reconsider before re-selling to someone else. Of course you may not want that much effort just to buy a car.
Please note ... I am not a lawyer but an engineer that has been in some tough scrapes.
Don't give up all of us have had to look for a while.
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