Help - 2nd hand car problems

roonagh153

Hi, wondering if anyone can offer help or advice on my next move with my dilema!

Went 30 miles from home to see a Vauxhall Corsa at a 2nd hand car dealership on Saturday the 26th November - liked it so put a deposit down. MOT was up in April 2012 so salesman agreed he would MOT for a year, arranged to get the car on Tuesday 29th November. On route to garage on the Tuesday Salesman called to advise the car had been in for it's mot and failed on a few points Nearside and Offside Headlamp aim too low and Nearside Rear tyre not fiftted in accordance with side wall instructions. He advised we could collect on the Wednesday - which I did.

Got to dealership and the salesman advised the MOT cert hadn't been returned with the car for the MOT station but he would get it posted out to us. We took car, One week later I called the garage as I hadn;t received MOT cert, salesman not in so left message for him to call - no reply, called again following day got him this time and he said he would sort it and get it posted.

In the meantime the V5 has arrived so I check out MOT status online and turn out the car had been MOT'd on the Wednesday - not the Tuesday and had failed on the above points. MOT had not been retested, so there is no one year MOT on the vehicle as agreed.

Called dealer re. MOT and they stated they did not know why this had not been retested, but if I took the car back to them they would sort it.
Two days later, on Tuesday 13th Dec, the exhaust started to blow so I took it to my local garage to check over - the full exhaust was corroded and worn.

Called the original garage and they advised me to get the car to them and they would look into it, not happy but have to give them a chance! On route home from the local garage there was a loud bang from the front end - nursed it back into garage forecourt - turns out nearside front coil spring has burst - car is going no where. Called original dealer who advise they will arrange recovery, but to call them in the morning and he will sort this out.

Call dealer in the morning and he advises me to get my local dealer to do the work and they will reimburse when I take the car back to them for MOT, not happy with this but get the work done on the coil and the exhaust. I ask local garage to do a check on it for me as they are also an MOT testing station.

Pick car up and now with a bill of £380!, for exhaust and coil srping, they advise me that they did the MOT check and have advised the car should not be on the road as they found the following;
Nearside front inner CV boot split
Nearside Rear to offside break pipe corroded
All break hoses ferrules corroded

I now have to take the car to the dealer, they have advised they will sort this out for me - can anyone offer advice on what to do next as I don;t trust these guys as far as I could throw them.

Thanks in advance of replies.

ttoli

Seek a refund under the sale of goods act, though I'm a bit surprised that you took delivery of the car knowing that it had no current MOT, thus effectively invalidating Insurance that you took out.

mikey72

Personally, if they pay the £380 for the work you have had done, and fix the other faults, and they give you the mot, I'd be inclined to keep the car.

It looks like the original work has been done, you've had a new exhaust, the spring can normally go at anytime, and the brakes are subjective normally.
Only the cv gaiter really that they couldn't argue with.

So if you consider the car has now had a second inspection, it's not bad.

See how they treat you, the next car could be even worse.

withabix

ttoli wrote: »

Seek a refund under the sale of goods act, though I'm a bit surprised that you took delivery of the car knowing that it had no current MOT, thus effectively invalidating Insurance that you took out.

It had a valid MOT.

life_in_termoil

roonagh153 wrote: »

Hi, wondering if anyone can offer help or advice on my next move with my dilema!

Went 30 miles from home to see a Vauxhall Corsa at a 2nd hand car dealership on Saturday the 26th November - liked it so put a deposit down. MOT was up in April 2012 so salesman agreed he would MOT for a year, arranged to get the car on Tuesday 29th November. On route to garage on the Tuesday Salesman called to advise the car had been in for it's mot and failed on a few points Nearside and Offside Headlamp aim too low and Nearside Rear tyre not fiftted in accordance with side wall instructions. He advised we could collect on the Wednesday - which I did.

Got to dealership and the salesman advised the MOT cert hadn't been returned with the car for the MOT station but he would get it posted out to us. We took car, One week later I called the garage as I hadn;t received MOT cert, salesman not in so left message for him to call - no reply, called again following day got him this time and he said he would sort it and get it posted.

In the meantime the V5 has arrived so I check out MOT status online and turn out the car had been MOT'd on the Wednesday - not the Tuesday and had failed on the above points. MOT had not been retested, so there is no one year MOT on the vehicle as agreed.

Called dealer re. MOT and they stated they did not know why this had not been retested, but if I took the car back to them they would sort it.
Two days later, on Tuesday 13th Dec, the exhaust started to blow so I took it to my local garage to check over - the full exhaust was corroded and worn.

Called the original garage and they advised me to get the car to them and they would look into it, not happy but have to give them a chance! On route home from the local garage there was a loud bang from the front end - nursed it back into garage forecourt - turns out nearside front coil spring has burst - car is going no where. Called original dealer who advise they will arrange recovery, but to call them in the morning and he will sort this out.

Call dealer in the morning and he advises me to get my local dealer to do the work and they will reimburse when I take the car back to them for MOT, not happy with this but get the work done on the coil and the exhaust. I ask local garage to do a check on it for me as they are also an MOT testing station.

Pick car up and now with a bill of £380!, for exhaust and coil srping, they advise me that they did the MOT check and have advised the car should not be on the road as they found the following;
Nearside front inner CV boot split
Nearside Rear to offside break pipe corroded
All break hoses ferrules corroded

I now have to take the car to the dealer, they have advised they will sort this out for me - can anyone offer advice on what to do next as I don;t trust these guys as far as I could throw them.

Thanks in advance of replies.

Do not take the car back to them, get them to collect it. Anything they say get in writing or record the conversation. Keep a photo copy of the bill and the MOT advisory notice. Seek advice from consumer direct

If they reimburse you and fix the other problems then you dont have a problem. If however they start being funny about it you need to seek legal advice from either CAB/Consumer Direct/Solicitor.

Good luck

ttoli

withabix wrote: »

It had a valid MOT.

Ahhh!!!:embarasse:embarasse, teach me to read before posting

forgotmyname

£380 for an exhaust and coil spring sounds steep.

Springs break, Its more common these days as cars get heavier and speed bumps spring up everywhere. Nobody could
see that happening.

I think the garage are scaremongering a bit.

Inner gaiter split, I think thats just an advisory on most cars.

Ferrules on rubber brake lines corroded. They will be on most cars on the road.
Corroded brake pipe, After the above comment i would doubt how badly corroded they were.

Get your new MOT, As much as you can towards the repairs and move on.

Notmyrealname

ttoli wrote: »

Seek a refund under the sale of goods act, though I'm a bit surprised that you took delivery of the car knowing that it had no current MOT, thus effectively invalidating Insurance that you took out.

It had a MOT that was due to expire in April 2012 in the first post. They were offered a year MOT.

waynedance

Inner Cv boot not a fail.
Work at garage and on Sat an escort pulled in the car park and his spring broke. Was in for his mot.

Same for exhausts go anytime.

flang

ttoli wrote: »

no current MOT, thus effectively invalidating Insurance that you took out.

Even if the car had no MOT the insurance would still be valid!
Why does everyone think that no MOT means no insurance!

celtus

I had a front coil spring snap on my Corsa 1.7 DTI (this year) total cost £90.00 (supply &fit) from back street (honest) garage, plus a few weeks later the back box developed a small hole (thats the last part of the exhaust to you and me) so i went to my local car part store and paid £44.00 for a brand new back box, and got that fitted at another garage (yes i did ask if they would be happy to fit an exhaust id bought myself) and got it fitted for a crispy tenner :money:...dont know where they get £380 from :eek:

P.S I did have a rear spring snap too, so i got my hands dirty (replaced the spring at work on my lunch break)...total cost £22 for a brand new rear spring :money:

Sounds to me like they are just hoping you'll go away:mad:

I hate people like that...give em hell and make yourself the biggest pain in their wallet busting behinds!

Hope all goes well for you...Merry Christmas!