Potential issue with MOT repair

Mildly_Miffed

Outside 14 days, there's no comeback against the MOT tester, if indeed a fail has been overlooked rather than fixed for that second test.

On an 18yo car, there's no realistic comeback against the seller for something so minor as "a bit of shake", if that is all it is. It is indeed reasonable wear and tear on a vehicle of that age.

facade

You have bought a well worn 18 year old car.

It is reasonable to expect that it will have problems commensurate with its age and mileage.

Having said that, the car must be roadworthy at time of sale, and shouldn't have any major mechanical issues- it should be driveable, the legally required lights & wipers must work, there shouldn't be any major leaks to stain your drive (they'd fail MOT anyway) and it shouldn't need a new engine/gearbox/clutch to be able to drive a few thousand miles.

Anything else, like noise, oil consumption, aircon not working, radio not working, slight vibration, rattles, damaged trim, corrosion etc.  is to be expected on an 18 year old car that is well used.

Your issue is that it failed MOT on a suspension fault, then passed but you cannot find any sign of a repair, and you can see a bush that is torn which you think is bad enough to make the car unroadworthy . 

Probably the best course of action is a second opinion- either get it inspected at a garage, or just put it in for an MOT.

If it fails the MOT, go back to the dealer with the failure and start talking about rejecting the car if they don't fix it.

If it passes, then budget for new bushes for the next MOT.  It is unreasonable to expect the dealer to renew all the suspension bushes if they are not bad enough to make the car unroadworthy, any 100,000 mile 18 year old car is going to have worn/cracked rubber components.

If that vibration becomes much worse in a short time, then you can take it back as it is a pre-existing fault at the time of sale that has got worse (you drew their attention to it immediately but they said it was "normal wear & tear")

Nugz

I'm not too fussed about replacing bushes, they're par for the course, it's just that if you say you're doing something, it needs to be done, but that's something I'll look into this week any way. 

In terms of any clutch issues, the car needs to be of satisfactory quality, obviously it's not going to be as good as a newer car, but it also shouldn't be faulty or broken when purchased and it should be as the advert described ("excellent condition"). In this case I think it needs to be inspected and if it's found to be faulty then that's another conversation.

Mildly_Miffed

facade said:

...there shouldn't be any major leaks to stain your drive (they'd fail MOT anyway)...

MOT fail for an oil leak is a bit worse than "stain your drive".

It requires a 75mm diameter pool in 5min at idle.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/8-nuisance#section-8-4-1

Barkin

Nugz said:

It's in my opinion that should there be any potential mechanical problems with the car then it should have been noted in the advert. 

For a 100k/18yr old car, that'd be a very long and not very tempting advert.