Car failed MOT 7 months after buying it..advice please

Herzlos

goldlemontree wrote: »

-nail in rear tyre

Did you check it over before you gave it an MOT? It sounds like you were running with at least 2 defective tyres, wooly steering, dodgy braking, defective lights and without using the windscreen wipers.

Was everything working when you got it (did you check?) Or have you been driving around in a liability for 7 months? Bare in mind it's 3 points per defective tyre if you got pulled by the plod, and with half of your lights not working it's surprising you haven't.

It sounds like it's probably best to just get it off the road before it fails in a more catastrophic way (you're looking at a clutch and steering column failure, as well as whatevers causing the oil leak), since it sounds totally neglected.

AndyBSG

Have to say I don't really think you have any grounds to go back to the dealer.

Tyres and lights problems are just general wear and tear and maintenance issues as are the chips in the windscreen.

I'm guessing sorting all that lot alone out would cost around £200.

In all honesty it seems like most of those faults are just generally down to the age and mileage of the vehicle.

You 'may' be able to get the windscreen done on your insurance depending on your policy and if it's a chip repair or a full replacement which could lose a chunk of the bill and some of the other stuff like lights you may be able to do yourself to bring the actual mechanic bill down to something a bit more reasonable.

That said I suspect you'll just end up spending more money in 12 months time when the next MOT is due

forgotmyname

Car has not failed after 7 months, You seem to have neglected it for 7 months.

Bald tyres and non working lights? These should be a weekly check at least.

Going on Foxy's prices, If you ignore tyres and lights which should have been replaced on an as needed requirement not wait for the MOT there is not much that needs doing that a £2000 or £4000 car wont need during the course of its life.

Washers may just need the container or pipes/nozzles flushing. If not a new pump approx £6 ebay.

CV gaitor, You can get a complete shaft for around £30 these days. Just checked £26.50 delivered.

Trackrod £6.64.

Play in the strut, If its the strut itself its £21 or £15 for the top housing.

Antiroll bar bush £3.50.

Brakes need cleaning and adjusting and possibly maybe new pads, Standard items that may have worn since you serviced it 7 months ago.

Its an old cheap car and it needs TLC. Nothing on your list that you could say if i spent over £5000 on the car none of these items would need replacing.

Most of them are just general wear and tear items.

What is the product on the headlights? Someone tried tinting them or just frosted
through age? The wording product on lens makes me think its tinted or something
similar.

stator

Do you trust the garage who did the MOT? Always worth shopping around for quotes on the repairs. You might find someone who will do the serious stuff cheaper.
A lot of that stuff you can do yourself. Shop around for cheap tyres. The car will probably be worth repairing, but the slipping clutch is slightly worrying as when that goes it will be another £300-£400

motorguy

goldlemontree wrote: »

There was an MOT certificate that had been done in May of that year so I assumed it'd be OK, it'd only been 5 months! The only advisories on there were: play in steering rack inner joint, slight play in offside track rod end ball.

Make/Model/year: Renault Clio 2002
Mileage:91258 miles (mileage 89000 time of sale)
There was no warranty bought, but this would have only covered me for 6 months according to the vendor.

MOT failed on:

- windscreen washer provides insufficient liquid
- windscreen has damage to an area in excess of 10mm circle
-offside headlamp not working
-nearside headlamp output severely reduced by product on the lens
- centre stop lamp not working
-offside headlamp not working on dipped beam
- tyre tread depth below requirements on offside rear + front
- rear tyre tear
- front tyre tear
- constant velocity joint gaitor damaged to extent that it no longer prevents ingress of dirt
- track rod end ball joint excessive play
- front and nearside front macpherson strut excessive play
- anti roll bar linkage rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement
- rear brake binding
- front brakes imbalanced across an axle


Advisories:

- clutch slipping badly
-oil leak
-nail in rear tyre
-steering column top slightly worn

Are you for real? These are pretty much all wear and tear items, and a good few of those are neglect and lack of maintenance.

You have NO recourse for complaint with the supplying dealer, however you are being stiffed severely by the mechanic who is trying to charge you £700 odd for that.

fishybusiness

Expect a few hundred quid a year in maintenance, usual suspects, bulbs, tyres, exhaust, brakes and the odd suspension bush, oil and filter type bits.

Fail sheet is mostly those parts, unfortunately items like CV boot can be a pain but only need doing once.

I'm unsure what to do, obviously the cost of repair isn't worth it but since the car is only worth it's scrap value now I'm hundreds of pounds out of pocket buying a new one.

I say fix it if the rest of it is in good condition and you like it.

The scrap value notion is a bit of a red herring. Sure if you thought about selling it on value is low, but you've invested in it, and if you spent say £600 on it you have another years motoring with a known car, and it is cheaper than buying another 'unknown' potential scrap heap.

goldlemontree

forgotmyname wrote: »

What is the product on the headlights? Someone tried tinting them or just frosted
through age? The wording product on lens makes me think its tinted or something
similar.

Mechanic said he could probably just polish the headlights to get the misting off- not sure what it is, down to age I presume.

bigjl

Most of the issues on that list are as mentioned wear and tear.

And many should have been spotted by the servicing garage and mentioned.

I assume you do no regular checks before driving?

AdrianC

goldlemontree wrote: »

MOT failed on:

- windscreen washer provides insufficient liquid
- windscreen has damage to an area in excess of 10mm circle
-offside headlamp not working
-nearside headlamp output severely reduced by product on the lens
- centre stop lamp not working
-offside headlamp not working on dipped beam
- tyre tread depth below requirements on offside rear + front
- rear tyre tear
- front tyre tear

Why did you take it in for an MOT with so many faults that would have been blindingly obvious on even the most cursory of regular checks?

Oh, and thank the MOT man for pointing out your illegal tyres before the Police noticed them.

- constant velocity joint gaitor damaged to extent that it no longer prevents ingress of dirt
- track rod end ball joint excessive play
- front and nearside front macpherson strut excessive play
- anti roll bar linkage rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement
- rear brake binding
- front brakes imbalanced across an axle

All age/wear-and-tear related issues, and not even remotely surprising on a 13yo 90k car that you paid a trader less than a grand for seven months earlier.

Advisories:

- clutch slipping badly
-oil leak
-nail in rear tyre

Again, you knew all of those, right?

-steering column top slightly worn

I'm not even sure what they mean by that... Is there some vertical or horizontal play in the steering wheel? Again, probably wear-and-tear.

Strider590

I'm sorry OP, I cannot believe you presented that car for MOT in the state it was in AND expected it to pass..... Surely at the very least you'd notice the head light bulb was gone?

You probably thought they'd fix it all and do a retest, but this approach is highly irresponsible, as many items are not checked during an MOT.

I once told a young lady that her brake lights didn't work, her response was "it's ok, it's not due for it's MOT for another 9 months". I felt like I wanted to take her car keys and throw them down the nearest drain..............

Most of the listed failures are general maintenance items, the majority of the rest are wear and tear.

I'm fairly certain the garage did a "special MOT", where they don't actually look at the car at all. BUT I say so often on here "never trust the MOT if it's done by the selling garage", when you buy a car, take it straight in for a mock MOT, 6 months down the line it's too late.