Used car bought from main dealer with new MoT at main dealer, but not roadworthy.

Ka5h_2

Please can someone advise what I can do about this…

Sandown Mercedes-Benz UK (Basingstoke) sold me a my GLC Coupe as a vehicle that had undergone its full 112 point check (or similar figure), had a brand new MOT and was fit to drive.

Two - three weeks after purchase I had errors on my dash. Brake pads worn, and an error saying to take vehicle in for check (I can’t remember exact wording). I spoke to the dealership who said it’s probably just a faulty sensor as the car had been ‘quality checked’. As the branch is 60 miles from where I live, I decided to take it down to a more local dealer instead. 

The local dealer (Loughton Mercedes Benz) checked my vehicle and said that the brakes were in fact worn and the error that I was receiving was a firmware update required to be carried out at a garage that should have been done a year ago. Obviously NOT IMPRESSED. I had to wait a whole day in the Loughton showroom for Sandown to authorise the repairs under warranty as it turns out Sandown is a franchise dealership, not a direct dealer. 

Skip along 4 months and I noticed that the front tyres (especially the passenger side) has started shredding. Baffled by this I took the car to a reputable tyre chain (fomula 1 autos). Who told me the tyres were the wrong type. They were designed for Porsche not Mercedes and they should be all weather tyres. They said this may be the reason why they are shredding and told me to speak to the dealership I bought the car from. Sandown have taken over 8 weeks to respond and only after multiple calls and emails. And even after such poor service they refused to do anything about the tires (confirmed by their branch manager a few days ago).

Yesterday I went to Kwick fit to ask them the cost of replacing the tyres. They looked at the tires and asked how did the car pass its MOT? I asked why they were asking. They said that it’s illegal to have different size tyres on the same axel. I looked and saw the sizes were in fact different. I immediately looked to Google to check if this was illegal. Sure enough it is illegal. 

I’ve asked Sandown Mercedes Benz of Basingstoke, please explain how your quality control managed to issue an MOT certificate on a car with different size tyres on the same axel? How did your quality control manage to pass a vehicle check with worn brakes and requiring firmware update for safety compliance? Why did your tyre thread readings on the rear show lower readings to higher readings taken two weeks later at Loughton? (Tyres don’t grow thread, they wear away). Poor service, poor quality and poor responses. I would ask Mercedes-Benz UK Head Office to review their dealership and ensure necessary changes are made or the franchise revoked due to the dangerous and frankly illegal practice of issuing an MOT without checking the vehicle properly. In fact how did the MoT pass with worn brake pads?

Any advise from anyone on this forum? What are my legal rights? I bought the car from a main dealer assuming they are reputable. Turns out I was dealing with cowboys.

sheramber

Make a complaint.

https://www.sandown-group.co.uk/complaints/

 

Aylesbury_Duck

Ka5h_2 said:

Please can someone advise what I can do about this…

Sandown Mercedes-Benz UK (Basingstoke) sold me a my GLC Coupe as a vehicle that had undergone its full 112 point check (or similar figure), had a brand new MOT and was fit to drive.

Two - three weeks after purchase I had errors on my dash. Brake pads worn, and an error saying to take vehicle in for check (I can’t remember exact wording). I spoke to the dealership who said it’s probably just a faulty sensor as the car had been ‘quality checked’. As the branch is 60 miles from where I live, I decided to take it down to a more local dealer instead. 

The local dealer (Loughton Mercedes Benz) checked my vehicle and said that the brakes were in fact worn and the error that I was receiving was a firmware update required to be carried out at a garage that should have been done a year ago. Obviously NOT IMPRESSED. I had to wait a whole day in the Loughton showroom for Sandown to authorise the repairs under warranty as it turns out Sandown is a franchise dealership, not a direct dealer. 

Skip along 4 months and I noticed that the front tyres (especially the passenger side) has started shredding. Baffled by this I took the car to a reputable tyre chain (fomula 1 autos). Who told me the tyres were the wrong type. They were designed for Porsche not Mercedes and they should be all weather tyres. They said this may be the reason why they are shredding and told me to speak to the dealership I bought the car from. Sandown have taken over 8 weeks to respond and only after multiple calls and emails. And even after such poor service they refused to do anything about the tires (confirmed by their branch manager a few days ago).

Yesterday I went to Kwick fit to ask them the cost of replacing the tyres. They looked at the tires and asked how did the car pass its MOT? I asked why they were asking. They said that it’s illegal to have different size tyres on the same axel. I looked and saw the sizes were in fact different. I immediately looked to Google to check if this was illegal. Sure enough it is illegal. 

I’ve asked Sandown Mercedes Benz of Basingstoke, please explain how your quality control managed to issue an MOT certificate on a car with different size tyres on the same axel? How did your quality control manage to pass a vehicle check with worn brakes and requiring firmware update for safety compliance? Why did your tyre thread readings on the rear show lower readings to higher readings taken two weeks later at Loughton? (Tyres don’t grow thread, they wear away). Poor service, poor quality and poor responses. I would ask Mercedes-Benz UK Head Office to review their dealership and ensure necessary changes are made or the franchise revoked due to the dangerous and frankly illegal practice of issuing an MOT without checking the vehicle properly. In fact how did the MoT pass with worn brake pads?

Any advise from anyone on this forum? What are my legal rights? I bought the car from a main dealer assuming they are reputable. Turns out I was dealing with cowboys.

The only thing that's a problem there is the different size tyres on the same axle.  An MOT is a judgement of the car's roadworthiness at that point in time.  All brake pads and tyres are worn the minute they've done any driving, and I suspect the brake pad warning light comes on with much less wear than the MOT minimum threshold.  Your tyres passed the wear test at MOT but are now four months older.

Focus on the different sized tyres.  The rest aren't necessarily MOT fail points from months ago, and neither is a firmware update mandatory.

Aylesbury_Duck

P.S. your legal rights would be to have the dealer supply the correct tyre size on one of the wheels, to match the other.

And be wary of citing "reputable" chains such as F1 and Kwik-Fit.  They have a vested interest in telling you you need to spend money on things they provide.

daveyjp

Different tyres on an expensive car also suggest a previous owner who didn't care.

If this is a 4matic and there is significant discpreancy in tread depths get all four changed to reduce potential for damage to the 4wd system.

Ka5h_2

Ka5h_2 said:

Please can someone advise what I can do about this…

Sandown Mercedes-Benz UK (Basingstoke) sold me a my GLC Coupe as a vehicle that had undergone its full 112 point check (or similar figure), had a brand new MOT and was fit to drive.

Two - three weeks after purchase I had errors on my dash. Brake pads worn, and an error saying to take vehicle in for check (I can’t remember exact wording). I spoke to the dealership who said it’s probably just a faulty sensor as the car had been ‘quality checked’. As the branch is 60 miles from where I live, I decided to take it down to a more local dealer instead. 

The local dealer (Loughton Mercedes Benz) checked my vehicle and said that the brakes were in fact worn and the error that I was receiving was a firmware update required to be carried out at a garage that should have been done a year ago. Obviously NOT IMPRESSED. I had to wait a whole day in the Loughton showroom for Sandown to authorise the repairs under warranty as it turns out Sandown is a franchise dealership, not a direct dealer. 

Skip along 4 months and I noticed that the front tyres (especially the passenger side) has started shredding. Baffled by this I took the car to a reputable tyre chain (fomula 1 autos). Who told me the tyres were the wrong type. They were designed for Porsche not Mercedes and they should be all weather tyres. They said this may be the reason why they are shredding and told me to speak to the dealership I bought the car from. Sandown have taken over 8 weeks to respond and only after multiple calls and emails. And even after such poor service they refused to do anything about the tires (confirmed by their branch manager a few days ago).

Yesterday I went to Kwick fit to ask them the cost of replacing the tyres. They looked at the tires and asked how did the car pass its MOT? I asked why they were asking. They said that it’s illegal to have different size tyres on the same axel. I looked and saw the sizes were in fact different. I immediately looked to Google to check if this was illegal. Sure enough it is illegal. 

I’ve asked Sandown Mercedes Benz of Basingstoke, please explain how your quality control managed to issue an MOT certificate on a car with different size tyres on the same axel? How did your quality control manage to pass a vehicle check with worn brakes and requiring firmware update for safety compliance? Why did your tyre thread readings on the rear show lower readings to higher readings taken two weeks later at Loughton? (Tyres don’t grow thread, they wear away). Poor service, poor quality and poor responses. I would ask Mercedes-Benz UK Head Office to review their dealership and ensure necessary changes are made or the franchise revoked due to the dangerous and frankly illegal practice of issuing an MOT without checking the vehicle properly. In fact how did the MoT pass with worn brake pads?

Any advise from anyone on this forum? What are my legal rights? I bought the car from a main dealer assuming they are reputable. Turns out I was dealing with cowboys.

I want to thank all those who have responded so far, but also need to make an embarrassing admission. (Need to set the record straight). 

I had given the Kwik-Fit guys the size of the tyres from a pic I had taken at the end of July when I noticed the tyres shredding. Embarrassingly I only physically looked at the tyres today to find that the pics I had got the readings from were the front and back. So not the same axel and I apologise to Mercedes-Benz Sandown for the error. 

This does not excuse the fact that the Brake pads were worn only two weeks after the car had passed its MOT and vehicle check. Had I complained to DVSA within 28 days of noticing the fault (which would have been in time, given the fault was discovered so soon), then DVSA could take action as they issued the MOT incorrectly. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Ka5h_2 said:

Ka5h_2 said:

Please can someone advise what I can do about this…

Sandown Mercedes-Benz UK (Basingstoke) sold me a my GLC Coupe as a vehicle that had undergone its full 112 point check (or similar figure), had a brand new MOT and was fit to drive.

Two - three weeks after purchase I had errors on my dash. Brake pads worn, and an error saying to take vehicle in for check (I can’t remember exact wording). I spoke to the dealership who said it’s probably just a faulty sensor as the car had been ‘quality checked’. As the branch is 60 miles from where I live, I decided to take it down to a more local dealer instead. 

The local dealer (Loughton Mercedes Benz) checked my vehicle and said that the brakes were in fact worn and the error that I was receiving was a firmware update required to be carried out at a garage that should have been done a year ago. Obviously NOT IMPRESSED. I had to wait a whole day in the Loughton showroom for Sandown to authorise the repairs under warranty as it turns out Sandown is a franchise dealership, not a direct dealer. 

Skip along 4 months and I noticed that the front tyres (especially the passenger side) has started shredding. Baffled by this I took the car to a reputable tyre chain (fomula 1 autos). Who told me the tyres were the wrong type. They were designed for Porsche not Mercedes and they should be all weather tyres. They said this may be the reason why they are shredding and told me to speak to the dealership I bought the car from. Sandown have taken over 8 weeks to respond and only after multiple calls and emails. And even after such poor service they refused to do anything about the tires (confirmed by their branch manager a few days ago).

Yesterday I went to Kwick fit to ask them the cost of replacing the tyres. They looked at the tires and asked how did the car pass its MOT? I asked why they were asking. They said that it’s illegal to have different size tyres on the same axel. I looked and saw the sizes were in fact different. I immediately looked to Google to check if this was illegal. Sure enough it is illegal. 

I’ve asked Sandown Mercedes Benz of Basingstoke, please explain how your quality control managed to issue an MOT certificate on a car with different size tyres on the same axel? How did your quality control manage to pass a vehicle check with worn brakes and requiring firmware update for safety compliance? Why did your tyre thread readings on the rear show lower readings to higher readings taken two weeks later at Loughton? (Tyres don’t grow thread, they wear away). Poor service, poor quality and poor responses. I would ask Mercedes-Benz UK Head Office to review their dealership and ensure necessary changes are made or the franchise revoked due to the dangerous and frankly illegal practice of issuing an MOT without checking the vehicle properly. In fact how did the MoT pass with worn brake pads?

Any advise from anyone on this forum? What are my legal rights? I bought the car from a main dealer assuming they are reputable. Turns out I was dealing with cowboys.

I want to thank all those who have responded so far, but also need to make an embarrassing admission. (Need to set the record straight). 

I had given the Kwik-Fit guys the size of the tyres from a pic I had taken at the end of July when I noticed the tyres shredding. Embarrassingly I only physically looked at the tyres today to find that the pics I had got the readings from were the front and back. So not the same axel and I apologise to Mercedes-Benz Sandown for the error. 

This does not excuse the fact that the Brake pads were worn only two weeks after the car had passed its MOT and vehicle check. Had I complained to DVSA within 28 days of noticing the fault (which would have been in time, given the fault was discovered so soon), then DVSA could take action as they issued the MOT incorrectly. 

It very much depends on how worn they were.  They could have been quite worn but still had plenty of material left to pass the MOT.  Brake pads typically last tens of thousands of miles - 20,000 to 70,000 depending on a variety of things, so at 75% worn (as an example) they still might have many thousands of miles left in them.  That poses no problem to you, it doesn't make them unsafe and as long as there is more than the minimum depth available (which I think is 1.5mm), they will pass an MOT and vehicle check.

How worn were they?  If you have evidence they were approaching or were below the minimum thickness at the time of the MOT, yet the car passed its MOT with no advisories on the brake pads, then you have cause for complaint.

When it comes to it, what solution are you after?  Are you looking to reject the car, or do you just want some money off them?

born_again

Ka5h_2 said:

This does not excuse the fact that the Brake pads were worn only two weeks after the car had passed its MOT and vehicle check. 

So long as they pass the braking test. 

1.1.13. Brake linings and pads

Some brake pads have metal wear indicators so that when the pads become excessively worn the metal indicator touches the disc making a squealing sound. Other pads may have a cut, which if worn away indicates that the pad must be replaced.

Defect	Category
(a) Brake lining or pad: (i) worn down to wear indicator (ii) worn below 1.5mm	Major Dangerous
(b) Brake lining or pad contaminated with oil, grease etc.	Major
(c) Brake lining or pad missing or incorrectly mounted	Dangerous

TELLIT01

4 months after purchase it may be difficult to prove that these are the tyres which were on the vehicle at the time of purchase.  I'm not aware that a check on firmware version forms part of the MOT, although I may be wrong.