Buying a car 'as is' from a dealer

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atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

IMHO, the trader knew exactly what he was doing, this is SOLD AS SEEN tactics to shift it on without having to correct these issues as he knows it comes with a big massive bill to correct them to pass MOT. if you paid £2-300 then scrap it and recover some of that cost. if its more then I'd try and go after the trader who sold it to you.

+1

Although I think that it will be a rather chilly day in Hell before you see a penny of your money

I bet he sold it "cheap, as is" because he "didn't have time" to fix the "small faults", but if he had, he'd have been selling it for £1000 more, so you can have "a bargain" if you are handy with the spanners.

He/his brother/his mate own a backstreet garage that could have bodged the "small faults" for nothing and then he'd have sold it for £500 more if he could have.

An expensive lesson I'm afraid :(

Me, I'd make sure it had decent tyres and the lights work then run it until the MOT runs out, and either break it myself or drop it off at the scrapyard. (or get another MOT if the warning lamps are advisory )

Joe_Horner

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

I know its an mot failure, what i mean is that it isn't illegal to drive round with it on.

Yes it is.

A fault in any mandatory safety device is covered by the requirement of the Construction and Use Regulations, Reg. 100(1) "Maintenance and use of vehicle so as not to be a danger, etc":

C&U wrote:

A motor vehicle, every trailer drawn thereby and all parts and accessories of such vehicle and trailer shall at all times be in such condition [...] that no danger is caused or is likely to be caused to any person in or on the vehicle or trailer or on a road.

Failing to comply with that section is an offence under the Road Traffic Act 1982 S.42 "Breach of other construction and use requirements":

RTA wrote:

Breach of other construction and use requirements.

A person who—
(a)contravenes or fails to comply with any construction or use requirement other than one within section 41A(a) or 41B(1)(a) or 41D of this Act, or


(b)uses on a road a motor vehicle or trailer which does not comply with such a requirement, or causes or permits a motor vehicle or trailer to be so used,


is guilty of an offence

Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 sets the penalty and offence under RTa S.42 as a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale (currently £1000), no penalty points.


This offence applies to all MOT fail points where there's no specific offence (such as tyres). The chance of getting prosecuted for most of them is slim, but it's inaccuate to say that it's "not an offence" just because the chance of prosecution is low.

*pinkpanther*

Thank you for your help everyone! After some digging around the tinternet we realised there was a cable unplugged under the seat (no idea wht it is called, far too techy for me)! I've ordered an airbag diagnostic tool as it was only £15 and hopefully it was just due to that cable (that's what YouTube tells me anyway). So until that arrives, there is light at the end of the tunnel! We only bought the car to make it easier for the hubby to get home on weekends so it may just turn out to be an expensive lesson learned and he will be bk to getting the train for awhile!

Thank you again

bigjl

So you wanted to buy a car on the cheap.

But what you actually wanted was a brand new car with no faults.

People like the OP are why i sold my last car to webuyanycar.

*pinkpanther*

Not at all! I bought a car with what I thought were faults I could easily fix! E.g parking sensors were dodgy and a crappy interior! Obviously I wouldn't buy a car with warning lights on which is what I have ended up with!

force_ten

is it the seat occupancy sensor on the passenger seat?

what other warning lights are on ?

*pinkpanther*

force_ten wrote: »

is it the seat occupancy sensor on the passenger seat?

what other warning lights are on ?

That's the one! I think it's going to need replacing! Also the break pads wear light was covered! We have a receipt saying these were replaced so it might just be the sensors - one can hope!

force_ten

www.consumeruk.co.uk

that is a section taken from the link i posted above, so you may have some comeback

As Is is more of a term used in the USA for car sales but i am not sure if it holds water over here

IF THE CAR YOU BUY HAS A DISCLAIMER

Some car traders try to use disclaimers such as 'sold as seen', 'trade sale only' or 'no refund' to restrict your rights. This is against the law and you can report any trader that does this to Consumer Direct, the Government funded consumer advice service.

if the dealer taped over the lights to hide faults then that sucks but it may not have been him that did it, the person that traded it in may have done it either way i would check your rights before you go back to the dealers and that way you can quote your right to the seller

force_ten

*pinkpanther* wrote: »

That's the one! I think it's going to need replacing! Also the break pads wear light was covered! We have a receipt saying these were replaced so it might just be the sensors - one can hope!

the seat mat for the seat occupancy sensor is quite difficult to replace

you said the car interior is shot what age car is it?

you may be able to find a complete interior on e bay and swap it out with your crappy interior, people often change cloth interiors out for leather and stick the old interior on e bay and some sell for very little money

if you swap out the interior then the new seat may have a good sensor

Joe_Horner

force_ten wrote: »

if the dealer taped over the lights to hide faults then that sucks but it may not have been him that did it, the person that traded it in may have done it either way i would check your rights before you go back to the dealers and that way you can quote your right to the seller

Although, from the SOGA perspective, a trader would be expected to know his stock well enough to know how to check the lights. Warning lights like the SRS system should light up for a few seconds when the ignition is turned on as confirmation that they're working. Any manual test is additional to that automatic function.

So, he should have seen that they didn't light on starting, then checked the manual test and found that didn't work either, then investigated to find out why before putting up for sale. As a legally required safety system he would be expected to do this, regardless of the value of the car, in the same way as he should make sure the brakes and steering are working properly.

In fact, being a professional, he should (and quite possibly did) do that before buying or accepting it as trade in, and adjusted his offer accordingly to allow for repairs. That's just part of the joy of buying and selling by way of trade.

So "the previous owner did it" isn't an excuse at all in this case, even if it's true.