Have I been mis-sold a car? What are my rights?

thecloneofjesus

Hey guys,
I hope this is the right place to post this. Wasn’t really sure where it should go.

I bought a used car from a dealership in london on the 1st of March. I don’t know a lot about cars but I did my research and everything checked out on the car. Part of the deal was that the dealership would give it a brand new MOT before I bought it so I knew everything was safe and in working order, which they did.
Cut to yesterday and a selfish van driver decides to pull out on me with no warning while I’m doing 30mph down the main road. I have to do an emergency break to avoid hitting him and he drives off. However when I start to move again I can hear a terrible scraping noise against my wheels and a quick test of the breaks lets me know that the breaks have gone from feeling fine to feeling useless. I take it to KwikFit and have been told the breaks (pads and disks) need completely replacing at a cost of £650.

This is half the price I paid for the car (the car war £1600 but I also part exchanged my previous car against that price), and cannot afford to do. I was looking to you guys for help? What are my rights in a situation like this? Should the car have been sold in this condition? Would it have really passed its MOT with breaks that close to dying?

They also told me the front two tires need replacing. Surely this a MOT fail as well. Although I blame myself for that. I could see they were worn down but I wrongly assumed they had more life on them then they did.

How can I resolve this issue? Really I want the car repaired (I really like it). The garage that sold it too me is 70miles away so getting it there for repair (even if they agreed to repair it for might be impossible). Getting a refund on the car would still mean finding a way to get the car back and wouldn't be that helpful as I wouldn't have a car to go view other cars and I've already spent money on road tax/insurance etc etc. Really not sure what to do


Thanks for the help guys

davetrousers

Brakes

Don't go to Kwik Fit

stator

Look on Yell or similar for a decent garage that offers a free tow service and get them to pick up your car from KwikFit and get it repaired at a sensible cost.
The MOT tests that the brakes work, not that they will last 1 month or 12 months. But if you think they weren't working when you bought the car you should make a complaint against the garage that issued the MOT.

Retrogamer

As above, the MOT test normally tests the effectiveness of the brakes (you implied they were fine before emergency stop)

They will visually inspect any parts of the discs & pads they can see during the MOT but they're not allowed to remove anything for inspection so sometimes it's not always easy to see the full condition of the discs and pads.

I'd be pretty interested in the car that you have for Kwik Fit to be quoting £650 for discs and pads on.

Any pics of the tyre thats worn or the discs / pads?

walwyn1978

The MOT said on the day of the test the brakes were acceptable. It's possible that in the month and a bit since then , depending on your driving style, they may have deteriated beyond acceptable levels.

Another vote here for taking the car away from Kwik Fit and seeking out a local independent garage. If you don't know a decent one, ask friends/family/work colleagues for recommdations.

jimjames

Retrogamer wrote: »

I'd be pretty interested in the car that you have for Kwik Fit to be quoting £650 for discs and pads on.

I'm assuming for that price it must be a Ferrari or Porsche. A pair of new discs for my Golf are £40 so you'd need pretty extortionate labour rates to get anywhere near £650.

davidwood123

The only one doing any ''Miss Selling'' are the robbers at Kwik Fit

Forget about the dealer, they haven't done you any harm

thecloneofjesus

so it seems general opinion is: Car Dealer didn't do anything wrong (so dont involve them?) but KwikFit are over pricing the work? The car in question is a Mazda 6. Do you guys know roughly what you'd expect a fair price for this work would be? If its like £200 id swallow the cost just to get back on the road. But I do find it hard to imagine Kwikfit putting £450 on top of the quote - but maybe I'm too honest and expect others to be as well!

davidwood123

thecloneofjesus wrote: »

so it seems general opinion is: Car Dealer didn't do anything wrong (so dont involve them?) but KwikFit are over pricing the work? The car in question is a Mazda 6. Do you guys know roughly what you'd expect a fair price for this work would be? If its like £200 id swallow the cost just to get back on the road. But I do find it hard to imagine Kwikfit putting £450 on top of the quote - but maybe I'm too honest and expect others to be as well!

You need to open your eyes and take a step into the real world :rotfl:

takman

thecloneofjesus wrote: »

so it seems general opinion is: Car Dealer didn't do anything wrong (so dont involve them?) but KwikFit are over pricing the work? The car in question is a Mazda 6. Do you guys know roughly what you'd expect a fair price for this work would be? If its like £200 id swallow the cost just to get back on the road. But I do find it hard to imagine Kwikfit putting £450 on top of the quote - but maybe I'm too honest and expect others to be as well!

You need to check online and find the price of discs and pads then you can work out for yourself if you think the price is reasonable. Just put your registration into a site like EuroCarParts and see what prices you get.

norsefox

thecloneofjesus wrote: »

so it seems general opinion is: Car Dealer didn't do anything wrong (so dont involve them?) but KwikFit are over pricing the work? The car in question is a Mazda 6. Do you guys know roughly what you'd expect a fair price for this work would be? If its like £200 id swallow the cost just to get back on the road. But I do find it hard to imagine Kwikfit putting £450 on top of the quote - but maybe I'm too honest and expect others to be as well!

I had a 3 Series BMW with budget tyres. I went to Kwikfit and they insisted that a new £120 tyre was the only option.

I took it to a nearby garage who replaced the tyre with a matching budget version for £40.

Kwikfit tried to sell me a Yokohama tyre. Which would have made my car great at turning left.

Opportunist thieves.