Purchased a car, MOT was passed same day but may not be properly done

tifo

Hi

I purchased a 15 reg Ford Fiesta car on Fri and it had failed MOT on CV ball joint the day before, so I assume it was repaired, and passed on the day I bought it.

I didn't check it much mechanically or check lights as I thought an MOT pass from that day would have looked at all issues. Test drove it and it seemed fine. TPMS light was on but the seller said one of the tyres needs air.

On way back I put air in one tyre and it was at 12psi, 35 being the normal. Reset.

The car is showing the message "TPMS not detected, see manual" and the orange light is on the dashboard. Pressure is fine in all tyres.

On way back home on the motorway the car makes a very loud noise from the back wheels like the bearings are gone. This is apparent over about 50mph and gets louder at 70.

When I came home someone said the rear left brake light (and light) are not working. I checked and this is correct.

So .... a non working brake light is a MOT fail, as is TPMS sensor not working and bearing being rough or with excessive play.

What should I do? I really don't want to spend on replacing wheel bearings and TPMS sensors.

Thanks 

unforeseen

I doubt they check TPMS on an MOT. On mine TPMS doesn't register until the car has been moving for a minute or two. 
Brake light could have failed at anytime. 
Wheel bearing? Just your guess until investigated. 

turnitround

So did you get they give you a new MOT when you bought it or have you accepted the car with no MOT?

WellKnownSid

As you have found, an MoT certificate is not a substitute for a proper vehicle inspection or test drive.  The test itself is carried out at 0 mph.

As suggested, the brake light bulb could have just gone, or be intermittent, passing the MoT.  Have you checked the rear wheels for play or roughness?

TPMS could be a dodgy / broken valve - quick and easy fix, especially if it's on the tyre that has a slow puncture and you need to get that repaired anyway.

facade

tifo said:

<snip>

What should I do? I really don't want to spend on replacing wheel bearings and TPMS sensors.

Take it back if it is a trader.

If it was a private sale get your wallet out or attempt litigation. They can't fail to have known about the problems so they will either block you or just say "private sale, buyer beware" and shut the door.

angrycrow

Other possible cause of a rumbling noise on rear wheels of front wheel drive cars is saw tooth wear on the rear tyres. This is where the rear edge of the tread black block wears quicker than the leading edge. It causes the tyre to emit a hum at higher speeds. 

It does not effect handling in any way. As long as they are not directional the easy solution is to swap the rear tyres over which reverses the rotation direction of each tyre and evens out the wear. 

To check for it run your hand around the top of the rear tyre. If the leading edge of each tread block sticks up you have saw tooth wear.

The wear would need to be really pronounced before it would even merit an advisor mention at MOT.

tifo

I've had the car looked at by an MOT tester. All 4 wheel bearings are fine so the noise is something else. Tyres are directional and fitted right (says outside).

I'm told the front right tyre should've been an advisory as it's worn from inner side. This tyre is run flat and the other 3 are not but they're all the same size. This is not illegal but affects the stability of the car.

The rear left reflector is broken and this is a major defect and an MOT fail. The car has bumper damage on this side and can be seen in the advert photos so the MOT tester can't say it broke later.

Thanks

facade

A reflector is only a fail if more than 50% of the surface is affected. You ought to have noticed that as you walked round the car when collecting it. It should have got a minor if the damage was less than 50% though.

Did the TPMS and brake light mend themselves?

An obviously not working or malfunctioning TPMS is a fail. A TPMS indicating low pressure isn't.

droopsnoot

tifo said:

Tyres are directional and fitted right (says outside).

I've had directional tyres make a terrible noise at certain speeds before now, so that might be your issue, especially if one of them is badly worn. That said, my directional tyres used to have a pointer to the direction of rotation on the sidewall, rather than "outside". I don't think "outside" is the same, as it would still be on the outside if you swap a wheel from left to right, whereas the rotation marker would then be incorrect.

tifo

turnitround said:

So did you get they give you a new MOT when you bought it or have you accepted the car with no MOT?

The MOT was expiring within 2 weeks, seller had it MOT'd.

tifo

facade said:

A reflector is only a fail if more than 50% of the surface is affected. You ought to have noticed that as you walked round the car when collecting it. It should have got a minor if the damage was less than 50% though.

Did the TPMS and brake light mend themselves?

An obviously not working or malfunctioning TPMS is a fail. A TPMS indicating low pressure isn't.

Yes, i did notice the rear reflector is broken as is part if the bumper around it.

No, the TPMS and brake light have not fixed themselves.

The message "TPMS sensor not detected, please check manual" was displayed with the orange flat tyre light on the dashboard. This fixed itself after I reset the TPMS but comes back on again after a while. When i bought the car it had just come from the MOT station and the tyre pressure was 12 in one tyre so the TPMS message would have shown.