Used car faulty but garage refusing responsibilty

Joe_Horner

spacey2012 wrote: »

VOSA will ask you to take the car to a VOSA test centre, they will examine the car and subject it to a VOSA standard MOT test, and if they feel the MOT was not correctly issued they will cancel it.

No they won't. Once an MOT has been issued, it's issued and is valid for 12 months no matter what. Even if VOSA find it shouldn't have been, the car still has a valid MOT.

If you MOT is withdrawn, you will need a trailer or tow truck to remove the vehicle from the VOSA garage as it will no longer have a valid MOT.
VOSA are concerned with MOT enforcement, not disputes between private parties in car sales.

If they fail it then it will still have a valid MOT but it will not be roadworthy. There's a big difference - the main part being that you won't have to put it in for another MOT once repairs are done for any faults they find.

spacey2012

VOSA are not a customer dispute solving agency.
If the MOT is not correctly issued after inspection, they just cancel it.
What happens between the garage and VOSA is a matter for VOSA.
It wont get the OP's car fixed, all they will have is a car with no valid MOT stuck at the VOSA depot.

Joe_Horner

spacey2012 wrote: »

[...]
If the MOT is not correctly issued after inspection, they just cancel it.
[...]
It wont get the OP's car fixed, all they will have is a car with no valid MOT stuck at the VOSA depot.

For the second time, WRONG!

VOSA cannot and will not cancel / invalidate or otherwise get rid of an existing MOT! Once it's been issued it's valid for 12 months no matter what !!!

Also, the re-inspection will NOT be done at "a VOSA depot". It will be done at a normal MOT testing station, the only difference being that it's carried out by a VOSA inspector rather than the normal tester. For an appeal against a fail it will usually be done at the original testing station (to use the same equipment), for an appeal against a pass it will usually be one convenient for the car owner.

If VOSA agree that the car should not have passed the test, it will STILL HAVE A VALID MOT but you'll have no grounds for saying you "thought it was roadworthy" - a valid MOT does NOT mean the car is roadworthy!

So, if there are faults that make it dangerous, you risk a fine if you continue to drive it before those faults are fixed. But, once they're fixed, you do NOT need to put it in for another MOT - as you would need to if the original had been somehow "invalidated".

I don't think anyone has suggested for a second that VOSA are a "
customer dispute solving agency" either. But, as you say (the only tright thing you've posted on this incidentally), they are concerned with the operation of the MOT scheme and its standards. Which is exactly why they should be involved if some dealer is using their own MOT facilities to put dodgy tickets onto cars they're selling!

What action VOSA then take against the garage, and resolving the problems as a consumer, are entirely separate matters. But having VOSA confirm that the car shouldn't have had its shiney new MOT is a completely slam-dunk piece of evidence for rejecting that car. No ifs, no buts - it shouldn't have been sold like that. If it ever gets as far as court, that on its own would be enough to win on.

Joe_Horner

colino wrote: »

I'd be very surprised that VOSA will see this as a priority as it's very close to the 28 day cut-off and the faults mentioned could easily have developed in the time-frame.

They'll treat it as a priority because they take testing standards very seriously indeed. They have a perfectly good idea of how long things like brake pads last in use (it's their job to know) - there's no way they'd go from an MOT pass (minimum 1.5mm) to grinding metal on metal in 3 weeks, for example.

As a rule, unless you're doing very high mileages indeed, there's nothing on a car that should wear from MOT pass to a clear fail in that time with the possible exception of tyres that were right on the limit when it passed (in which case they should have been advised)

colino

VOSA are very good, and quick, around here and are pretty much on top of most, but not the slipperiest of the dodgy boys. Unfortunately as no stripping or dismantling is allowed, if a tester cannot see a problem, even if they suspect it, they are ordered not to fail. Even things that the average punter might think could badly affect their cars are often given the, "pass and advise" mantra. No two ways about it, the UK MOT is not remotely strong enough and there's an "easy" one to be found all round the country.

Tilt

Have I missed something here?

Where has the OP stated that the instrument cluster has been changed or that he/she was made aware of why there is a mileage discrepancy by the seller?

Is not the OP concerned of the depreciation that will occur when he/she comes to sell the car on due to the mileage discrepancy?

Joe_Horner

Tilt wrote: »

Have I missed something here?

Where has the OP stated that the instrument cluster has been changed or that he/she was made aware of why there is a mileage discrepancy by the seller?

He hasn't said that the instrument cluster has been changed but, given that the dealer advised him that the displayed mileage was wrong:

KyKyM wrote: »

The mileage was advertised at 50000, the clock reads 29000 but the MOT history shows it as 65931.
Here is what the MOT says, in case I am missing something here:
10/2009 - 37667
01/2011 - 19177
06/2012 - 27733
06/2013 - 28264

a legitimate instrument replacement is the most likely explanation.

Incidentally, he's probably made a mistake with the sums to get the 65931 suspected miles. That assumes that after the 2009 MOT the clock was replaced with a new one showing zero (37667 + 28264 = 65931).

It's far more likely that the panel was replaced with a used one from a low mileage scrapper. Trying to prove either way could be very difficult indeed, but won't be needed anyway if VOSA agree that the MOT wasn't done properly.

Tilt

Joe_Horner wrote: »

He hasn't said that the instrument cluster has been changed but, given that the dealer advised him that the displayed mileage was wrong:



a legitimate instrument replacement is the most likely explanation.

Incidentally, he's probably made a mistake with the sums to get the 65931 suspected miles. That assumes that after the 2009 MOT the clock was replaced with a new one showing zero (37667 + 28264 = 65931).

It's far more likely that the panel was replaced with a used one from a low mileage scrapper. Trying to prove either way could be very difficult indeed, but won't be needed anyway if VOSA agree that the MOT wasn't done properly.

But according to the OP, the dealer DID NOT make him aware that the mileage was wrong. (post #23)

harveybobbles

Originally Posted by KyKyM
The mileage was advertised at 50000, the clock reads 29000 but the MOT history shows it as 65931.
Here is what the MOT says, in case I am missing something here:
10/2009 - 37667
01/2011 - 19177
06/2012 - 27733
06/2013 - 28264

Where is the 2010 MOT? Also why has it only done 500 miles between 06/2012 and 06/2013? Did th selling dealer have it in stock a while?

How old is the Espace btw?

Joe_Horner

Tilt wrote: »

But according to the OP, the dealer DID NOT make him aware that the mileage was wrong. (post #23)

Yes he did.

The advert (which said 50000 miles) is part of "what the dealer told him", which is why wrong information in it can be used as evidence in a claim. The dealer said 50k, the clock was saying 29k, so the dealer told him that the clock mileage was wrong.