Fault missed at MoT

tommytynan123

Recently bought a runabout for son for £450. 1 owner, low mileage, very clean and it was MoT'd the day before I bought it. On day 2 into my garage (who I trust completely) as the brakes were getting rattly. He fixed brakes and said just unlucky really. So – happy with that. Back in today, day 6, due to an occasional rattle/thump when heavy braking. (Slapped him and said don't brake heavy try and think ahead) Diagnosed as ''rear subframe front bush's worn''. My garage man said ''drive it as its safe but needs to be done in next few months and will be £150 - £200'' BUT he said that should have been picked up at MoT as an advisory (minimum) and really should have been fixed before I bought it. The other advisories were minimal.

Had I known about the bush's and cost to repair I may have pulled out or at least asked for a reduction. I'm not sure the sellers fully knew the problem so I'm aiming for the MoT garage to kick, shout and ask for some cash towards it as they missed it. Thoughts?

straighttalker

The bush could have deteriorated from fine to advisory since you collected the vehicle. It may have been roadworthy at the time of MOT. If you feel the need to take action, report to VOSA and they'll investigate. I doubt you'll get anywhere asking for money from an MOT station where you were not even a customer nor do you have a contractual relationship with them.

xHannahx

An mot isn't worth the paper it's written on for roadworthyness other than for that temporary moment it's in the test.
When it was tested it could have been a case it wasnt sufficient to Warrant an advisory but further driving had pushed it into advisory territory.

bigjl

You will lose.

As stated above an MOT is a basic roadworthyness check.

A car can make clunks and knocks and easilynpass an MOT.

What else do you expect for £450?

foxtrotoscar_2

straighttalker wrote: »

The bush could have deteriorated from fine to advisory since you collected the vehicle. It may have been roadworthy at the time of MOT. If you feel the need to take action, report to VOSA and they'll investigate. I doubt you'll get anywhere asking for money from an MOT station where you were not even a customer nor do you have a contractual relationship with them.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency was replaced by Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in April 2014

Richard53

By your logic, you value the car at £450 and the work at £200, so you think that you should only have paid £250 for the car. I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. A £450 car should be assumed to have things that are worn and likely to fail in the near future - if it didn't, it wouldn't be £450.


To be honest, if I bought a car around that price I would expect to have to spend a bit to get it up to a standard I was happy with, regardless of its MoT status.

Nilrem

bigjl wrote: »

You will lose.

As stated above an MOT is a basic roadworthyness check.

A car can make clunks and knocks and easilynpass an MOT.

What else do you expect for £450?

IIRC the MOT doesn't even involve them actually driving it (other than on/off the lift), so as you say it can easily pass an MOT despite making all sorts of noises when running on the road.

I sometimes wonder if people think the MOT is the same as a service, or a thorough on the road check by a mechanic.

Strider590

tommytynan123 wrote: »

Had I known about the bush's and cost to repair I may have pulled out or at least asked for a reduction. I'm not sure the sellers fully knew the problem so I'm aiming for the MoT garage to kick, shout and ask for some cash towards it as they missed it. Thoughts?

Was it sold by a used car dealer?
If they did the MOT, then it probably never even got up onto the ramps. As is pretty much the case with any used car dealer, with ANY car of ANY age.

specialboy

Strider590 wrote: »

Was it sold by a used car dealer?
If they did the MOT, then it probably never even got up onto the ramps. As is pretty much the case with any used car dealer, with ANY car of ANY age.

Total rubbish, you can't tar them all with the same brush, it's probably a very low percentage of dealers who operate like that.

arcon5

Lol
450 car and your surprised bushes aren't wearing! Wow

you bought a banger, run it til it dies or becomes unsafe or hit next mot and move on

colino

"If they did the MOT, then it probably never even got up onto the ramps. As is pretty much the case with any used car dealer, with ANY car of ANY age."
What was it, did you pay a trader a fiver too much for a car; did you discover the windscreen washers needed topped up after six weeks? Get over it and stop spreading lies like this or everything else you contribute will be dismissed too.