Dodgy MOT?

Apprentice2019

Just wondering what other people would do in this situation.

Bought a 2013 Qashqai 50k miles for £7.2k in January. Was given a clean MOT and brake pads were replaced (I had to insist on this even though it said badly worn on previous MOT). Brake Discs however were not replaced. Took it to a local garage as brakes were squealing, who stated that the discs should have been changed with the pads and that now the pads will also have to be changed again. This was around February / March. Complained to the garage I bought it from whom after many e-mails agreed to pay some cost towards the replacement pads. As far as I’m concerned this part is done and dusted however:

Since towards the beginning of owning the car I had noticed the steering wheel wasn’t quite straight but had put this down to the tracking. It has recently been in for a service where we are told that a suspension arm had completely snapped and the other was on its way. This was the reason for the misaligned steering wheel. We were also told it should have been obvious if the suspension arm broke whilst driving. I am now thinking that actually it has been like this all along and if so, how on earth did it get through an MOT without a mention?

Thoughts?

sweetsand

Hi OP
Years ago when our son had an older SUV, he was advised he must have the pads and discs replace, this is not the case. Pads can be replaced alone but if discs need doing then pads are often done. If you took it to another garage they will often say stuff to make money, IMO.

Re steering - depends on cars and often if one side goes with age and mileage the other is usually replaced as good practice. You will have diffuclty proving the spring was broken on the MOT

Importantly you bought the car over 9 months ago and if I was the garage owner, I would not help out - just being honest.

MOT's are only as good as the person doing that.

IMHO, the MOT was good at the time. Pads alone can be changed unless discs where outside the approved tolerances and depends n how many miles you have driven.

What has the garage said and what sized outfit are they and what are their reviews on line??

ATB

AdrianC

Apprentice2019 said:

Bought a 2013 Qashqai 50k miles for £7.2k in January. Was given a clean MOT
...

Since towards the beginning of owning the car I had noticed the steering wheel wasn’t quite straight but had put this down to the tracking. It has recently been in for a service where we are told that a suspension arm had completely snapped and the other was on its way. This was the reason for the misaligned steering wheel. We were also told it should have been obvious if the suspension arm broke whilst driving. I am now thinking that actually it has been like this all along and if so, how on earth did it get through an MOT without a mention?

Thoughts?

January was nine months ago. In two months, you need to start thinking about getting it retested. So, no, you certainly can't say "But last year's MOT..."

One thing's for sure - a suspension arm hasn't "completely snapped". There is only one suspension arm each side on a Qashqai - and if that goes, the wheel is going to flop about all over the place. It's a very simple, perfectly vanilla, MacPherson strut, just the same as on probably the majority of cars on the road. There's three points of attachment to the body - the strut top (just under the bonnet), and the bottom arm (two points, right down at the bottom). Then there's the steering arm, and there's an anti-roll bar link. The only one of those that won't stop you absolutely dead in your tracks with a wheel trying to escape from the arch is the anti-roll bar link. And you would definitely know if that had broken - but it's a trivially easy and cheap part to replace.

The spring might very well have broken - they're pretty much a consumable, and can go at any time, especially if a pothole or kerb's been hit.

And, no, that wouldn't cause the steering wheel to be slightly on the wonk. About the only thing that will cause that is somebody being a bit sloppy when tracking it previously - or bouncing it off a kerb or pothole...

foxy-stoat

I would think that it wasn't broken at the time of the mot.  Not worth the tester's license if you drove down the road hours after picking it up and causing a crash due to a snapped suspension arm.

Apprentice2019

Sorry Control arm (is that the same as steering arm?)part of the suspension (wheel obviously not hanging off!). Anyway, car is a bit of a lemon and I’m well aware that 9 months after the original mot it would be difficult to prove it and am therefore not going to do anything, just chalk it down to lesson learnt and should trust my gut when buying cars.

just annoys me that I feel as though it SHOULD have been spotted by a competent MOT tester as the problem was there either during or just after it’s Test. And let’s be honest I’ve been driving the car for 9 months not knowing so am partially to blame.

As to the first response, brake discs were knackered, garage does bear minimum to sell car to me by replacing pads. New pads take shape of bad discs so when discs are replaced, pads also need replacing. Result of that is I won’t be buying another car from that garage again.

thank all though for responses.

sweetsand

Apprentice2019 said:

Sorry Control arm (is that the same as steering arm?)part of the suspension (wheel obviously not hanging off!). Anyway, car is a bit of a lemon and I’m well aware that 9 months after the original mot it would be difficult to prove it and am therefore not going to do anything, just chalk it down to lesson learnt and should trust my gut when buying cars.

just annoys me that I feel as though it SHOULD have been spotted by a competent MOT tester as the problem was there either during or just after it’s Test. And let’s be honest I’ve been driving the car for 9 months not knowing so am partially to blame.

As to the first response, brake discs were knackered, garage does bear minimum to sell car to me by replacing pads. New pads take shape of bad discs so when discs are replaced, pads also need replacing. Result of that is I won’t be buying another car from that garage again.

thank all though for responses.

Thank you OP and IMHO you have come to the correct conclusion.
Your choice but will you leave a review detailing your plight?  I look at reviews and use them as an intial guide then do my own research.

Better luck with your next machine

ATB

x

AdrianC

The control arm is the bottom arm. It's two of the three points that attach the wheel to the body. If that was "completely snapped", your wheel would be flopping around all over the place.

This is what happens when a bottom arm snaps... The bottom of the wheel literally is not attached to the body.


I presume it's the older-shape of Qashqai - 2013 was the year they replaced it.

This is what the bottom arm looks like...

The ball joint at the top attaches to the hub, and allows the steering to swivel.
The two connection points at the bottom both attach to the front subframe, and allow the suspension to go up and down. Changing the arm is cheap, quick, and easy. They're a consumable - the balljoint wears, the rubber bushes in the body mounts wear.

Homer_home

Apprentice2019 said:

Just wondering what other people would do in this situation.

Bought a 2013 Qashqai 50k miles for £7.2k in January. Was given a clean MOT and brake pads were replaced (I had to insist on this even though it said badly worn on previous MOT). Brake Discs however were not replaced. Took it to a local garage as brakes were squealing, who stated that the discs should have been changed with the pads and that now the pads will also have to be changed again. This was around February / March. Complained to the garage I bought it from whom after many e-mails agreed to pay some cost towards the replacement pads. As far as I’m concerned this part is done and dusted however:

Since towards the beginning of owning the car I had noticed the steering wheel wasn’t quite straight but had put this down to the tracking. It has recently been in for a service where we are told that a suspension arm had completely snapped and the other was on its way. This was the reason for the misaligned steering wheel. We were also told it should have been obvious if the suspension arm broke whilst driving. I am now thinking that actually it has been like this all along and if so, how on earth did it get through an MOT without a mention?

Thoughts?

If an arm had completely snapped you wouldn't have been able to turn one of your wheels and that would of been painfully obvious every time you drove it

Why if the wheel wasn't straight didn't you get it straight away sorted? 

Did you test drive the car before you bought it?

Why didn't you get an AA inspection done on the car ? The cost of the inspection is peanuts compared to £7.2k

You can't blame a garage for issues on a service 10 months after you bought the car , the garage will simply say the issues were not there in the day of the test and you will have to prove they were , can you?

Sorry for being blunt but it is your responsibility to ensure the car you are buying is one you are happy with , you should never take a garages word for anything and you should of inspected the car yourself with a fine tooth comb or got someone else who knows what they are looking for to do it (aa inspection)