Hello folks,

I have bought a run around (vw) while I have projects on the go but to say its dangerous is an understatement!

The issues so far are
-radiator cracked on way home ( ok no big drama)
- more worryingly are the brakes I nearly crashed today and got the car home I had a quick look to see that a Few brake lines are held together by electrical tape and one has pissed the fluid out at te rear! Also the tyres have a few issues ( tread is fine but there's a split in two again at the back and couldn't be seen without week removal. It was MOT'd the day before aswell!

I have a mechanic coming to check it all over but where do I stand with this?

I looked online an what should I do do inreport the mot station as to me it's a " mates mot" and shoul I contact to popo go selling a unroadworthy dangerous car?

Hope all the above makes sense and is clear! I checked the car over but there's limits to what I can see on a driveway!

Any help be great

Thanks
Oggy

 

was it from a garage or private seller?

either way take it back get your cash back, if they refuse, make them aware that you will report the garage that did the mot

 

when was the mot done? if recent ring them up and explain its dangerous and unless they sort it the ministry will be contacted.

Mate had similar issues after a garage carried out poor repairs and damaged his brand new wheels after the owners son took it out and crashed it.

the garage owner bought the car off my mate for a very very good price.
2 months later the garage had been done anyway

 

contact vosa and explain situation to them (about the mot situation)
and trading standards if you bought it from a dealer

 

Bit of a dilemma that one, if you report it, your not gonna get your cash back and you'll have to pay to have it repaired, if you 'threaten' to report it, get your cash back and give him the car back, hes just gonna sell it to someone else, plus you won't be able to report it then as you won't have the car. But if you don't report it they'll just carry on doing this!

Good Luck

 

Mot 18 December I picked up a few days back he didn't use car as it wasnt taxed!( apparently new brakes fitted too ha!

I have contacted the guy.( Private sale) Is it best o contact the garage first or report them? I'm livid as it could have killed myself and my mrs! There's no way on earth that the brakes weren't bodged pre-mot as the tape is pretty grubby!

 

Someone else who makes me wish I didn't do mots let alone own my own station,

 

If it's from a trader you have plenty of rights - but you HAVE to follow the correct procedure. Read up on the Sale of Goods Act. If it's from a private seller, then you're on your own unfortunately, as I doubt VOSA will do anything (worth a go though).

EDIT: Ignore the trader bit as I didn't see your reply.

 

as its under a month old it suggests it was a bent MOT station or tester, make a factual list of faults but only those that a MOT tester would look for not a fault elsewhere on the vehicle as the other non MOT faults would be down to you not testing them prior to purchase, see what seller says in answer to your claim then if still not happy, go legal on him involving VOSA and you may end up going small claims court route as a private seller

 

did you not check the car and test drive it before buying it

 

i thretened vosa

got some of the cost of the repairs back

but reported them anyway afterwards

no point in saying "as long as you sort me out i won't bother you fucking others over"

 

Yeah checked over but things like brake hoses wrapped in black tape aren't too obvious until it leaks and the tyres only
Apparent after removal

The brakes held up for a days use so the fluid has now started leaking quite severely!

 

Yh but would have failed brake efficiency test

 

It sounds like you havnt checked it over well enough i reckon.
In terms of the MOT it wont help you as once it has left the station anything could have been done to it. Proving it was in the same condition during MOT will be difficult if not impossible.

Brake pipes wrapped in tape arent too obvious? Why is the tape on there? It would never stop a leak so you would really have to presume the pipe is visably perished and its hiding something, at which point you proceed to remove the tape for confirmation. You may or may not have had time to do this but its a risk you take buying used cars.

 

I'm sorry but I don't see this as true far short I sticking the car up in the air and fully inspecting every inch how would you notice something like hoses underneath? It's not possible. I checked it over thoroughly as in m first post the rad went but that coul have happened at any poit tampered with brakes in another issue especially when they are disguised! You can see by the tape it's been there longer than a few days!

 

So 2 things happened here.

1. it has a dodgy MOT
2. you never bothered your arse having anything on the car inspected before buying ?

Caveat Emptor

 

I have not seen tyres crack on the inside only ,the tape maybe just to hold them in place which is wrong but I have seen anti roll bar bushes made from gaffer tape rear brake pistons with welding wire wrapped round them and a shogun with only 3 calipers one brake hose had a blank in it as said once the car had left the mot station anything could have been done but if it is a legit mot I would be asking questions,go to the mot website and check it is a genuine mot ,my mate bought a shogun last year turns out the mot was not genuine and it had failed on loads

 

Is the tape on the pipes or the hoses if its the pipes then are you sure its not the covering that most later VAG motors have,

pics would help re the brake pipe/hoses, as for the tyres could they have been swapped from alloys to steels?

 

tape would not have held up under the braking test regardless,never!!

 

phone the mot station stating the case and tell them to buy it off you at your full price or your calling the ministry. i know a garage who has had this done to them and they had to buy it to save themselves. its not right that they mot crap so make them pay for it.

maybe they wont do it again

 

how much was the car ?

 

I'm with you Steve...

Sounds like UTTER rubbish to me.

 

Some good responses above.
Speaking from both sides of the fence.
I sold an UNO years ago to a lad who constantly phoned me up with the slightest of issues,turned out he'd driven it pissed with 10 of his mates in it round the rugby club field until it effectively rolled into a ditch in the field,fucked the lower arm up and then tried saying I'd got a dodgy ticket on it.
His dad was the big man down the phone threatening court etc so basically told him to get fucked and if he thought there were issues,take it back to the mot centre as I'd paid full whack for a ticket and had the failures done.
He did and his "I'll take you to court patter worked" and he had Ł200's worth of work done for free.
I should point out the driving round a field incident only came to light after he's had it sorted from a mate if his who slipped up.

Conversely.

Bought a ka for good money off a mate for my sister with 12months ticket on it,I knew it was bumped but the repair was good or so it seemed.

She drove it about with no issues for a year then took it locally for a mot,it failed on having a crumpled chassis leg.

I told her bring it home and we'll get my mate to look.

He saw it but said it was minor so passed it.

Same again 12 months later,but this time the other boy working there failed it,which I wasn't happy with.

I did a bit of tinkering with it and took it to another mot centre who passed it,advising on the leg.

Passed the next mot ok then failed for other things so got broke up.

I went back to the guy who i bought it off who said it could have been my sis that caused it and it had passed an mot etc etc.

Tough one,I didn't see him as being totally wrong about that but had she not known me and just been a simple punter it could have got messy with court etc.

If I were you I'd ask for a refund or ask to get the work done and the car re mot'ed.

If he gets shitty phone the lot centre and explain the situation,explain you've spoken to him first but he's blaming them etc.

It's 50/50 what they'll do about it but my guess is they'll repair it for free or even just parts cost which is fair IMO.

You then know the car is right,happy days.

 

Can only think of one case I had dealings with ,had a vosa guy turn up and said a dispute was in progress and a report had been made to him about another station, would we do a re-test as it was claimed an unwarrented failer had been given on this car, we did the test and yes there was a reason for failer, a locking caliper and uneven braking , the car was owned by an old boy who I guess did not trust the mot guy who had more metal in his face than barry sheen had in his whole body ,so go to vosa an see what happens.

 

This happened to my mate years ago with a r5 turbo, they got another mot inspector to go over, wrote down a list as long as your arm of things that should not have past the new mot and of they went to court , this was a clear cut case , but the court went in the sellers favour , and my mate lost his case and a few grand in cost ,

 

just take the car back, sale of goods act stands even on second/third/forth etc. hand.
let the previous owner put the things right after you raise them to them.
part of the problem is that it had been MOT'd so the previous owner may have just taken that as road worthy and nothing more to it than that.

 

What's going on why has no one suggested bumming him

 

what it looks like to me is you've bought a cheap shit run a round and its cheap and shit now you're complaining?

mot states that the car was in a safe usable condition at the time of the test

the two things you pointed out the rad and the tyres suggest the car and been sat around for a while

the tyre pressure could have been low been mot'd passed and then inflated and cracked or the car could have had other wheels on for the mot

the rad tough shit not an mot problem and not a seller problem if it split on the way home

as for the brakes there's no excuse, but if the hoses where wrapped up neatly enough (so the tester didnt notice) and the brakes past the brake test then thats

i would say your problem is with seller not the test station next time take a competent person with you to look at and test drive the car.

just get it fixed sharpish and learn a lesson

 

oh and bum him

 

your telling me you couldnt see tyres were fucked and a brake pipe was pissing fluid! its not hard to check a car over

id say it was pretty much your own fault you bought a shed!

 

exactly what i was thinking

 

you clearly never checked over it thoroughly if the tyres were fucked... your pissing against the wind here mate scrap it or fix it... end of!

 

Maybe read in full first next time.......

It's sorted now anyway so thanks for the helpful replies.....

 

join the aa you will need them

 

what was the outcome?

 

no probs

 

Tough one, i think ultimatly tough shit you bought a cheap car and didn't inspect it properly, i think we all have been there.

Also no tape is going to stop a brake fluid leak, at best the tape was probably used to cover up a crack in a flexie or soemthing and as you have driven it's burst the flexie at it's weakest point, quite easy to say ok at time of test though really as it was a few weeks back. - You would have hard job proving that was leaking on the 18th december.

As for the tyre, the obvious has been mentioned, swapped alloys to steel after mot to sell it on, again something we have all done. & unless we are all mot testers i suspect ALOT of people who swap wheels/tyres prior to sale refit tyres that wouldn't pass an mot. As quite simply they have sat outside for the last three years in they're garden and are quite probably cracked everywhere. I have also seen tyres crack, and indeed bulged only on the inside edge.

 

It was a private sale, so the Sale of Goods Act is irrelevant. Plus the MoT is no guarantee of roadworthyness.