Bought 2nd car from dealer with, what appears to be, a dodgy MOT certificate

Nodding_Donkey

forgotmyname wrote: »

Contacting the MOT station maybe a quick way to get all your money back and quickly. I know one that bought a vehicle to stop the buyer taking matters further. They passed it when it had suspension/bodywork issues, Poorly repaired split under the wheelarch/bulkhead that meant the wheel alignment was out by some fair margin.
What they didnt expect was that the guy would sell it soon after.

If its found they pass vehicles that should have failed then they risk to lose everything.

Exactly, with a premium to cover your out of pocket expenses and inconvenience.

salubrious

Laisbojar83,

Taking it back to the dealer is the right thing to do, and personally I would request a refund and move on.

If you want to go down the dvsa route, then that is a perfectly valid option, but as I said before this is a route for tackling the testing station. Keep in mind that there is no sure fire guarantee that dvsa are going to uphold the complaint against the 'bad' testing station. There are three testing stations going to be getting looked at here, not just the one you want them to look at.

I do own an mot testing station and I do have first hand experience of what looked like nailed on certainties for disciplinary action (a lot lot worse than what I see here) which then turned out not to be the case.

Vosa have to prove without 'any' doubt that a defect was present at the time of initial test, and therein lies the problem, especially with what your car has failed/passed on.

Your only role in an appeal situation (other than instigating it) is to take the car to and from a testing station. The nominated tester who carried out the test as well as his/her authorized examiner will have been invited to attend as well (obviously in your case this is slightly different due to three tests being carried out within a 30 day period) The tester/AE can take representation or/and a witness. In case you or anyone else is wondering there are companies that specialise in representation for nominated testers and authorized examiners, specifically for occasions such as vosa appeals. Ironically these are usually people that once worked for vosa.

After the test is finished vosa will either send the tester/s on their way or you (it depends what they have found) - Let's say they have found an issue for concern. It then becomes a private matter between the tester/station and vosa - You won't know what happens to the testing station/tester or be privvy to any of the formal interviews that take place.

I'm not trying to put you off going the vosa route, far from it. In fact I encourage it. Bad testing at MoT stations is a pet hate of mine.

However, I'm giving a small insight into the reality of what happens rather than a copy and paste reply which means next to nothing.

Good luck with getting your car fixed, or money back etc.

Scrounger

laisbojar83 wrote: »

The car failed on the following: ...front brake pipe excessively corroded...

laisbojar83 wrote: »

I count my lucky stars, the issues with this car are not of a serious safety matter.

Sudden loss of brakes could be pretty serious. :eek:
Scrounger

benham3160

To go with salubrious, it could be that the emissions issue was resolved by the NT (or dealer) giving the car one almighty screaming up the road pre-test to resolve it (yes, occasionally it happens) so it's not impossible that on a genuine emissions test it DID in fact pass; the tester only has to satisfy himself with what is presented to him on test - not what he 'imagines' could have happened.

A corroded brake pipe could also be contentious, I'm sure many an NT has disagreed with the guy in the lane next to him about what constitutes 'severely' corroded!

AdrianC

laisbojar83 wrote: »

My question is could the car have failed on emissions on the 7th june, passed on the 16th and the fail on exactly the same on the 28th?

You've looked on the online MOT checker, and seen that all three tests are actually listed on there and apparently legit? Remember, the "certificate" these days is no more than a receipt. The primary record, the only one that actually matters, is what's on the VOSA system.

Emissions can certainly pass one day and fail the next. It may well be that the engine just wasn't up to temperature. Burning oil is not high on the list for likely causes.

And, agreed, I'd have said that the most serious fail on there was the brake pipe.

maxmycardagain

ref the burning smell, what car is it, ive a 59 plate diesel with a DPF that regenerates itself if it has been driven to slow round town all day, that smells like burning

what faults did your MOT throw up?

AdrianC

maxmycardagain wrote: »

ref the burning smell, what car is it, ive a 59 plate diesel with a DPF that regenerates itself if it has been driven to slow round town all day, that smells like burning

Given the CO and lambda fails, it's a petrol.

arcon5

It's been recommended many a times around here to whack some additive to the tank and thrash it before a test to push emissions through. Could well be this.

Leaving the only other issue really the brake pipe.

Surely though passing on emissions which would have otherwise been a fail would be too obvious and traceable as their machine would need to produce a printout...... whereas the brake pipe issue could very well be ambiguous.

forgotmyname

It could have been something simple like an airflow meter. The seller swapped it for another one to pass the MOT and refitted the old one.

The MOT may have been genuine.

nobbysn*ts

laisbojar83 wrote: »

..........

I contacted the dealer who tried to put the onus on me, saying the car was sold as seen..........

L x

Did it pass on the day? That says it all.