Dodgy MOT??

richard300

Hi - I bought a car (private sale) yesterday and i think the brand new MOT might not be worth the paper its wtitten on.

When i went to view the car (described as being showroom condition and faultless) it had run out of MOT - The seller had thought there was at least 4 month MOT on the car previous to realising it had run out, but at this point i was on my way to view the car.

With the situation being as it was (No tax and no MOT) i was unable to test drive the car. I had a look around the car and ran it upto temperature. The owner assured me that it rode, stopped, steered and changed gear exactly as it should - So, i informed the seller, that based on that information being correct and the car having a new MOT with minimal advisories. I would buy the car.

The following day (yesterday) i was informed that the car had passed its MOT with flying colours and no advisories.... So i honored my end of the deal and payed for and picked up the car.

My drive home wasn't as smooth as i thought it might be (literally) as the suspension made some very alarming crashing and banging noises and the steering seemed a bit 'off' - Jaguars definitly dont ride and handle like that!!! With the car having a fresh MOT i figured it cant be to serious... perhaps some minor suspension part thats not checked on the MOT that is causing such exaggerated noises?? However.... having driven the car home yesterday and left it. Today i went out and gave the car a bit of a clean - And even just doing this i discover a few things that (i would imagine) would fail and MOT or at least be advisories.... the two most significant being perished and cracking tyre side walls (on two tyres) and a rust hole on the cars inner sill/floor pan - that i can stick two fingers through!!!

So.... I have no faith in the MOT and now feel that the front suspension could have some serious defects.

My plan is this:

Give the car two my local garage whom i have no affiliation with, other than i rely on them to do all my MOT's as they have a really good reputation (i frequently travel with two young children) - Have them perform an MOT and then contact the garage who did the original MOT, to rectify all the work.

If they decline to take responsibility then i will contact VOSA?

I have some question though about advisories....

lets say the car fails on several items (and the garage will fix them) but has a list of advisories as long as my arm and potentially very costly at the time of next MOT.... where do i stand. After all, i would not have bought the car if they were listed on the current MOT.

This car has been purchased primarily for my wife, who has at least 3 return trips to Sheffield (with the kids) to do, before Christmas and as i write this, i wouldn't trust the car to be driven 10 miles, never mind from Brighton to Sheffield and back.

Thanks in advance

tberry6686

The banging and crashing that you mention may not be an mot failure - it may well be part of the upper shock mount is worn but it can't be properly seen without removing the whole shock. Which type of jag is it. Some types can have wooly steering just due to poor choice of tyres on the car.

As far as the hole in the sill goes, id be a bit concerned there myself but if it is not structural then it may not cause an advisory let alone a mot failure.

richard300

Thanks.... It's a 1993 XJ40 that's covered 57000miles.

tberry6686

I'm afraid I don't know anything about that model but have a look on http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/ If you can't get the info you need there then you probably don't need it.

Car_54

You appear to have bought an 11-year-old car, described as being "showroom condition and faultless". Did no alarm bells ring? Did you really think that was possible?

How about when you found there was no tax or MOT?

richard300

Car_54 wrote: »

You appear to have bought an 11-year-old car, described as being "showroom condition and faultless". Did no alarm bells ring? Did you really think that was possible?

How about when you found there was no tax or MOT?

.... I didn't buy a car without MOT i bought a car from a 50+yo lady who had owned the car for 8 years WITH a brand new MOT that had NO advisories.

Without an MOT or with a list of advisories i would not have bought the car...... But thanks for your insightfull and incredibly helpful input!

Quentin

Car_54 wrote: »

You appear to have bought an 11-year-old car, described as being "showroom condition and faultless". Did no alarm bells ring? Did you really think that was possible?

How about when you found there was no tax or MOT?

No.

It's actually 21 years old!!

welfayre

If it fails its MOT at your preferred garage then I can't see you DVSA (VOSA) threat working.

The garage could just claim that any failures must have happened between it leaving their place and being re-MOT'd and as unlikely as that is you'll have no way of proving otherwise, for all the original garage and the DVSA know you could have been driving down country tracks at 50mph (not saying you did).


Even if the DVSA got involved I'm not sure how it would help you. The garage/tester might get a fine or suspended from MOTing for a while but I don't think they have the power to force a garage to repair a vehicle. I don't think the can even get the garage to refund the MOT fee.


TBH your best bet would be to try getting the previous owner to either take the car back or get her to fund the repairs (if it fails) but again if it was a private sale I don't think there is any legal obligation for her to do so and again she could just argue that any damage has happened during your ownership.

Also did you not notice the tyres and rust hole when you looked it over??

colino

The first thing I'd be surprised by an unkempt XJ40 would be if it got an MOT without it's handbrake having any attention. Go back to the seller and tell him you want your money back because of the inner sill corrosion. If any hesitation, go to the issuing VTS and tell them you want your money back plus expenses. Much as I love them, old Jags rarely need fettling before an MOT and this cabal seem to have overstretched themselves.

Quentin

Legally no comeback on the (private) seller whatsoever.

AdrianC

Is the MOT dodgy? Check online. It'll show you the reality of the record. If it's on there, it has an MOT.

Was the test done dodgily? If you think it was, get DVSA involved. https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/problems-with-your-test-result

Advisories for every test since the advent of computerised MOTs are shown in the online history. If that was important to you, you should have checked prior to purchase.