Issues with new (used) car - what are my rights

Castledrobe

eskbanker said:

Castledrobe said:

The last MOT was in February, no advisories and mileage of 55k.

I don't have any evidence that it was advertised at 58k, although I know that it definitely was. I do have evidence that it was sold to me at 58k when it is actually 64. Does that not count?

The point was really that an invoice doesn't influence your decision to purchase, whereas an advert/listing does, so proof of the latter is much more powerful.

Castledrobe said:

And does the fact that the salesman specifically told me that the tyres were good not make a difference?

It'll come down to your word versus his regarding what was said verbally but MOT advisories can be issued when tyres are at 3mm, well above the legal limit of 1.6mm, so they can still have plenty of life in them.

Thanks, this is really helpful. I don't want to march in all guns blazing if there are no grounds. I am still really !!!!!! off with them. I think he knew the tyres were on the edge, which is why he said 3mm all good and got me to nod. So I think he'll come back and say we told you so. I really hate that buying cars is such a bloody nightmare and thought that I would have avoided all this by buying from what I thought was a reputable Skoda dealer. 

Castledrobe

He definitely did say all the tyres are good, I know that for sure. Just he specifically mentioned one was at 4mm and one at 3. Can I not say that in not sharing the latest MOT with me they were withholding information from me that would have made me make a different decision, which would have been to insist on new tyres?

sheramber

Castledrobe said:

He definitely did say all the tyres are good, I know that for sure. Just he specifically mentioned one was at 4mm and one at 3. Can I not say that in not sharing the latest MOT with me they were withholding information from me that would have made me make a different decision, which would have been to insist on new tyres?

Did you ask to see the results of the MOT before you accepted the keys?

Castledrobe

No. It had a clean MOT from February, I had no reason to think that it would have deteriorated that much since. I have actually never bought a car on my own before. So I (naively) went with a brand dealer because I thought they would play it straight. He made a big play of handing all the paperwork over to me, but not the MOT

Grumpy_chap

2018 car at £7,250.

I really wouldn't think that the mileage 58k or 64k would make any difference to the price.

The tyres are legal and were able to be seen at test drive.  While not a major issue, negotiating a contribution to new tyres when required might be the most achievable outcome.

That is all a pragmatic opinion and ignores rights that you may or may not have.

I assume this was an in person purchase from the dealer and not a remote purchase.

Castledrobe

Hi yes in person. Thank you, I do generally favour a pragmatic response. 

born_again

If you are happy with car. Go back to dealer & say. Advertised @ 58K but is 64K & tyres are warn as per MOT they had done before pick up.. Will they replace the tyres.

Castledrobe

Just going back to this feeling that something is off here. I am looking at the service history, which has a service on October 15th, listing the mileage at 58,690. But the MOT one month later lists mileage at c64000. What is going on there? Is there an explanation that isn't dodgy/shoddy?

eskbanker

Castledrobe said:

Just going back to this feeling that something is off here. I am looking at the service history, which has a service on October 15th, listing the mileage at 58,690. But the MOT one month later lists mileage at c64000. What is going on there? Is there an explanation that isn't dodgy/shoddy?

It's not beyond the bounds of possibility for 6k+ miles to be driven in a month, but perhaps unlikely - if the mileage was reported as 55k in February, 58,690 in October and 64k in November, I'd suggest it's more likely that the October figure was entered incorrectly.

Aylesbury_Duck

Any chance the instrument cluster was changed?  In 2020 I had a cluster failure on my car.  I bought a second-hand cluster from eBay and it showed a few thousand miles off the true mileage of my car, despite it coincidentally having quite similar mileage.