Buying a second hand car with a valid MOT with advisories

Fraise70

Hello, 

I'm looking at buying a cheap second hand car as I'm on a limited budget right now and although it has a current MOT until March 2026 it has the following advisories.  Is anyone able to tell me if this is too risky to buy re. costing a lot to put right and if it'll be necessary to fix all the noted to ensure safety prior to next MOT. I need a run around car with the need to travel 100 miles on weekends and on a regular basis. TIA

Car is a Peugeot 207 with 58 plate. 62k on the clock

Fraise70

Fraise70 said:

Hello, 

I'm looking at buying a cheap second hand car as I'm on a limited budget right now and although it has a current MOT until March 2026 it has the following advisories.  Is anyone able to tell me if this is too risky to buy re. costing a lot to put right and if it'll be necessary to fix all the noted to ensure safety prior to next MOT. I need a run around car with the need to travel 100 miles on weekends and on a regular basis. TIA

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories) • Brake disc worn, but not excessively Front [1.1.14 (a) (i)] • Brake disc worn, but not excessively Rear [1.1.14 (a) (i)] • Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords Offside Front [5.2.3 (d) (i)] • Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords Nearside Rear [5.2.3 (d) (i)] • Suspension component corroded but not seriously weakened Front [5.3.3 (b) (i)] • Suspension component corroded but not seriously weakened Rear [5.3.3 (b) (i)]

photome

Nothing wrong with that, most old cars have some kind of surface corrosion obviously if it gets worse you may need to take action

the tyres and brake discs are consumable items so could need replacing at any time on any car

what is the car , what is the price, age,mileage and history

prowla

^^^^ that.

paul_c123

There's always the option of spending a little bit more on a car (I am guessing you sorted by price low-high and started from the bottom, going upwards) and buying a car with a long MoT and no advisories. Some advisories are crazy but others are a pretty good indication of the wear and tear on a car. 

Or you could see if the dealer would put new brakes and tyres on the car (I am going to guess he'd say no); or using it as a negotiating tool to get more money off it (then sorting them out before they are end-of-life).

Car values are well defined and the wear allowance on brakes and tyres is well defined too.

fatbelly

Those comments wouldn't worry me.

A bit of corrosion on an old car is no biggie.

I'd have a look at the discs and if I agreed, plan to get the brakes done some time in the next 12 months.

Likewise, have a look at the tyres and take a decision.

On the last car I bought the tyres were technically ok but they were a mix of Landsail and Mazzini.

I decided to change them anyway.

facade

t wouldn't put me off. Brakes and tyres are consumables, you would be lucky to find a cheap car that didn't need them doing soon- depending on your mileage they could last a couple of years or more. Keep an eye on the tyres and change them if they wear thin or start looking worse.

The corrosion reads like surface rust on suspension arms that aren't exactly well painted from new.

Best would be to get underneath with a wire brush and a pot of that exterior metal paint that Aldi sell and tidy them up so they don't get worse.

All these things could easily have been sorted by the seller, but would obviously add £££ to the price.

If it is cheap they are nothing to worry about. I'd worry more about whether the cam belt was past the change interval and living on borrowed time, or any signs of using water or oil.

Grey_Critic

***Brake disc worn, but not excessively***

What is meant by Brake Disc worn? There is a specification for brake discs Max/Min braking surface - Ford for example used to be Max 22 mm Min 19mm

Brake disc and pad wear should be expresses in percentage wear

Fraise70

Fraise70 said:

Fraise70 said:

Hello, 

I'm looking at buying a cheap second hand car as I'm on a limited budget right now and although it has a current MOT until March 2026 it has the following advisories.  Is anyone able to tell me if this is too risky to buy re. costing a lot to put right and if it'll be necessary to fix all the noted to ensure safety prior to next MOT. I need a run around car with the need to travel 100 miles on weekends and on a regular basis. TIA

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories) • Brake disc worn, but not excessively Front [1.1.14 (a) (i)] • Brake disc worn, but not excessively Rear [1.1.14 (a) (i)] • Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords Offside Front [5.2.3 (d) (i)] • Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords Nearside Rear [5.2.3 (d) (i)] • Suspension component corroded but not seriously weakened Front [5.3.3 (b) (i)] • Suspension component corroded but not seriously weakened Rear [5.3.3 (b) (i)]

Car is a Peugeot 207 with 58 plate. 62K on clock. Have negotiated to £750.

Will the brakes be a safety issue as is?

paul_c123

Grey_Critic said:

***Brake disc worn, but not excessively***

What is meant by Brake Disc worn? There is a specification for brake discs Max/Min braking surface - Ford for example used to be Max 22 mm Min 19mm

Brake disc and pad wear should be expresses in percentage wear

You're forgetting, an MoT tester cannot remove wheels (unlike, for example, a "free brake safety check" offered by eg fast fit garages). This means, all the tester has to go by is to visually look through the wheel or at the backside when on the ramp. If there's a significant lip, its clearly worn.

Calculating % wear is easy enough once you know the 3 values.

Goudy

The rear beam axle on these 207's can rust up.

It's common with a lot of cars around this age. They were poorly painted to start with and the road grit would have flicked the paint off over the years.

They tend to look worse than they actually are. Eventually it'll start to crumble but that could be years away.

You can get a completely refurbished axle with new bushes and proper paint for less than £250.
The axle is shared with the likes of Citroen's C3 Picasso, so it's common enough.

As for the brakes, yes the MOT tester can't really measure the disc thickness.
They have just warned you they probably need doing before the next MOT.

As for the cut tyres, I'd get those changed asap.