Is this an MOT failure & how much to fix?

Advice2017

Hi,

We are looking at a used car.  It has bumper damage - split and dented/scratched.  Photo attached below.  Would this be an MOT failure?  

Does anyone know roughly how much it might cost to be repaired?

The car is around 13 years old and on sale for around £2,000. It's a Kia. 

Also, it hasn't been driven for a while. Looking under the bonnet, the engine compartment looks a bit "rusty" in places.  Should this be a concern or it it normal? 

Many thx in advance. 

Advice2017

Photo showing bumper

Advice2017

They said the bumper damage was caused by reversing into a bollard.

sevenhills

Advice2017 said:

Hi,

We are looking at a used car.  It has bumper damage - split and dented/scratched.  Photo attached below.  Would this be an MOT failure?  

Does anyone know roughly how much it might cost to be repaired?

The car is around 13 years old and on sale for around £2,000. It's a Kia. 

Also, it hasn't been driven for a while. Looking under the bonnet, the engine compartment looks a bit "rusty" in places.  Should this be a concern or it it normal? 

Many thx in advance. 

Not an MOT failure. I would guess at least a £2/£300; I don't think it's worth repairing on a 13-year-old car.

£2,000 is a lot of money, if it does already have a good MOT.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196065326175?hash=item2da667745f:g:sq4AAOSwz9FlOVh9&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA4N6K9u+k/b4hCk9n/L3QpEELC8/5wtb9RojuvN0WsTUyY/ZtYgtmT0hKDHUTCtvid5lFziGZ8d3zwPwJfuMEFstiKtjqY57sYhl7Wx8m4PnQJTvThQLr0D7PhIGqza80yol3wha5zOHAhblJq+keUFCEm+s8wj+QTmF4LPgJXLralrVMUg0Nv5FXOrk88g67wt9hqZol02ZDx8vs+hdP6Q8wfAWZXYazprDaT4PzM3cAiFf/pBqQvlBvcqL/HhSKPbA8BAKVMbTZ5ul7Dhntm21HVoUgQgf2JmgzsdPalMQ3|tkp:Bk9SR5iVwsmCYw

HampshireH

Why look at older cars not used for a while when there are so many still being used/undamaged and working as reliably as an older car can.

Personally the fact its been sat around undruven would worry me more than the bumper being damaged. It means the owner may not know if there are any issues or not as they haven't been driving it to know. How long is a while?

Review the last MOT document. We're there any advisories you will now need to get done etc

Have you test driven this one you're considering buying?

Advice2017

Many thanks for the replies.  Difficulty is timing as the car is needed urgently with limited time to look and limited region to look in. 

Agree, in a perfect world there might be better options.

Has MOT until March. The MOT history seems good, with no advisories. 

Not driven for a year or two I think - due to health issues of owner.

Positives is a low mileage, it does seem to have service history and friend took it for test drive and says it seems to drive well. 

Thinking about getting a mechanic test, like AA, but this would be around £200 so maybe not worthwhile?

Goudy

If it bothers you, most of that black mark and a few (but not many) of those white marks will cut out with some cutting compound and mask it up and rattle can it with some paint.

But it shouldn't fail an MOT because of this.


Or if you trawl Ebay enough you might find a better second hand one.
Kia Picanto 2009 petrol one wheel nut **breaking full car** | eBay
KIA PICANTO 1086cc G4HG PETROL MANUAL ***BREAKING*** (ALL PARTS AVAILABLE) | eBay

They aren't hard to fit, couple of screws and the sides by the wheel arch just clip in.
It would be far cheaper to do this than repairing and painting the original or replacing with a new one and painting that, though there are companies that will supply painted panels direct.

As for it being stood a while.
It depends on how long. 
Cars don't like being left stood too long. Rubber parts start to perish, fuel goes stale and bits, particularly bits bolted to the car, like suspension springs, brake discs and the likes start to rust.

You say there's some rusty bits under the bonnet, is that just screws and fixings or has it started to bite into the panels and structure. If it's the body then walk away.

How does it drive and has someone generally looked after it before they parked it up/gave up driving?

I don't think it's easy to comment on it's price, everything is over priced.
I'm sure if you tried hard enough you could get a few quid off and there's always a better one somewhere if you continue to look hard enough, wait long enough and travel far enough, but mainly because used car prices are totally bonkers at the moment.

I've recently had my eyes opened helping out a few people with their first cars and the upward trend in values seems to increase month by month.
You think they can't keep increasing, but they seem to anyway.

Lorian

Professionally I'd expect that bumper repair might be £500. Have you checked on the MOT history on the car for advisories?
https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

Bigwheels1111

First things first, let them get an mot on the car now before you buy.

Just one point, Sharp edges are an mot fail.

Now a big of gaffer tape across the crack will sole that short or long term.

FIX, how much and why.

10-25% cost of the car.

No point.

Spend the money on a new battery and a service or three.

Arunmor

An option I have used in the past is to just get the car taken for an MOT (it won't cover all potential issues but is a start) and gives you some potential wiggle room on the price.  If its been sitting brakes will probably need a bit of heavy use to clean them up before an MOT.

Stateofart

I think it's probably worth a punt.  £200 to fix the bumper.