Lost car in Luton fire, new one failed it's MOT

Herzlos

Upsidedownyouturnme said:

Herzlos said:

A lot of that stuff, particularly the lights, tyres and hand brake should have been obvious from a visual inspection. There's not much you can do about that in retrospect, but spend a bit of time looking at your next car.

As said, it's almost certainly a dealer pretending to be a student to avoid the tax man and any warranty, so whilst legally there are rights there you've got almost no chance of enforcing them and the expectations on a £950 car with 2 months MOT are pretty low.


On the plus side, it's all fairly simple stuff to sort - get 4 new tyres (only 1 failed but 2 are near the legal limit, we don't know what the 4th one is like, and you may get a discount on 4), new exhaust, adjusted handbrake.

The one that jumps out at me as potentially problematic is this one:

"Nearside Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.1.2 (c))"

So I'd try and get to the bottom of that first - if it's just a loose or faulty unit then that's not a big deal, but you want to rule out any underlying accident damage etc before spending any money on the rest of it.

That makes sense, thank you.  Interestingly he did make a big thing about my husband seeing him about the headlamp before taking it for an MOT, he said it was something to do with clouding on the plastic and he'd polish it, but hubby polished it. 

I can't see it being anything to do with the lens being cloudy and needing polished; it sounds like the bulb is pointing in the wrong direction. It doesn't sound like the seller wasted any time trying to fix anything so it's hopefully an easy repair.

Parts for a Nissan Almera shouldn't be too expensive to source, especially if your garage of choice can source 2nd hand.

Where did you take it for the MOT; a chain place or a local mechanic? I always recommend trying to find out who the local taxis use and take it there, or failing that try and find somewhere grubby that's been there for a while (because they aren't spending money on fancy waiting areas etc), especially if the owner is a grumpy old git because they tend not to sugar coat anything.

facade

It is a Renault Nissan. They use this stupid location system for the headlight bulb that means the "normal" way of putting it in, by rotating until you feel the tabs drop into the slots doesn't work, and the bulb usually goes in wonky.

If you look through the lens (with it off) at the bulb, you can see that the base is twisted compared to the one that has the correct pattern. The bulb needs loosening, and rotating slightly until the tabs are between the pairs of teenie tiny pips. Then it may need the screws adjusted to bring the light back down. (When the bulb isn't located, the light becomes a splodge about 6 feet in front of the car, so the owner adjusts the aim upwards rather than fixes the actual problem)

As it is a Renault Nissan, this involves standing on your head working backwards by touch down a thin gap using infant sized hands that have extra joints to bend the wrong way. (I own a Renault Nissan too....)

Goudy

It wants the major defects sorting.

1. Parking brake lever has excessive movement indicating incorrect adjustment (1.1.6 (c))
The rear pads and discs are wearing thin (see advisories)

2. Registration plate lamp inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps both (4.7.1 (b) (ii))
Probably needs a cheap bulb.

3. Nearside Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.1.2 (c))
Again, probably a cheap bulb. This car takes H7 bulbs and the blacked off tip on the blub is probably disintegrated and letting light through, it's a common problem when these types of bulbs get old

4. Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases centre exhaust (6.1.2 (a))
Repair or replace.

5. Exhaust Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (8.2.1.2 (c))
Likely a result of 4.

6. Exhaust emissions likely to be affected by an exhaust leak (8.2.1.1 (b))
Likely a result of 4.

7. Parking brake efficiency below requirements (1.4.2 (a) (i))
Same problem as 1.

So a couple of cheap bulbs, the rear brakes and an exhaust repair or replacement should see it through another MOT.

Mildly_Miffed

Luton's irrelevant. You bought a sub-grand 18yo shed, and are surprised it needs a bit of work for the MOT.

You've been driving around for two months with a tyre so badly worn that the belts are showing through the tread? Go and thank Mr MOT for saving you from three points - or a blowout.

Have neither of you done the most basic routine checks in that time?
Clearly not, if you hadn't noticed the lights.
I presume you live somewhere very flat that you hadn't noticed the non-working handbrake, either.

That apart, we're left with a slight exhaust blow. Clearly not enough to hear, so probably a smear of exhaust goop will do it.

Desmond_Hume

I’m not convinced I’d be fixing this tbh.  Sure, get the major stuff fixed this time and it passes an MOT. In 12 months time - maybe less - we still have the minor stuff, which will probably be major by then so we’re throwing more good money at this? Not for me. 

Lesson learned here is properly check before buying. Sub £1K is proper bottom of the barrel stuff these days. 

Tucosalamanca

Desmond_Hume said:

I’m not convinced I’d be fixing this tbh.  Sure, get the major stuff fixed this time and it passes an MOT. In 12 months time - maybe less - we still have the minor stuff, which will probably be major by then so we’re throwing more good money at this? Not for me. 

Lesson learned here is properly check before buying. Sub £1K is proper bottom of the barrel stuff these days. 

I agree, having been car shopping during December, I'd say that even the £2-3k stuff is one engine fault away from being scrap.
2009 cars are now 15yrs old, the overwhelming majority of them must have very limited lives left.
Not a great time to be a car buyer if funds are severely limited.

Goudy

Tucosalamanca said:

Desmond_Hume said:

I’m not convinced I’d be fixing this tbh.  Sure, get the major stuff fixed this time and it passes an MOT. In 12 months time - maybe less - we still have the minor stuff, which will probably be major by then so we’re throwing more good money at this? Not for me. 

Lesson learned here is properly check before buying. Sub £1K is proper bottom of the barrel stuff these days. 

I agree, having been car shopping during December, I'd say that even the £2-3k stuff is one engine fault away from being scrap.
2009 cars are now 15yrs old, the overwhelming majority of them must have very limited lives left.
Not a great time to be a car buyer if funds are severely limited.

Hmm, so they could lose the £950 they spent on it and scrap it, then spend 3 times as much replacing it with something just as bad.

Or

Spend a few hundred sorting this one out enough to run it for a while longer.

Yes, it could still go bang, but as you write, so can the £3k car.

To be honest, I've be trying to fix it on the cheap to run it longer.
You can get a complete exhaust for less than £120 and pay some back street garage to fit it in around an hour.
A couple of bulbs £10
Rear brakes discs are £15 a side and the pads are £18, again get the back street garage to fit in around an hour.
A couple of blubs, what £10.
Then throw on some budget or part worn tyres and you're good to go for far less than £800.

prowla

Those repairs should surely be less than that asking price.

Herzlos

Desmond_Hume said:

I’m not convinced I’d be fixing this tbh.  Sure, get the major stuff fixed this time and it passes an MOT. In 12 months time - maybe less - we still have the minor stuff, which will probably be major by then so we’re throwing more good money at this? Not for me. 

Lesson learned here is properly check before buying. Sub £1K is proper bottom of the barrel stuff these days. 

It's almost certainly cheaper repairing this one than scrapping it for £50 and having to buy another car which could have faults.  Especially since most of the faults seem to be minor wear and tear that's been ignored.

If it needed frame welding, engine stripping or anything complex then I'd agree with you. 

But it sounds like fixing the light, rear brakes, hand brake and tyres will get at least another year out of it for far less than scrapping and replacing it.

Maybe if it fails next years MOT the car situation will have improved a bit but I honestly think this is normal now, and the £1k banger is now £3k.

Grumpy_chap

From the MOT faults identified, I would get this fixed up and take another year out of the car, or up until chopping it in for the car you want once the settlement arrives from the old car and you find the right one.

There seems to be little point in ditching this car for another "stop-gap" car.  

It also sounds as though the sellers description of "mechanically fine" could be correct - you have not mentioned the car not actually working.