Deposit paid on cat c car

Joe_Horner

To be fair that's not a bad fail list for any car, let alone a 12 ear old Fiesta. Pretty obvious that they put it in to see what needed doing, then did the work - which makes perfect sense.

The history is also pretty clean, with the only possible "ongoing" issue being the juddering, then imbalanced, front brakes in 2011, 13 and 14. That was most likely a sticking caliper that was freed up, lasted a couple of years, and started giving problems again. Seeing as it hasn't recurred in the last 4 years, whatever the issue it was obviously sorted properly in the end.

That said, you SHOULD have been informed of the Cat C status without having to find it out for yourself.

If you're not happy with the previous cat C then back out, but don't let the perfectly normal and minor (and corrected) fail points or the impressively clean test history worry you too much!

Madness21

I'm always a bit skeptical. But I'm not too sure here.

He could have gotten a dodgy mot. I hear they're easy to get if you know the right people.

On the other hand, they genuinely might not have known; being a low value car they might have thought it's pointless getting the check themselves. And the mot could be genuine, no advisories.

Joe_Horner

Madness21 wrote: »

I'm always a bit skeptical. But I'm not too sure here.

He could have gotten a dodgy mot. I hear they're easy to get if you know the right people.

A dodgy MOT wouldn't normally come with a fail sheet and retest.

Madness21

So how would I verify that with the dealer when I give him a visit tomorrow?

sevenhills

Madness21 wrote: »

So how would I verify that with the dealer when I give him a visit tomorrow?

You can see online that the

"MOT valid until 11 April 2019"

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

Madness21

I can see online that it failed the day before, it doesn't verify it's a retest at the same place.

arcon5

No reason for the dealer to pay for a dodgy mot to bypass that fail. Everything in it is easy and cheap to sort out!!
Plus even a dodgy dealer wouldn't get a fail sheet then pay a premium for somebody to pass it. They'd just incriminate themselves and the dodgy mot station.

Herzlos

Madness21 wrote: »

On the other hand, they genuinely might not have known; being a low value car they might have thought it's pointless getting the check themselves. And the mot could be genuine, no advisories.

HPI checks cost dealers peanuts (cheap enough that my local will do them for me for free), and the cat marker will mean he's paid almost nothing for it. Ditto for the MOT, so the dealer knew it's history.

It could now have a genuine pass, as said it's a list of trivial items, or it could have been bodged enough to get it through the MOT, or it's now got a dodgy MOT.

Bear in mind that even assuming he paid £100 for it, he's only got £1400 to repair it, get it on the road and make some profit. He's not going to be spending a penny more on it than he needs to.

I'd still be walking away; £1500 will get you something that doesn't have the boot opening issue (and underlying damage) and hasn't been written off twice.

Or at the least, I'd be getting a garage of your choosing to have a good look underneath it for any accident damage/repairs.

Madness21

I got the deposit back, it was sitting there waiting. Shook the guys hand for giving it straight back with no trouble at all. Cheers guys

Herzlos

Good stuff