Bought a van with a fraudulent MOT

Caz86

Hello, 
We purchased a VW T5 from a bloke that owned a bodywork garage on the 1st june. We spent 4 weeks converting it into our camper. Then started driving it and on its longest journey the van broke down we thought it was the clutch. So towed to our garage he looked over and said its bad. Asked about the MOT and said this should not of passed the sump plug is chemical welded on both drive shafts broken 1 side not even attached, cv boots, clutch, tracking has twisted bolts, abs cable tied to the spring, 1 tyre wore beyond legal limit a few more little issues. The garage said to call the man who we bought  it off and ask for our money back as its a death trap. We did this he got aggressive and defensive. After going back and fourth he offered us 1k or to fix the van himself. 1k is not enough and the second offer to fix i would not trust him todo this. So we have involved the DVSA and VOSA. We just want our home to be fixed and him to pay for it, we are looking at taking him to small claims but this will take time and we are currently homeless in 9 days. What can we do? Shall we pay to fix it and then hope to get the money back? Any advice appreciated 🙏  

facade

He's offered to fix it, so you can't pay someone else to do it and expect him to pick up the bill.

If he won't refund you the cost of the van- you'd think he would as you have converted it into a camper for him, which must sell for more, let him have a go, it reads like a pair of second hand driveshafts, a second hand tyre, and cable tying the abs wire away from the spring will fix it to MOT standard, any numptie with a few spanners could do that in a couple of hours.

All the driveshaft problems could have happened when he dropped the gearbox out after the MOT to bodge the clutch.

I don't know what the twisted bolts on the tracking could be.

motorguy

Caz86 said:

Hello, 
We purchased a VW T5 from a bloke that owned a bodywork garage on the 1st june. We spent 4 weeks converting it into our camper. Then started driving it and on its longest journey the van broke down we thought it was the clutch. So towed to our garage he looked over and said its bad. Asked about the MOT and said this should not of passed the sump plug is chemical welded on both drive shafts broken 1 side not even attached, cv boots, clutch, tracking has twisted bolts, abs cable tied to the spring, 1 tyre wore beyond legal limit a few more little issues. The garage said to call the man who we bought  it off and ask for our money back as its a death trap. We did this he got aggressive and defensive. After going back and fourth he offered us 1k or to fix the van himself. 1k is not enough and the second offer to fix i would not trust him todo this. So we have involved the DVSA and VOSA. We just want our home to be fixed and him to pay for it, we are looking at taking him to small claims but this will take time and we are currently homeless in 9 days. What can we do? Shall we pay to fix it and then hope to get the money back? Any advice appreciated 🙏  

I would take the £1,000.

The sump plug wouldnt worry me, oil is often sucked out rather than drained.
Driveshafts, not the end of the world to replace - if one is not attached your van wont move so thats not right
CV boots would be sorted with the driveshafts
A tyre isnt expensive
Clutch probably the worst bit

Granted its going to cost more than £1,000 but you will know its done right and know what you have.

I am sure you will now know this but next time get your mechanic involved BEFORE you buy, not after.

ElephantBoy57

Caz86 said:

Hello, 
We purchased a VW T5 from a bloke that owned a bodywork garage on the 1st june.

So he didn't do the MOT himself. Can you give us more information?

MinuteNoodles

Other than the ABS sensor wire cable tied to the spring and a worn tyre nothing on that list is a MOT fail at test time. Depending when the MOT test had been done then it's possible for the rest to happen after the MOT.

If one of the drive shafts wasn't attached then your vehicle wouldn't move at all.

A MOT is not an indication of the condition of a vehicle and should not be used as one. All a MOT test does is tell you that at the time the MOT test was carried out that the vehicle met the standards required from a small specific list of tested items. A MOT test does not test the clutch, central locking, whether the heater works, the stereo or a whole load of other things that people seem to think it does. You can have a car with half the gears not working in the gearbox and it'll pass a MOT.

AdrianC

Caz86 said:

Hello, 
We purchased a VW T5 from a bloke that owned a bodywork garage on the 1st june. We spent 4 weeks converting it into our camper. Then started driving it and on its longest journey the van broke down we thought it was the clutch. So towed to our garage he looked over and said its bad. Asked about the MOT and said this should not of passed the sump plug is chemical welded on both drive shafts broken 1 side not even attached, cv boots, clutch, tracking has twisted bolts, abs cable tied to the spring, 1 tyre wore beyond legal limit a few more little issues. The garage said to call the man who we bought  it off and ask for our money back as its a death trap. We did this he got aggressive and defensive. After going back and fourth he offered us 1k or to fix the van himself. 1k is not enough and the second offer to fix i would not trust him todo this. So we have involved the DVSA and VOSA. We just want our home to be fixed and him to pay for it, we are looking at taking him to small claims but this will take time and we are currently homeless in 9 days. What can we do? Shall we pay to fix it and then hope to get the money back? Any advice appreciated 🙏  

If you want a full refund, then you need to return the vehicle to him, in the condition purchased, and then launch a small claim for the money. He does not owe you anything for other work you've done to the van - and he would be within his rights to refuse a refund if it cannot be returned in the condition it was supplied in. Your incipient homelessness is also not his problem.

Did you raise the issues with him within 30 days of purchase? If so, you have an absolute right to a refund.
If not, then he has the right to repair, replace or refund at his discretion.

The T5 was in production from 2003 to 2015. What age, what price, what apparent condition was this particular van? Your consumer rights are tempered by reasonable expectations - and a 17yo van that cost a couple of grand or less is a very different kettle of fish to a 5yo one that cost in the high teens. How does his offer of a grand relate to the purchase price of the vehicle...?

I'm frankly a bit astonished that you could not even notice one illegally bald tyre before purchase, let alone while working on the van for a month. That's the kind of basics that every driver should be checking every vehicle for regularly.

MOTs have to be appealed within 28 days of the test.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/complain-about-an-mot

Scrapit

If you can covert a camper you can check a tyre. Also no drive shaft, no drive.

MinuteNoodles

AdrianC said:

I'm frankly a bit astonished that you could not even notice one illegally bald tyre before purchase, let alone while working on the van for a month. That's the kind of basics that every driver should be checking every vehicle for regularly.

MOTs have to be appealed within 28 days of the test.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/complain-about-an-mot

Indeed. My vehicle has 14 tyres on it and they get checked every single day. Six of those tyres can change up to 16 times a day and they all get checked too along with every single one of the 100 odd bulbs it has.

facade

MinuteNoodles said:

Other than the ABS sensor wire cable tied to the spring and a worn tyre nothing on that list is a MOT fail at test time. Depending when the MOT test had been done then it's possible for the rest to happen after the MOT.

Check section 6.1.7, the driveshafts are part of the MOT

Quite possible to damage them when he swapped out the power unit for the scrapper in his own van after the MOT though.