New Car and bad MOT?

MedievalRoadie

Hi,

My girlfriend bought a car privately at the end of last week. It was a good deal and she was very happy with it - the seller took it through it's MOT the day before she picked it up which was a comfort. Started noticing a couple of problems (not out of the ordinary for an older car, granted) so she took it to the garage this morning.

They've turned around and said that the car is definitely not an MOT pass and understandably won't let her drive it off.

Do we have any recourse for getting her money back? Or is it all done and dusted because it was a private sale?

Thanks for any help!

Hintza

What is wrong with it?

MedievalRoadie

Just from the text I got from her this morning:
Ball joints, cam belt and brakes.

BenL

hhhmmm, not sure if they can not let her drive it. It has a valid MOT.

The MOT is just the condition on the day of the test however.

Cambelt is not included in the MOT test.

The brakes are done on rollers and must have a certain amount of stopping ability. I don't know if this result can be manipulated. I got a print out of my brakes performance in the MOT test.

The ball joints may come under section 2 - suspension and steering.

http://www.rac.co.uk/know-how/owning-a-car/maintainance/mot-checklist.htm


As for getting your money back, sorry. Buyer beware. An inspection from the RAC of similar or a mechanically minded friend before agreeing to the purchase.

Is this garage reliable? Is it a family friend? or a generic chain that specialise in brakes, ball joints for female drivers?

mrtobs

I've had a quick look on the AA website - https://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/car-buyers-guide/cbg_legalrights.html , it says that you aren't protected legally when buying privately, so it seems like you wouldn't have much leverage on that, legally.
Would it be worth investigating if you have any scope with the garage who issued the MOT (Trading Standards?). Not sure how easy/difficult it would be to prove that they had issued the MOT to a car that should have failed though - especially as its a few weeks after the MOT date. It could get complicated! Do you have any legal cover/helpline that you could speak to (eg with insurance - you sometimes get it as an extra) to just clarify what your options might be. Might also be worth contacting the citizens advice bureau for some guidance.

Ebe_Scrooge

In general with a private sale you have very little recourse - that's always the toss up as to whether you pay more to a trader for the extra protection. Sorry I can't be the bearer of better news.

As regards the MOT, it's quite possible that the garage that issued the original MOT was dodgy - I've personally seen cars pass an MOT that definitely should have failed on one or two specific points. However, an MOT certificate is only proof that the car met the required standards at the time of the test ( which, as an aside, is why you should never rely on it as proof of the condition of a car ). Whilst it's unlikely that, say, the brakes have deteriorated to such an extent in a week, it's going to be next to impossible to prove. The only thing you may be able to do is contact Trading Standards, or possibly VOSA ( http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/index.htm ) and see if they're interested in inspecting the garage. Probably won't help you a lot, but it may put your mind at rest for future.

pookienoodle

Hi,
if you put the mot details in here
http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/
it will show if the cert is genuine and what warnings were mentioned on the last cert and what the car failed on recently.
It may give you some leverage,I believe this site also tells you how to compain about a test centre.

MedievalRoadie

Thanks for the quick responses guys, much appreciated.
I'd had a look online for disagreements on MOTs and it's all VOSA saying they may take action but can't make conpensatory claims on our behalf (which is fair enough).

The garage we went to is reliable, used them a lot in the past and never had a problem.

We've both come to the same conclusion as all of you that there's nothing really that we can do, so been on the phone to the garage and agreed to get the work done - haggled a bit too so got a price which is much more wallet-friendly.

Note: My mistake, they hadn't actually refused to let her take the car, they just strongly warned that it may not be as safe as we were led to believe.

Still, you live and learn
As long as she's happy and safe driving it, then all will be fine!

Thanks again everyone!

datostar

Selling an unroadworthy vehicle is criminal - a police matter. Not easy to prove - usually comes to light if involved in an accident very soon after purchase, but there have been prosecutions.

steveo3002

its a pretty common scam for garages to tell women their brakes are dangerous

id suggest you get a 2nd opinion

Volcano

BenL wrote: »

or a generic chain that specialise in brakes, ball joints for female drivers?

:rotfl::rotfl: