Buying a second hand van with dodgy MOT

lozzaj83

Hi All,

We have bought a second hand van from a private seller. I know that it is sold as seen with these things.

We have had no end of problems and it has probably moved a total of 5 miles in 3 weeks after the seller declaring that there are no problems at all! (lie!)

Last night whilst we were fixing one of the unlisted problems, our mechanic friend noticed something that would have been an instant MOT failure. However the Van was only MOT'd on the 17th August. This would have been worn out long before that. So not only is the van falling apart through him not telling us all the problems, we now are questioning the validity of the MOT!

I am guessing that we still don't have any rights about selling an un-road worthy vehicle?

benten69

Contact VOSA, they will inspect it and if it is deemed to have a dodgy MOT they will come down on the garage that issued the MOT like a tonne of bricks. Hopefully the garage belongs to the guy that sold you the van or one of his mates.

Other than that, not sure what you can do other than MAYBE small claims court, as it was sold illegally with a false MOT, but you would need to wait for VOSA to verify that first and use their "ruling" on the MOT validity as evidence.

lozzaj83

Thanks Benten69 I had not considered VOSA - Do they charge for an additional inspection?

lozzaj83

Interestingly i just checked VOSA for MOT history and it failed on 29th July and was retested on 17th Aug. But the points it failed on were not mentioned as replaced when we bought it.

Herzlos

Were the failure points the same thing you've discovered would cause a fail now?

lozzaj83

It looks like it - I think we are going to get another MOT first before VOSA.

benten69

lozzaj83 wrote: »

It looks like it - I think we are going to get another MOT first before VOSA.

Read this!!! https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449313/complain-about-an-mot-vt17.pdf

Says you have 3 months to report it from date of MOT being issued for corrosion issues & 28 days for all other defects.

You have LESS THAN 1 WEEK to report it to VOSA. They will arrange to check the vehicle within 5 days and it WILL NOT cost you a penny.

Don't mess about, just get the ball rolling ASAP!

lozzaj83

If it fails will they keep the vehicle? or can we still keep it to work on?

benten69

lozzaj83 wrote: »

If it fails will they keep the vehicle? or can we still keep it to work on?

You will have to ask them that, but end of the day, you own the vehicle. They make keep it to take pics and obtain evidence, but you will get it back eventually.

There is a helpline at the bottom of each page in that PDF I linked to. The number is 0300 123 9000

Call them and they will answer all your questions. However I wouldn't wait, I wouldn't do any work on the van, I would just get the ball rolling. A fake MOT is a serious issue and VOSA will not want you or anyone else working on it before they see it.

Fat_Walt

lozzaj83 wrote: »

If it fails will they keep the vehicle? or can we still keep it to work on?

If you take it to VOSA or the DVSA as they are called now and it fails on something dangerous. They may place a prohibition on the vehicle, this could mean the vehicle cannot go on the road until it's repaired and retested. In which case it will need to be trailered away and then back to the test centre.

lozzaj83

Thanks - so either way, its going to end up costing us more money.
Will a failed DVSA check be enough to take the private seller to small claims court?