Used car without MOT (yet)

AliceBanned

Hi


I just test-drove an old Lexus IS as I saw it on the website of a local used car dealer and I am looking for an old car that will hopefully be reliable to get me through the next year or longer if it lasts that long, budget around £1500-2000. I don't know anything about this company and they are not a major chain, just a small dealer, so the usual suspicions etc can easily set in.


Car seemed fine and they advertised it as 'full MOT' but when the salesman gave me the paperwork to look through there was no MOT but the last one due to expire 18 Jan 2017. He then blagged a bit and said they would 'put an MOT on it' if I paid full price for the car, plus a six month RAC warranty. Of course I walked away wanting to think about this!


Is this really dodgy? I am wondering whether it badly failed its last MOT and he was trying to sell it to me as though it had full MOT in case I didn't bother checking. He said he is not the owner of the company and when I looked on the desk in the office the owner's first name was on his business cards - first name only. Obviously I don't think I can trust them but the car seemed ok and as it is a good brand and had one owner from new (I checked the documents) and was considering it.


Rather than buy a 6 year old Corsa I am being open-minded and thinking of a 13-year old Lexus, expecially as I do only about 4000 miles a year and I pay a lot on the train to work.


Any advice would be appreciated. it is priced at £1250 which would be ok if he isn't hiding something!

GTE_Boy

You can check the mot history and status online. Odds are they'd mot it when it's sold.

tykesi

Have a look on here to see if there were any problems at the last MoT. It's a great tool to help check the MoT history of a car even if you end up not going for this one.

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

wgl2014

Agree with the above advice. I would also suggest joining a Lexus owners forum to ask about specific things to look out for on the car.

AdrianC

It's far from unusual for a dealer to put a new MOT on a car at the point of sale - rather than have it sit on the forecourt with the ticket ticking down.

Take off the dealer's margin, and that's a few hundred quid's worth of 13yo car. Assuming it actually gets you home, the warranty will be next to useless, as will your statutory rights, as almost any and every problem will be down to age and wear/tear.

I hope you've had somebody with serious clue, preferably a pro, look at it properly - or you're prepared to lob it if it turns out to be a shed.

force_ten

standard practice within the motor trade re the MOT, if a dealer takes a car in and it sat on the lot why would he put an MOT on it as if the car sits for a couple of months three months MOT wasted

so you come along and agree to buy the car and the dealer put it through an MOt during pre delivery prep so you pick up the car with a full 12 month MOT

AliceBanned

AdrianC wrote: »

It's far from unusual for a dealer to put a new MOT on a car at the point of sale - rather than have it sit on the forecourt with the ticket ticking down.

Take off the dealer's margin, and that's a few hundred quid's worth of 13yo car. Assuming it actually gets you home, the warranty will be next to useless, as will your statutory rights, as almost any and every problem will be down to age and wear/tear.

I hope you've had somebody with serious clue, preferably a pro, look at it properly - or you're prepared to lob it if it turns out to be a shed.

Buying a car on my budget is a nightmare! I am seriously considering going without for a few months more as it is so difficult.


OK I see why they haven't put an MOT on it from that point of view. I've checked on the website as mentioned above and it expires Jan 2017. I was only considering buying it, and only with a year's MOT. I have heard that such warranties are useless so it doesn't reassure me.


Basically I feel I have to take a punt and yes be prepared to lob it, but hope it lasts a year at least. What else can I do?! I suppose I could get a mechanic to look at it.


I have been looking on Ebay and Autotrader for a private sale as it would save me about £500 I presume? On most cars.


But you would say this one is overpriced even if it is in good condition?

AliceBanned

force_ten wrote: »

standard practice within the motor trade re the MOT, if a dealer takes a car in and it sat on the lot why would he put an MOT on it as if the car sits for a couple of months three months MOT wasted

so you come along and agree to buy the car and the dealer put it through an MOt during pre delivery prep so you pick up the car with a full 12 month MOT

Makes perfect sense - though he didn't seem to know it expired in Jan 2017 and started getting a bit vague. he did say I could check online but at first he said that 'they don't issue paper MOTs' which I know is rubbish and is only the case for road tax.

AliceBanned

tykesi wrote: »

Have a look on here to see if there were any problems at the last MoT. It's a great tool to help check the MoT history of a car even if you end up not going for this one.

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

rear registration plate deteriorated but not likely to be misread starting (6.3.1d)
nearside rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit 3mm (4.1.E.1)
offside front Shock absorber has a light misting of oil (2.7.3)
rear Anti-roll bar corroded but not seriously weakened (2.4.G.1)
rear brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened corroded surface (3.5.1i)
front registration plate deteriorated but not likely to be misread split (6.3.1d)


Link very helpful, thanks. The past 3 MOTs were 'fails' with some of the above in all of them. Worryingly each one mentions 'slight misting of oil'. To me that sounds worrying anyway but I don't know much about cars really.


I am not sure whether the website deliberately leaves out details of older MOTs, but if not then it looks like there were no problems with those. Maybe the one owner got fed up of it as it is on its last legs.

gilbert_and_sullivan

So worse case scenario it needs a pair of number plates, a ne pair of shockers on the front, pair of rear discs and pads, some tyres and the rear anti roll bar wire brushing and painting with some anti corrosion wax coating.
In other words normal wear and tear as found on any vehicle anywhere

These are very reliable cars, prone to rust in the sills so check carefully, and they do like a drink, other than that pretty well bombproof if looked after, and about that you probably can only guess.

AdrianC

AliceBanned wrote: »

Buying a car on my budget is a nightmare!

Don't buy from a dealer.

But you would say this one is overpriced even if it is in good condition?

I've not seen it.

I take it it's this one?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201612300902379
MOT history doesn't exactly scream "cared for", nor does the NSF corner of the bumper. And that's just from that handful of mediocre photos. Looking at the dealer's website... I didn't think dealers still had portakabins. Wow.

Their Mondeo looks almost as avoidable, looking at the MOT history. Clearly not at all picky about their stock.

Just from a very quick look at Autotrader, within a very short distance of that dealer, how about...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201611280163659 (now with new MOT until next Jan - negotiate a bit off for those advisories)
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201612230813236 (get them to put a new ticket on)

AliceBanned wrote: »

I am not sure whether the website deliberately leaves out details of older MOTs, but if not then it looks like there were no problems with those.

Full details of all computerised MOTs, since 2005-6ish, are shown.