Short answer. Sometimes. Where the goods are specific or ascertained — a particular vehicle, an identified lot of machinery — a court may order the seller to actually deliver them instead of letting him keep the goods and settle in cash. The remedy must be asked for, and the court decides whether to grant it.
What the law says
Where the seller has broken a contract to deliver specific or ascertained goods, a court may, on the application of the buyer, direct that the contract shall be performed specifically, without giving the seller the option of retaining the goods on payment of damages.
Civil Code, Article 1598 — Buyer's Right to Specific Performance. Read the full provision →
The remedy is real, but it is discretionary
Article 1598 of the Civil Code says that where a seller has broken a contract to deliver specific or ascertained goods, a court may, on the application of the buyer, direct that the contract shall be performed specifically. Two words carry the weight. May means the court is not obliged to grant it; specific performance in a sale of goods is a remedy the court weighs, not one you can demand automatically. On the application of the buyer means nothing happens on its own — you must file a case and ask for delivery of the thing itself, clearly and in your pleading, rather than suing for a refund and hoping the court reads more into it.
Specific or ascertained goods: the gateway
The article only reaches goods that are specific or ascertained. Specific goods are identified and agreed upon when the contract is made — this particular second-hand truck with this plate number, that painting on that wall. Ascertained goods are goods later set apart and earmarked for your contract out of a larger stock. If what you bought is generic — sacks of an ordinary grade of rice, an off-the-shelf appliance still in the warehouse — the law assumes money puts you back where you were, because you can buy the equivalent elsewhere and charge the seller the difference. The particularity of the thing is what justifies compelling delivery of that thing.
The seller cannot simply pay you off
The most useful line in the provision closes an escape route. The order may be made without giving the seller the option of retaining the goods on payment of damages. That matters when the market has moved. A seller who has found a better buyer may prefer to keep the goods, hand you the difference in price, and pocket the rest. The article makes clear the choice is not his to make. Once the court directs specific performance, the seller must produce the thing itself; he does not get to convert your right to the goods into a bill he can settle in cash and walk away from.
What the court can attach, and where the remedy runs out
The judgment may be unconditional, or upon such terms and conditions as to damages, payment of the price and otherwise, as the court may deem just. The court may therefore order delivery and still adjust the money side — requiring you to pay or consign the balance of the price, awarding damages for the delay, or setting a timetable. Expect to be held to your own side of the bargain. There are practical limits too: if the goods have been destroyed, or already sold and delivered to a buyer in good faith, an order to hand them over becomes impossible and damages are what is left. Keep the contract, receipts and every message identifying the goods, and move promptly.