Arnold Clark - MOT

Leeanne_91

I’ve just bought my 3rd car with AC on August 4th 2020. The last two times the experience has been brilliant and I’ve never had any issues with either vehicle. Given the new rules with COVID-19 I wasn’t offered a test drive at the garage, this wasn’t a problem as I’ve test driven this make of car before and enjoyed it. It was a very rushed exchange, again, I didn’t bother me given the situation the country is in at the moment. Half way up the motorway on my way home (which is a two hour drive as well as a 2.5hr ferry journey) the tyre pressure light appeared. Once at the ferry I phoned AC to ask about the situation as well as ask where the MoT certificate was as it wasn’t along with the service history! I was told that they couldn’t hand out hard copies of the MoT certificate because if COVID-19, which is strange because I’ve always been given a hard copy when buying the car. I asked if there was any advisories and when the next MoT is due. He told me it’s due in January and there was no advisories that he could see. A week later, the brakes are letting out one heck of a screeching noise every time I touch the pedal - you can hear me before you see me. Something wasn’t right. I went on to DVLA and checked the MoT myself, there WAS advisories for the brake discs! My car is currently under warranty and have now had it booked into the local Renault dealership - with the advise to do so by AC themselves. My worry is, is that they’ll say the problem isn’t covered via the warranty and I’ll have to fork out a fortune for the repair. Can they do that knowing they sold me a car with advisories that were 6months overdue AND not letting me know? 

The_Rainmaker

Forget the warranty, you are still within 30 days of purchase get them to authorise repairs (you mention ferry so I assume not easy to get back, alternatively plan a trip to the mainland and get them to sort it out).  What age is the car?

Leeanne_91

No it’s not easy to get back to the mainland at the moment as the ferries are restricted and fully booked for a number of weeks! Typical!! It’s 2017. 

DoaM

January 2020 1st MOT means it's a 66 plate, yes? How many miles, and what vehicle?

PS - an advisory is simply that. It is not an instruction or even a recommendation to get work done immediately.

Grumpy_chap

It is important to ALWAYS test drive a car before purchase.  That is also the time to inspect paperwork, MOT etc.  

The car can still be rejected under the 30-days.  I suspect AC are trying to quibble on 'not covered via warranty' and asking you to take the car to a local dealer to run the clock down so that 'reject' ceases to be an option.

Are the faults occurring the same as the advisories on the MOT?  If so, difficult for AC to argue not "present and developing at time of sale".

DoaM

Just to scupper that old myth ... AC can't "run the clock down" as it stops ticking the moment a fault is notified/complaint is raised. (At least as far as the Consumer Rights Act is concerned ... warranties are a separate thing).

Leeanne_91

Yes it’s a 66 plate. They didn’t offer me a test drive on the day at the garage due to COVID-19 and the car needing to be re-sterilised again if I wasn’t to take it away that day and that also a member of the team would not be able to join on the drive due to socially distancing. The rules were very strict. I only had to sign one form and that was it. Everything was done by them on the computer. I didn’t take any paperwork away with, some documents were emailed to me. There is only 31,000 miles on the clock. It’s a Kadjar. I understand that an advisory is not an instruction to have the issue repaired RIGHT away but that was back in January and I’ve got the car now in August. That seems like a fairly long time not to have the issue repaired?! I understood that an advisory was usually given a 6month repair ‘guideline’? So should have been sorted by June/July? 

Mercdriver

sweetsand said:

Dear Op
We get off the plane at Orlando International several years ago and picked up a very large, almost brand spanink new SUV. Guess what,  the air con was not working, we drove out of the airport, waited, waited and turned round aftet ten mins, it was an out of season hols, they changed the car there and then - what i am saying these things can go wrong. AC is a big outfit I'm sure they will see you ok

Re "adviseary" it is just that it is not an instruction to do it right now but advsing people to watch out depdening on their driving habits, milegae etc that brakes etc may need chaging - most dealers outfits smaller ones give you  a few k miles and or three months on brakes etc I thin but not 100% on this as we have not bought a used car for amny, many years.

ATB

what does a car hire in Orlando have to do with the OP's situation?  Stop posting to up your post count.  We've all been on holiday.  I've been to some exclusive and far away places but don't bring it up unnecessarily.

Arnold Clark have a poor rep overall.  They aren't known as Arnold Shark for nothing.  Key with a company is how they deal with you when things go wrong.  Anyone can deal with things when they go well.  I hope the OP has a better experience than many do.

williamgriffin

sweetsand said:

Dear Op
We get off the plane at Orlando International several years ago and picked up a very large, almost brand spanink new SUV. Guess what,  the air con was not working, we drove out of the airport, waited, waited and turned round aftet ten mins, it was an out of season hols, they changed the car there and then - what i am saying these things can go wrong. AC is a big outfit I'm sure they will see you ok

Re "adviseary" it is just that it is not an instruction to do it right now but advsing people to watch out depdening on their driving habits, milegae etc that brakes etc may need chaging - most dealers outfits smaller ones give you  a few k miles and or three months on brakes etc I thin but not 100% on this as we have not bought a used car for amny, many years.

ATB

Whats a us hire car got to do with the op?

Oh wait its another all about me post.

Mercdriver

Leeanne_91 said:

Yes it’s a 66 plate. They didn’t offer me a test drive on the day at the garage due to COVID-19 and the car needing to be re-sterilised again if I wasn’t to take it away that day and that also a member of the team would not be able to join on the drive due to socially distancing. The rules were very strict. I only had to sign one form and that was it. Everything was done by them on the computer. I didn’t take any paperwork away with, some documents were emailed to me. There is only 31,000 miles on the clock. It’s a Kadjar. I understand that an advisory is not an instruction to have the issue repaired RIGHT away but that was back in January and I’ve got the car now in August. That seems like a fairly long time not to have the issue repaired?! I understood that an advisory was usually given a 6month repair ‘guideline’? So should have been sorted by June/July? 

Personally I wouldn't have taken the car without the paperwork being scanned and emailed before completion of the sale.  I suspect an advisory would put off many people as it shows a car not being cared for especially on its first MOT.  For future reference you can check MOTs online through the gov.uk portal.  I would have insisted on all brakes being changed before purchasing.  

DoaM

Leeanne_91 said:

Yes it’s a 66 plate. They didn’t offer me a test drive on the day at the garage due to COVID-19 and the car needing to be re-sterilised again if I wasn’t to take it away that day and that also a member of the team would not be able to join on the drive due to socially distancing. The rules were very strict. I only had to sign one form and that was it. Everything was done by them on the computer. I didn’t take any paperwork away with, some documents were emailed to me. There is only 31,000 miles on the clock. It’s a Kadjar. I understand that an advisory is not an instruction to have the issue repaired RIGHT away but that was back in January and I’ve got the car now in August. That seems like a fairly long time not to have the issue repaired?! I understood that an advisory was usually given a 6month repair ‘guideline’? So should have been sorted by June/July? 

Perhaps the more pertinent question is ... what is the mileage now and what was reported at MOT time? (i.e. how many miles have been done since the MOT?) If the distance covered is small then that may explain why no work has been done (i.e. the car has just been sitting there).

Regarding the "6 months repair guideline" ... where have you seen that? (It's not something I've encountered before).

PS - I'm deliberately ignoring the post-count-booster ... 99.9% of what they post is irrelevant nonsense.