just bought a new used car, dealer problems

AmandaIndie

Hi, I hope someone can give me some advice, yesterday I bought a new to me used car from bristol Street motors, it was a 67plate peugeot 3008. I paid a deposit last Thursday (16th May), which was refundable depending on the test drive, (which we did on Saturday 18th May) at this point we took photos of the car to send to my sister and everything was fine. We agreed on Saturday after the test drive that we wanted to purchase the car, did all the paperwork, they asked us to collect it on Tuesday 21st may at 6pm, so they had time to apply diamond bright and repair a little scratch on the door. We were asked to transfer the money over on Monday 20th so it would be in their bank account by Tuesday which we did and that went through fine.


When we went to pick the car up yesterday, we went through the rest of the paperwork and signed my car over to them which was being part exchanged towards the new car. He then told us to go outside and sit in the new car while he finished the last bit of paperwork, and he'd be out in a few minutes to go through connecting up to the car.
I went outside with my husband and kids and sat in the driving seat and notice a 1cm crack in the glass directly at my eye level above the steering wheel, so i went back into the dealer and told them about it and he said 'Oh that wasn't there on Saturday was it?) I agreed no it wasn't as both me and my husband would have seen it on the test drive. he then said 'don't worry, I'll call you tomorrow morning and get it sorted out for you, It's too late to do anything about it right now' as it was 6.45pm.


Today I've been waiting for the call, which never came, so at 1pm I called him, and he spoke to his manager then came back to me and said 'My manager said it was already on there and it isn't an MOT fail, so we won't do anything about it.' I was pretty shocked and got off the phone. I've googled and it is an MOT fail as it is in zone A, above the steering wheel.



I have then looked back at the photos we took when we paid the deposit, and the crack was definitely not there in the photos at that point, so it has happened on their premises between the time I test drove it and the deposit was paid and the time I paid the balance and collected the vehicle. Should they be sorting this out, or do we need to take the hit on it? I have emailed them with a link to the AA site saying that it would be an MOT fail and 3 points and a fine if stopped by the police and I've sent them the photos we took of the car with no crack in the windscreen, but they haven't replied to me.

DUTR

What's the point of asking at 5pm, they are near closing, nothing will be resolved today now for sure.

AmandaIndie

Thanks for the helpful reply, I asked at 4pm, the dealer didn't closer until 7pm, I presumed 3 hours would be enough time to get some advice. Strangely enough, there's another day tomorrow, where they are open for another 11hrs, so advice given today/tonight can also be used tomorrow, or the next day.

a.turner

A 10mm crack in zone a is not an mot fail.

Your mistake was taking the car away.

AmandaIndie

I only took it away because he promised he would arrange to have it fixed the next day (today).

According to the AA site, any chip or crack in zone A is an MOT fail.

a.turner

AmandaIndie wrote: »

I only took it away because he promised he would arrange to have it fixed the next day (today).

According to the AA site, any chip or crack in zone A is an MOT fail.

I'm not sure you've read that right.

DUTR

AmandaIndie wrote: »

Thanks for the helpful reply, I asked at 4pm, the dealer didn't closer until 7pm, I presumed 3 hours would be enough time to get some advice. Strangely enough, there's another day tomorrow, where they are open for another 11hrs, so advice given today/tonight can also be used tomorrow, or the next day.

And posted at 5pm, I hope you get some reply that you can use, there often seems some bizarre dark 1st posts in exactly the right board, almost as if it is the same person creating a new user name every time?

AdrianC

AmandaIndie wrote: »

I've googled and it is an MOT fail as it is in zone A, above the steering wheel.

I don't know where your googling took you, but here's the horse's mouth on it...

https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/class3457/Section-3-Visibility.html#section_3.2

Zone A - wiper swept area 290mm wide, centred on steering wheel. 10mm max.
Rest of wiper swept area. 40mm max.

I have emailed them with a link to the AA site saying that it would be an MOT fail and 3 points and a fine if stopped by the police

Here's the AA's "windscreen safety" site.
It confirms the MOT standard, and doesn't mention points or a fine.
https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/safety/windscreen-safety

It's pretty shoddy customer service not to bother about it on a used car, but bear that in mind next time you're buying one.

Get it dealt with by a windscreen place asap, and it won't be expensive. Then write to the dealer principal, enclosing a copy of the bill, and see if they cough up.

AmandaIndie

my mistake, it was the RAC site. The crack is around 15mm, not under 10mm. unfortunately as a new user, I can't post a link, but it is rac.co.uk/ how-to-deal-with-damaged-windscreens, around two thirds of the way down the page.


Can a cracked windscreen fail an MOT?

Damage on your car's windscreen could result in an MOT fail.
If there is damage of 40mm in size, anywhere on the windscreen, your vehicle will fail its MOT. The crack will need to be fixed before being re-tested.
However, even a 10mm-sized damage on a cracked windscreen results in MOT failure if it falls within what is known as windscreen Zone A. This zone is the section of the windscreen that is 290mm wide and centred on the steeling wheel - in other words, directly in the driver's line of vision.

AmandaIndie

DUTR wrote: »

And posted at 5pm, I hope you get some reply that you can use, there often seems some bizarre dark 1st posts in exactly the right board, almost as if it is the same person creating a new user name every time?

I'm really not sure what you mean about dark posts on exactly the right board, I've never needed to use money saving expert forums before, this was the first time I've ever posted. nothing sinister, but honestly, I probably won't be posting again, as I didn't get an answer on whether they should fix it, just suspicion and snark. Really helpful, thanks for that.

J_B

AdrianC wrote: »

Get it dealt with by a windscreen place asap, and it won't be expensive. Then write to the dealer principal, enclosing a copy of the bill, and see if they cough up.

Best answer really - but whether the big 'car sheds' have a conscience to cough up is another matter!