Hi, i've just bought a car off EBay (yes -I know!!!). It was from a dealer clearing his trade-ins. I bought it on Friday. It was a 98 Clio and seemed to drive fine. It had an MOT issued the day before so I skipped some of the basic checks I would normally have done - as in all of them! Believe it or not I trusted the dealer. Anyway, I live in Cambridge and he's in Derby. I paid for the car (cash as that was all he'd take). When I got home I went to wash the car I found I couldn't unlock the drivers rear door - either from the pull -up latch inside or the central locking button. Further investigation revealed that I couldn't open the other rear door using the outside handle (works using inside handle). The bonnet release also does nothing!
I contacted the guy on his mobile when I got home and found all this and he agreed to sort it if I brought it up today (Tuesday). Have been trying to contact him all yesterday and today and no answer. So, in preparing for the possibility I've been scammed I want to know what I should do. It seems to me that the MOT should never have been issued, so should I contact the issuing garage directly? Also, does the garage have to give me the details of the person they did the MOT for? I'm going to head back up there tomorrow regardless of wether I can contact the seller or not and go to the address I bought the car from. If no joy, I was going to go round to the garage but wanted to know where I stood.
Can anyone help?
thanks
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check here first
www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECSID-Internet-Sta...p
then here to see what advisories there were
www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-His...p
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Hi bell boy, thanks for that. The notices told me it passed first time and prior tests showed nothing regarding locking mechanisms or doors failing to open. Do you think I should I report this to VOSA or deal with the garage directly?
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Also, do you (or anyone else) know if the bonnet release failing to do anything, is also an MOT issue or is that not part of the MOT check?
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I think there are a few issues here.
Firstly, I have bought a few cars and sold some on ebay. I am not a trader at all but as circumstances have changed we have changed our cars........
I have been 'conned' by an ebay seller but have also bought some fantastic cars and vans from ebay with no problems at all. ALWAYS get a receipt with the sellers name, address and landline number on. As I understand it an MOT station is not allowed to disclose information of the person who submitted the car for MOT even if they keep such records as it would be protected under the (dare I say this) data protection act.
VOSA has clear guidelines if you buy a car and subsequently suspect the MOT has been issued incorrectly. Look it up on their website. The golden rule is DONT GET IT REPAIRED BEFORE THEY INSPECT IT!!!!!!
I would suggest that that you contact the seller IN WRITING listing all the faults with the car. This should be sent by recorded delivery and tracked. Advise that you are not happy and are seeking legal advice.
Unfortunately, as a private buyer, you have little legal protection. The only hope you have is that the car may have been issued with an MOT without being suitably fit to do so. Still, I would threaten the seller with Court action and that might just make him/her play fair with you.
Good luck
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heres my take
the seller is a chancer
the mot station has been taken in
speak to mot station first (calmly) get their opinion on non opening apertures
post back
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An MOT is a declaration regarding the car's condition only at the time it was tested, so I can't see how the declaration can be refuted at any time later.
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L\'escargot.
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You may be right in your suspicions, but I think you are jumping to conclusions a bit soon.
None of the reported faults are MOT failure points in themselves, and as L'e points out, the MOT only certifies the points checked at the time of the test.
Obviously it is a bit suspicious, because the tester would have had to get the bonnet open to do the emissions test and check the state of the brake pipes, for example.
But I think you would need evidence of something more substantial missed before justifying the assertion that it was a "false MOT".
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Hi, on the back of the MOT it states that you can report it up to 28 days later. The MOT was done on the 5th and i picked it up on the 7th so I'd say it's very likely that the faults were there at the time of the MOT. Anyway I'm not really after the garage, I'm trying to get hold of the dealer who sold it. The car was sold with a new MOT and if it was not in a condition to get a new MOT, then it was not fairly represented.
Thanks for all your suggestions.
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I found I couldn't unlock the drivers rear door - either from the pull -up latch inside or the central locking button. Further investigation revealed that I couldn't open the other rear door using the outside handle (works using inside handle).
Not being able to open the rear doors isn't a failure. It only applies to the front doors (apart from the exemption mentioned in the link)
www.motuk.co.uk/manual_620.htm
Reason for rejection
b. a driver's or front passenger's door cannot be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle from the relevant control in each case.
The bonnet release also does nothing!
Can't find any info regarding whether this is a failure or not.
www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm
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after dd"s good post i will once again implore you to contact testing garage for their comments
you may well find that they will be very upset like you are OP
as i said post back what they say before speaking to seller
the choice is yours
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I think the non opening bonnet is not a failure of an MOT as such, but the tester should refuse to test it.
Reason is that there are things under the bonnet that need inspecting like brake pipes, and leaking master cylinder and/or servo etc etc
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He may have opened it with a screwdriver or from underneath!(on the ramp).
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And who's to say that any of the above stopped working after the MOT was carried out anyway?
The cable may well had been on it's last legs when the tester opened it. No real way of knowing without asking the tester, (as already mentioned), but the likelyhood of him remembering that specific car is questionable. To him it's just another tin box in for an MOT.
Apologies to the OP, but to *trust* buying a car from someone on having had an MOT the day before the sale, without checking around the car beforehand is just asking for trouble.
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Apologies to the OP, but to *trust* buying a car from someone on having had an MOT the day before the sale, without checking around the car beforehand is just asking for trouble.
Exactly. On the front of my MOT certificate it says "Warning: A test certificate is not evidence that the vehicle is in a satisfactory condition."
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L\'escargot.
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I've had things break during an MoT.
The bonnet release may have failed during the MoT - it's unlikely to have been noted though.
Make sure it's not one of the Clio self opening bonnets !
I don't think there's much here to discuss with the MoT station, or VOSA - though if you can get it fixed by the seller then that would be a good result.
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