Gutted

[steve10]

Two weeks ago I bought a K plate 5dr 200TDI with 12 months MOT from a car dealer. The car has two previous owners, done 127k miles and has a FSH.

This week i took it to my local independent land rover garage for a service and they called me in yesterday to look at it on the Ramp.

What a nightmare - the two rear and one other body mountings are rusted through, the rear cross member is gone, the sills are weak and one of the rear arches has a hole near the seatbelt mounting point. There are also holes in the boot floor (which i did know about).

The garage said it should have never gone through it's MOT and is basically not roadworthy and were amazed it had 12 months MOT on it. It doesn't give me much confidence in MOT's! How the hell can something like this pass?

They have also said it's not worth repairing and I should take it back to the dealer for a refund. I'm taking it back to the dealer today for him to get it inspected so we'll see.

Gutted!!!

[clodhopper]

steve, take it straight back to the dealer. don't take no for an answer. i'm sure a mention of trading standards will convince him to do the right thing. was it the dealer who mot'd it himself or is there a third party involved, either way somebody has been acting dishonestly to say the least. hopefully you will find another truck in better condition soon.

[steve10]

The dealer got it MOT'd by his local garage.

[discowoman]

The dealer got it MOT'd by his local garage.

Then get VOSA involved..probably get an inquiry - and lose their MOT status

[chris9119]

Should have taken someone along who knows what there looking for/at....

With that amount of issues, a blindman could have seen them and walked away PDQ

[burgerman]

 I agree - get vosa invilved, They can inspect a vehicle for up to 3 months after a ticket has been issued for corrosion issues, I can assure you they will be intrested

[corrosiverob]

I agree - get vosa invilved, They can inspect a vehicle for up to 3 months after a ticket has been issued for corrosion issues, I can assure you they will be intrested

Mention the fact that if you were to report them to Vosa they will be ready to give you your cash back.

rob

[Discotel]

You know mate, any dealer who gets there local garage to do it normally have a thing called 'favours' in place...ie; in any other garage it would probably fail its MOT...yet if there mate in the local garage does it he will turn a blind eye to certain things, he gets a bung and the dealer can sell it quick and hope for the best...He has just been caught out in this case but I bet he's done it a million times before.....Like the others say, just mention VOSA and he will brick himself.....Good luck.

Terry

[steve10]

thanks for the replies and VOSA information.

I'll let you know what happens

Steve

[Ja1983]

Take photos as evidence, and take a ccpy of the photos into the dealer, as this basically shows you have everything you need to take them to the cleaners!

i`m sure mentioning that tese areas of corrosion relating to the saftey of your children (whether or nor you have any) and what could have easily happened in the event of a crash will help stir them further.....

me and my mate once went to look at a car in bradford which had 12mths ticket.... and unless it had been thrashed 30,000miles over rough terrain in the last week, i doubt it would have genuinley passed an MOT!

(rear shockers completely gone, half a wheel turn of play in the steering, emissions.... well, it looked like a petrol after a tankful of diesel had been through it!... hole (and i mean HOLE) in the windscreen)

certain things could happen within the drive out of the MOT station, a bulb etc... but corrosion doesnt happen instantly!

[Range Rover Blues]

Crikey mate that's horrendous, how much did you pay?

However much it was you'd be forgiven for thinking that off a fourcourt with a 12 month ticket on it that the car would be sound :-.

You can still pick up solid examples at that age so I hope you get a refund and aren't put off looking for another.

[hobbit]

It make ou wonder what else has been put through an 'MOT', before boing sold on

They are putting people at risk,with very dangerous habits, both the mot stationand the sales people

I would recommend a trip to the nearest VOSA testing station, present the mot and ask them to check it over, but see that they will let you take the motor back to get your money back before they pounce on the mot tester

My friend runs an mot garage, and even for me he would not let any of this go, if it fails it fails, I do the work and take it back to them, they know me and what I can do, but I still follow the correct procedure, it means to much to crap on a friend, he can loose too much

The garage probably told the seller to sort the jobs out before selling it, and the seller didn't bother

[crazymac]

Same advice as the rest. 

I take my Discovery to a local MOT station who knows me well. He tests the vehicle fairly and with due consideration to safety. I'd rather know that my vehicle is safe! If he can advise me on something he will, as he knows I fix it that day so there is no danger of it coming back to bite him. But sometimes things are a fail, end of story! I sort it and take it back for retest!

These MOT stations make a fair bit of money from MOT's so any threat about VOSA will have them running.

[CNorman]

I feel gutted for you as well. Got to say though how much of a bad egg is it. It dont take a lot of garage labour to make something un worth while to repair.

I hope you can take it back but i would have thought the person would have said it was fit for purpose, it apparently has an MOT on it and should go for a year, and no doubt you didnt pay a great deal of money.

My understanding is that it is very difficult to disprove an MOT and that there are very short time frames within which you may report defects, something like 1week for certain things and 1month for big things like severe corrocsion etc :shock:

That would nmake it difficult to "force him under law" to do anything i would have thought.

Still hope that he ends up taking it back.

[GreedyGibson]

As said above corrosion issues are 3 month window. you will have to get an appeal form from a testing station and pay for whats called an inverted appeal. Vosa wil then test the vehicle at a neutral site and invite the testing site to attend. if its proved that the pass was issued incorrectly you do get your appeal money back and the garage gets a kicking and the tester will probably get suspended.

[Range Rover Blues]

My mate is a tester and he does all my cars, but the only favour he'll do for me is a 'phone call to tell me it won't pass so I save the test fee.

Trouble is these days with the new computerised system that they have to take 45 minutes to do the test, so unless you pay seperately for a pre-test it's not worth garages doing them.

[Cheggs]

Firstly get Vosa involved they will retest, and when it fails, get your money back because all goods must be fit for the purpose for which they were sold, if it wasn't sold as spares or repair then it was sold as road worthy and it ain't, so the dealer has to give you your money back, and I made the trader who sold me mine drive 100 miles to fetch it as it wasn't road worthy and make thenm bring cash or you won't release the car till acheque has cleared, what is sauce for the goose and all that :D

[discowoman]

double check any receipt to make sure they havent shoved SOLD AS SEEN into it anywhere

[Cheggs]

Sold as seen has no legal standing the sale of goods act states that "all goods have to be suitable for the purpose for which they were sold". If in doupt contact citzens advice or if you have legal protection on your insurance check with them.

[Range Rover Blues]

Yes cars dealers should put "spares or repair" on the receipt for a car that is Sold as Seen, the old chetnut "buyer beware" seems to have gone away, perhaps for the better in this case.

[stuvy]

So how is it going with the garage?

[steve10]

Hi all

Thanks for the interest and helpful responses.

I expect to hear from the dealer tomorrow. In preparation I have spoken to VOSA who were very helpful and somewhat keen to have a look at the car and suggest getting trading standards involved in conjuction with them.

Watch this space!

cheers

Steve

[steve10]

Hi all

Just thought you would like to know that the dealer has agreed to take the vehicle back and give me a refund.

Thanks again for the pointers and advice.

cheers

Steve

[MudRat]

well done steve, are u still looking for a disco?

[steve10]

possibly, I'm also thinking of getting a defender.

I have asked my local independent landrover garage to look out for something for me since obviously I'm not very good at spotting the problems  :roll:

I would much rather pay them a few quid a get something decent that have to go through all this hassle again.

Steve

[Ja1983]

possibly, I'm also thinking of getting a defender.

I have asked my local independent landrover garage to look out for something for me since obviously I'm not very good at spotting the problems  :roll:

I would much rather pay them a few quid a get something decent that have to go through all this hassle again.

Steve

I`m sure a local mud-clubber would also be able to help you find a bargain  ;)

[PITBULL]

glad to hear they give your moneyback but cant help but wonder in away they have dodged the bullet by giving you a refund as i assume you wont be takin it any further.

i wonder if they will try there luck again and resell it :-k

[Range Rover Blues]

Hopefully not, if trading standards and/or VOSA are aware I hope they will not be so stupid, either it will go through the auctions or passed on to another trader, hopefully it will get repaired though, or sold spares/repair.