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Jan 13, 2016 18:37:33 GMT
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Right, as i write this i am quite grumpy, largely with myself but also massively with people who pass them selves off as motor traders but should really be only fit for, well i havent actually thought of anything yet, but nothing good! i am ok at car repairs, no expert but ok, and in ALL circumstances i check my cars thoroughly, and always expect a few bits and bobs here and there, well in almost all circumstances.
anyway, this time last year my partner/missus/boss declared she wanted to get another car, for herself, baby, and as it turned out next bump. she hadnt driven for a year due to saving cash and children appearing. brilliant thought I, a project! but alas my gal only really does modern cars(i know...), and only auto's too... and budget was still tight! so anyway up popped a 1996 civic auto, on guess which bay, at a dealer down the road. she wants it, we the pictures, i see filler, and i say no. however it has 12months MOT from the prvious day! Ok, thought I, maybe its alright enough, hey its not too new, will prob have a few jobs to do, besides i can sort filler whenever, maybe can get if it goes cheap etc etc etc.... my missus chats to the seller who assures her the car has been checked over, serviced by his professional mechanic and so on. It looks suspiciously clean thought I, but hey its at a dealer i guess their all clean... however were to busy to give it a tourough look over, so just went away after checking engine, brakes etc.
so it went reasonably cheap, and missus bought it! missus happy = result! got it home, and with the busy-ness of life my missus just drove the car, to work, out with our daughter and then out with daughter and bump etc, and my intended thorough check over never occurred....
Fast forward to the present, and i decided it was time to give it a thorough going over, missus wouldnt be driving for a few weeks after second little ones arrival, i'll have some leave, perfect. was not pleased with my discovery.....
rust rust and more rust, the ofside sill was non existent, the car has plastic sill covers, under which was a mixture of air, two socks, filler and lots and lots of newspaper! all hiden away, and tin foil in their to look like metal undrt a small skim of filler! the filler i had seen before was everywhere, and just over old rust... did an old 68 mgb a while back, which was in a similar state but had been left untouched for a decade! filler behind the bumper, just everywhere, bottom of a posts.....
now i could probably repair it, but really gets me is how dare this car be passed off as roadworthy?! and sold to a young woman with children? my personal fav bit is that the newspaper was the local one, dated a day before the MOT pass..... how the F did it get one?!
anyway, lesson learnt, one that i was sure i already new..... check check, check and check some more, and listen to your instincts!!!!!
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Jan 13, 2016 18:44:27 GMT
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  now i have seen waaay worse, but not mot'd or hidden in such a way... i didnt take many photos, this was after 5 mins.... |
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Jan 13, 2016 18:45:43 GMT
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Oh dear that's not good at all, obviously from the newspaper being from the day before the test the seller knew that it was rotten, it's a shame you didn't look sooner
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Last Edit: Jan 13, 2016 18:48:40 GMT by fordperv
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Kieran
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,092
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Jan 13, 2016 18:45:54 GMT
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If it's within 3 months of the mot can you not report the car and testing station to vosa?
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The Ashby Jackson fleet:-
1979 Mini Clubman 1.8 K series
1978 Skoda 110r Project 130RS K-oupe
1978 Austin Allegro 1500 SDL Estate
1984 BMW K100 Sidecar outfit
1999 Yamaha FZS 1000 Fazer
1991 Kawasaki ZXR400 race bike
2002 Kawasaki ZX9r race bike
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Jan 13, 2016 18:56:51 GMT
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Not fit for purpose springs to mind report to vosa asap!!!
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Jan 13, 2016 19:08:33 GMT
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fore sure wish id checked it earlier  i mean have fixed worse, and it got left as there were more needy cars then one with full test thought I! besdies, new baby, house to fix up, and graduation to achieve... |
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Jan 13, 2016 19:18:50 GMT
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sadly it is to long after test to complain i think, so shall have to settle for a rant about it... it shames honest guys shoddy work like this. I like the not fit for purpose thought, as one of the aforementioned reasons for busyness was my graduation (mature student at 26 apparently) which was for my law degree.....
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Jan 13, 2016 19:19:49 GMT
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I have had the same , i bought a cheap renault advertised for £400 , with 12 months mot . He pointed out it needed a wheel bearing [ badly ] so he took £300 . I got it to a garage and the driveshaft was k/o as well , which you could not hear because of the bearing . Her said he just sells a few cars for beer money ...
Alarm bells should have rung with the wheel bearing and just having a mot but i kind of looked past that as i had 24hrs to find a set of cheap wheels . Turns out the garage that did the mot was only 1/2 a mile from his house ...
Pretty obvious once i pieced it together - i facebooked the last owner , young lad who was travelling in Thailand . So my idea is he ran the car into the ground and either p/x'ed at the garage or let them dispose of it . Someone there [ the mot man ] whacks a fake mot on it and passses it on to his mate he used to work with .
So a £50 gets sold to the seller for £100 and he punts it on facebook to a mug like me .
It should never ever have had a mot .
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Jan 13, 2016 20:35:43 GMT
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That is ridiculously dangerous. You should report it to vosa anyway, even tell them you don't expect resolution, or compensation or whatever, but just so they can actually look into the place that passed it.
If that car got sideswiped or rear ended, who knows how it would fold up?
And if they did have prior knowledge of those repairs, shame on the trader who sold it to a young family...
'Sold as seen' shouldn't be a get out of jail free card for your conscience.
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Jan 13, 2016 20:45:51 GMT
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Sounds like time to visit the seller, show him the pictures so he knows you have evidence of his shenanigins and mention the magic words "Trading Standards" It may well be too late to get VOSA involved and anyway, if the bodging has been concealed well enough, you can't blame the tester, he can't fail what he can't see, but TS will still look at it on the "fit for purpose" or "merchantable quality" grounds. But a lot of small businesses will back down at the mere mention of the words!
Sold as seen is meaningless anyway if it's a trader selling it!
Steve
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Last Edit: Jan 13, 2016 20:48:12 GMT by carledo
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Jan 13, 2016 20:55:06 GMT
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no doubt the seller is a douch bag , but 20 years old and the state of that arch didnt give you a hint to look a bit closer , looks like most of that arch is made badly from filler
other thoughts...what kind of money must these back street traders be buying the cars in for to turn a profit? id go private for cheapie cars
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91 golf g60, 89 golf 16v , 88 polo breadvan
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MrSpeedy
East Midlands
www.vintagediesels.co.uk
Posts: 4,786 
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Jan 13, 2016 21:00:57 GMT
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Unless it was parked up in a bath of vinegar it's pretty obvious to anyone that the sill didn't get like that in 12 months. If it me I'd be on to vosa sharpish, with lots of photos. Especially the newspaper removal and date.
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Jan 13, 2016 21:28:08 GMT
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no doubt the seller is a douch bag , but 20 years old and the state of that arch didnt give you a hint to look a bit closer , looks like most of that arch is made badly from filler other thoughts...what kind of money must these back street traders be buying the cars in for to turn a profit? id go private for cheapie cars it did look full of filler, but tbh i wasnt that bothered about the arch that i could mend as and when, fully intended to dig further but never got round to it, dosey plank me there... and most of the really trouble was concealed under plastic trim and only found when delving, so not something you can do on a cheapie b4 you buy it. thats what really gets me, the hiding etc more than the rot itself, as thats where it becomes dangerous. this thought crossed my mind too. interestingly there was a delay in getting the v5c, not fully explained, when it appeared after 8months it turned out the car came from milton keynes, yet ended up in cheltenham? also on a mooch at the local yard a few months back spotted an old corsa b in the carpark bit b4 the cars go to their doom.... looked acceptable from 20yards. two days later spotted it at this dealer guys place. I'm all for saving cars, however, only properly done. |
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Jan 13, 2016 21:36:59 GMT
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tbh I'm not as irritated with the tester as i am with the seller. the tester can only test what they can see i suppose, though i would have hoped a tester may have seen more. its the seller that really gets me, anything could have happened to that car, if it had got any knock it would have disintigrated. it gives old cars a bad rep, which is not allowed, at the very least! a rusty car isnt necessarily a bad thing, it can be a beast of a project! just as long as its not passed off as anything but a project....
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Jan 13, 2016 23:06:07 GMT
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As you just said the MOT is a non invasive test they cant take off any plastic trim/skirts nor can the go around trying to jab holes in the cars underside.
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Nissan Laurel SOLD  BMW E34 Diesel SOLD  Toyota Soarer 4.0 V8 SOLD Audi A4 1995 TDI SOLD Peugeot 205 1.9 TD SOLD Lexus IS300 SC |
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I'd probably give the tester the benefit of the doubt on that one,though i reckon a good few dealers have a tame-ish tester.
I went to look at a Ford Cougar a couple of years ago that a bloke trading from a (very expensive) house was selling.Test was 18 hours old and while i was looking round it i noticed a set of discs in the box on the rear floor.
Took it out for a drive and it went ok,came to brake and it had the worst brake judder i have ever experienced,it was lethal shaking it's head like a mad horse.
No way had that been on the rollers and passed a brake test the day before.Looked to me like a case of "i've got the discs,give it a pass mate and i'll fit them later today"
I walked away,in fact i don't think the bloke wanted me to buy it,he refused to even fit the new discs !
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mikeymk
Part of things
'85 Polo Coupe S 1.6 16v
Posts: 931
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Jan 14, 2016 12:41:37 GMT
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Ah, that brings back some memories.
In around 1989 a mate had got a 2dr MK2 Escort from another mate. We were 15/16 and it was enough just getting something we could drive occasionally. This thing was completely rotten at the base of the A and C pillars, only the B pillars and glass were holding the roof on. We stuffed the holes with newspaper, filler, rattle can and sold it on to some old boy.
Most of the cars were like that, they just went around amongst us gutterlife - Chevettes with windows glued shut to hold the windows up, minis with rope for engine mounts, Cortina MK4 with gear oil for engine oil as the engine was so worn, Bedford CF with cardboard for a head gasket (i don't know if that ever ran again).. it was great what we could get away with back then.
Kids these days can't do nothin'.
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Jan 14, 2016 13:42:58 GMT
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So who was this wonderful human being that calls himself a motor dealer?
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So who was this wonderful human being that calls himself a motor dealer? this chaps sells a few cars at a time from outside a property which, as it turns out, he runs a wedding car business from! you have to wonder the state of the poor corniche i spotted there..... |
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why is car buying for the missus so impossible? struck a deal for a 2000 focus, no MOT as needs breaks and a wheel bearing, no biggy can do that easy thought I and car otherwise was good and at a decent price. i turn up to buy it and as arranged, i am actually getting out of my car when i receive a text saying its being sold at that moment to someone else!!
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Last Edit: Jan 16, 2016 1:02:07 GMT by s1105117
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i mean have fixed worse, and it got left as there were more needy cars then one with full test thought I! besdies, new baby, house to fix up, and graduation to achieve...
