Just bought a car with a DODGY MOT

[footychick]

Hey everyone, first post and unfortunately not a good one!

I picked up an Audi A3 S-Line Quattro 8P 2.0 tdi a few days ago after it having had a new MOT put on it a matter of days before I bought it. I big help in swaying my decision to get that one, surely cant be too much wrong right? Wrong. I will admit that I should have noticed some of this but all of it went out of the window on viewing really as I fell in love with it straight away :/

So on the drive home I noticed a really obvious, humming/vibrating noise in 6th and its really sort of kangeroo like in the lower gears when trying to hold a steady speed. I know you may not often want to do that but still, its not normal right?

Anyway, I took it to a VAG specialist on Saturday who put it up and we had a good look underneath it before he took it out for a spin. He found the following;

Rear drivers spring broken, not even attached to coil (no failure of MOT)
Rear passengers spring badly corroded (no advisory on MOT)
All of the discs are rusty as hell (listed as advisory '(brake discs rusty)'
Front pads are low with little life left in them
Rear passenger tyre has a bulge in it (what is thought to be the cause of the noise in 6th gear) which I have picture proof it was there before the MOT as its in the pictures he had it advertised on Ebay.
That same tyre is also near the legal limit.

None (apart from discs) were listed or a subsequent fail on the MOT and I am now stuck with a car and having to repair it!

I have said all of this to the seller who is of course unwilling to take the car back and give a refund. He actually knows the garage as their work units are right next door to each other but denies this and says he uses them out of convenience and is offended that I think this was a dodgy MOT done as 'favour'.

He has finally offered to get 'A' spring done, the broken one despite me telling him you need to replace both, and 'the' tyre. He initially wanted to use the garage who were incompetent in issuing the MOT so I said not a chance and he has since said he would do it at another garage but it still persistent on only paying for one spring and the tyre.

The car was advertised as drives great and with a years mot of which I feel I have been mislead however as I bought it privately he knows I don't have much of a leg to stand on.

I'm really now not too sure what to do? Do I accept the offer of one spring and the tyre? Do I continue and see if I can get legal action against him to take the car back? As much as this is ideal I think it is highly unlikely. Or do I get the DVSA involved, let them inspect it and then see if I can bill him for whatever they find?

I feel soo gutted!! I completely fell for this car and that idiot selling it which I thought I had learned by now after previous happenings. I do still like her but I'm worried that the lower tread on the tyres has messed with the diff and that the underneath is all rusty where they have had it sat for a while. I now feel stuck with it and all my money tied up in it with not much idea on what to do!!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated! (Apart from knock him out, which I very much want to do but unfortunately can't)

Hannah

[Rob69]

Have a look at this for information regarding test standards and pass criteria:
https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...-4-5-and-7.pdf
and this regarding the discretionary nature of advisories:
https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk...-right-advice/

You bought the car with a years MOT and then took it for an inspection to find out what was wrong with it, coming away from that inspection with a list of items you expected the MOT tester to give you. The seller has since offered to replace the broken spring, which may well have not been broken at the time of the MOT test, and replace the tyre, which you think was below the minimum standard acceptable to pass the MOT test but still bought the car anyway.
Accept his offers of repairs and think carefully before getting DVSA involved with inspections, accusations of incompetence and 'dodgy' MOT's.

Any MOT testers on here may have other opinions or advice, these are just my thoughts, I hope you get the car sorted and enjoy it thereafter.

A key point;
The purpose of the MOT test is to check that; at the time of the test, the testable items meet the minimum standard required by law and without dismantling. The responsibility for the condition of a vehicle lies with the vehicle owner and the MOT is not intended to replace routine servicing and maintenance.

[zollaf]

rusty discs, well unless they are so worn that they are considered dangerous then thats a pass if they pull up ok on the rollers, very hard to fail on discs. front pads low ? not even an mot advisory unless they are down to almost worn out..
rusty spring, so what, metal rusts.
rear spring snapped. not sure what you mean by 'not attached to coil '. but if it was snapped at the mot then it should have been spotted, but springs can snap at any time, was it snapped when he tested it or did it snap as the car was driven out ??? we shall never know.
tyre near limit ? again, not a fail unless its on the limit.
bulge in tyre. was it bulged at mot time, or did it get curbed later on, again we shall never know.
you could get dvla involved, they will inspect the car but you cant use it or get it fixed in the meantime, but they probably wont find anything else wrong so wont do anything, especially since the seller has offered to compensate you. you know your best bet, get some cash off the seller for the spring and tyre and get the car sorted, and next time you buy a car get it inspected by a competent person, the aa or another garage, before you buy it, that way you will save a lot of hassle for yourself. also, as rob has suggested, stop throwing accusations about dodgy mot's around, a subject which you have no knowledge or qualifications in. if in doubt, pay for legal advice.

[footychick]

The VAG specialist I took it to on Saturday said that the brakes should have been brought up especially as they cause such a juddering feedback upon braking.

Rusty spring, so what? Im glad you can be so casual about it. Be nice for you to be in the same situation and have someone come at you with that sort of comment. Its snapped basically is what I mean, and it looks to the mechanic who assessed it that it has been snapped for some time. The garage in question have already accepted liability for this after the seller spoke to them this morning and offered to fit the spring and tyre if he got them but I wont have the garage go near the car again. For a garage to admit they mustve missed it and also hold their hands up to the tyre doesnt exactly fill me with hope they are doing their jobs correctly hence the accusations.

Zollaf - if you get off your high horse and read my first comment properly then you will see exactly what I put about the tyre and that I have photo evidence that it was there prior to the MOT. So, in this case, yes we do know!

Thank you for your advice, you have been very helpful..

[JMR1]

Hi Footy, aside from the listed faults, do you think that there is anything else wrong? If the spring and tyre are being replaced FOC, that only leaves the discs and brake pads...so, even in Ireland these are not too expensive ( I imagine even cheaper in England ) and they are standard replacement items,,,,, replace all 4 sets, back and front, and rest happy that your brakes are 100%. Next is the gearbox vibration. TBH, that would worry me more than all the other faults combined.....but then again, with a bulging tyre and broken spring in the mix, these would need to be sorted out first, and then see where you are with the gearbox. In Ireland, we have the NCT ( same as MOT in England )but these are specialist centres, Government run, and not garages ( can ANY garage there carry out the MOT? or is it only selected ones? ) But in any case... be it MOT or NCT, it only reports on condition of the vehicle ( and then only on a selected list of the cars components, and not every single nut and bolt ) Its basically a snapshot of the car at that moment in time. So as Rob and Zollaf have mentioned, springs can and do break, and tyres get kerbed... happens all the time. If it was me, I would put it down to experience, forget about digging deeper into who is at fault for what ( especially getting the DVLA or legal eagles involved ) get the car back in action, and start enjoying it.
Good Luck with it,
Jim....

[zollaf]

i said, if the spring was broke at test he should have spotted it, same with the tyre, IF.. thats a bif if and hard to prove. judders are not part of the mot. you seem to think other things should have failed when they shouldn't. if you have a photo of the bulged tyre then why not point it out before accepting the car ??
i see this all too often, people buy a car without getting it looked at first, then moan when they find out its not as good as they first thought and its everyone else's fault apart from their own. and by offering to do the spring and tyre, the garage are just actually being quite good. its far cheaper for them to do that than for it to go further.

[Scott K]

Hi Hannah,
Welcome to the forum. You have had a bad experience but the seller is willing to get the spring and tyre replaced. Find someone to help you replace the discs and pads - it's not a difficult job - or get your VW specialist to do it. You will have a car you love and should give you plenty of trouble free motoring. Hopefully you can put this down to experience and forget about it.

[mike ryan]

The MOT is purely a snap shot of the car at that point in time. The rusty spring in itself is not dangerous and won't fail an MOT. If The tester cannot see the broken spring then they are too assume it is fine. I know this sounds daft but that's how it works otherwise an enthusiastic tester can generate problems that they can't see to drum up business. The discs and tyres are all visible without any need for a tester so if you didn't look when you viewed it I am afraid that's your fault. If you are not happy to do this then take some one with you to view it who does know or get it inspected prior to handing any money over.

I am afraid to say that nobody sells a car because it is reliable and going well. They sell cars because there is a fault or problem that would involve spending money on the car and they want to get rid of it.

Not trying to be nasty but it is a lesson learnt and be more careful next time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zollaf]

he's right.
no one is on high horse or having a dig, but have been round the block with cars, know the trade and how it works, and have seen people stung. its a minefield, dog eat dog world. sometimes people take it further and win but quite often people end up losing even more money the further they take it. sometimes its best to take whats on offer and make the best you can out of a bad situation. i am in the trade and buy and sell cars, i have over a quarter of a century experience, and even i have been caught out because heart has ruled head.

[Crasher]

What year and mileage is the car and how much did you pay for it?