Help! Car failed MOT, purchased recently.

tsuperstar

Hey,

I purchased a cheap little P reg Ford Ka from Polesworth Garage about mid-August. Took the car out for a test drive, drove fine, and has for the past month. Paid £650 for it, was only offered a 2 month MOT on it, said they didn't do MOTs. We took the plunge, car looked ok, engine, what we could see underneath etc.

Took it to get MOTted yesterday, came back with 10 faults, excessive corrosion on the chassis, brake discs pitted, tyre tread depth out, needs a new steering column, about £700 worth of repairs. The guy came back and said to scrap it.

Called up today, and they've just said "it's not our problem."

Read - Honest Johns, and it says "And if you buy a cheap car (under £2,000) on retail terms from a trader, you cannot reasonably expect it to be perfect."

Is there anything I can do to get my money back? Or part of it? I knew the car wasn't perfect, and was prepared to spend a little bit getting it up to scratch, but this is ridiculous.

Anyway, if anyone could help me I'd really appreciate it, first post, hey!

Andy_Edinburgh

First, the bad news... From my own experience in this situation, I suspect you're on a hiding to nothing getting your money back.

Now, the good news... £700 is very steep for the faults they've listed, even at garage labour rates. Do you have a friend or colleague who's mechanically able who might help you? If you have, you could be back on the road for £300 including the test fee.

Steering Rack: Ford Kas are well known for power steering rack failure (I suspect this is what he meant by "steering column" - it's actually the seals that fail rather than the rack itself, so you should look for a reconditioned rack);

Tyres: keep an eye out for special offers from the big chains, maybe get a complete set of four for £60 (but be on your guard about them telling you about lots of other things you "need" to pay for...).

Brake disks: not expensive either, <£40 for a pair of disks and full set of pads (this was the first price that fell out of eBay, so look further and you'll probably find cheaper).

I would expect a P-reg Ka to be rusty underneath but nothing a skilled welder couldn't fix in a couple of hours for £100.


Have a search on

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/threads.htm?f=4

...and...

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec.cars.maintenance/topics?hl=en

...and they'll soon point you in the direction of cheaper parts.

Andy_Edinburgh

More steering rack shenanigans here...

http://www.carsurvey.org/viewcomments_review_35248.html

Absolutely appalling that Ford can sell cars with such obvious design defects in safety-critical components, but I guess they can afford a better lawyer than me...

Incidentally my neighbour had to replace the rack in her 4-year-old Ka, the "Exxon Valdez" effect on her drive is testament to this...

goldspanners

andy sounds about right there,try to find a mechanic who works from his house or someone similar,you may find they will even take it for the mot aswell to make sure it passes.
my dads escort was similar,i didnt have the time to help him do the repairs so a mechanic he uses ocassionally took £300 for some welding underneath full set of brake pads discs and shoes and a new fuel tank on a diesel escort.
and took it for the mot.

tsuperstar

That's the thing, the guy who said it'll cost £700 worth of repairs is a mechanic and a good mate of my dads, his advice was to scrap it.

It's not a power-steering model though. "Lower steering column universal joint has excessive play"

Front lower suspension brushes have gone, but my dads mate said before it went for the MOT that it was common in Ka.

"Offside rear (chassis) suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded"

Surely I have a right as a consumer, since I bought it off a "reputable" dealer (www.polesworthgarageltd.com) and I asked when I bought it if there was anything major wrong with it and was told it was fine.

But cheers for the responses!

custardy

in real terms you should have insisted on it getting either put through an mot or at least going for an mot to get a fail slip.
2 months down the line on what is old banger money

Gorgeous_George

You have no comeback on the garage that sold you the car. Besides, you cannot prove that the car was faulty when you bought it. You should be careful not to open yourself up to a libel claim.

I'd take the friendly mechanic's advice and learn the lesson for next time. I'd steer clear of that particular garage (pardon the pun). Maybe the mechanic could help you select a bargain privately.

GG

Iamthesmartestmanalive

To be fair to the dealer that price is quite cheap for a ka of that age therefore I think the price has to be regarded as having recognised it needed work done

As said the repairs needed are not expensive if you look about and I wouldnt be scrapping it

If need be sell the car really cheap to someone who can do the work then sell it on at a profit, call me a cynic but Ill bet the garage or your dads friend make this offer very soon:rolleyes:

manda1205

you got the car cheap so you got what you paid for really

if it needs a new steering uj that are £16 new
welding can be dont cheap if you find the right person and tyres are £15 for a cheapie, disk are pads are cheap enough so find some1 to fix it cheap or flog it on, ill give you a 1'er if your local to norfolk

Conor_3

tsuperstar wrote: »

That's the thing, the guy who said it'll cost £700 worth of repairs is a mechanic and a good mate of my dads, his advice was to scrap it.

It's not a power-steering model though. "Lower steering column universal joint has excessive play"

Front lower suspension brushes have gone, but my dads mate said before it went for the MOT that it was common in Ka.

"Offside rear (chassis) suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded"

Surely I have a right as a consumer, since I bought it off a "reputable" dealer (www.polesworthgarageltd.com) and I asked when I bought it if there was anything major wrong with it and was told it was fine.

But cheers for the responses!

SEVEN HUNDRED QUID?

The front suspension arms are under £20 a side and come with all the bushes that will have failed. Takes 1/2hr a side to fit.

A decent set of new brake discs and pads is around £50 tops.

You can buy cheap tyres for under £20 each for a Ka.

Steering column UJ is under £20.

So all in all, you've under £200 in parts if you replace all 4 tyres and about 3hrs labour INCLUDING the welding - should be no more than £300 and most of those parts will never need replacing in the time you have it.

At the end of the day, the garage selling you it did nothing wrong. It's an 11 year old banger sold at an 11 year old banger price. They go wrong. They rot. It's up to you to decide if it's worth buying. It's feasible for a car costing 3 times that price to fail the MOT on exactly the same.

Just as an aside, don't you ever check your tyres? The cost of being caught using bald tyres is £2000 and 3 penalty points PER TYRE if the Police catch you.

Brooke_Daver

tsuperstar wrote: »

Hey,

I purchased a cheap little P reg Ford Ka from Polesworth Garage about mid-August. Took the car out for a test drive, drove fine, and has for the past month. Paid £650 for it, was only offered a 2 month MOT on it, said they didn't do MOTs. We took the plunge, car looked ok, engine, what we could see underneath etc.

Took it to get MOTted yesterday, came back with 10 faults, excessive corrosion on the chassis, brake discs pitted, tyre tread depth out, needs a new steering column, about £700 worth of repairs. The guy came back and said to scrap it.

Called up today, and they've just said "it's not our problem."

Read - Honest Johns, and it says "And if you buy a cheap car (under £2,000) on retail terms from a trader, you cannot reasonably expect it to be perfect."

Is there anything I can do to get my money back? Or part of it? I knew the car wasn't perfect, and was prepared to spend a little bit getting it up to scratch, but this is ridiculous.

Anyway, if anyone could help me I'd really appreciate it, first post, hey!

It's an 11 year old car which you brought with only 2 months MOT.

The garage have done nothing wrong.

If you like the car have it repaired, I find it hard to believe that some tyres, a steering UJ and some brake discs for a KA will cost £700.

Could it be that the people trying to have you over aren't the ones who sold it to you?