Urgent help needed please on faulty vehicle

[skintandbroke]

Hi
Please help as soon as poss - having problems as we speak!!

Impulse buy of vehicle yesterday - reduced price by dealer by £300 for MOT and Tax.
Went for MOT today, it failed on 7 items. Was advised by garage not to drive it - some things are illegal (they say).
Contacted the dealer we bought car from. He said that the invoice said 'sold as seen' and 'no warrenty' (their spelling!) and that a refund cannot be offered.
Was told by dealer that if we returned it to them (over 50 miles away) that they would give it an MOT.

Now,(a) as the vehicle is not roadworthy we should not drive it.
(b) there is no tax so do these two combined invalidate the insurance that i got yesterday?- and paid in full for the year
(c) Do we have to get it repaired where they say, or do they have to get it repaired (MOTd) at a garage of our choice (they said they will pay for the MOT - as long as it less than the £300 they reduced the price for.
(d) are they able to refuse a refund within less than 24 hours of selling?


Please help as we need to contact this garage/dealer soon.

Cheers for your help

[skintandbroke]

PS does 'sold as seen' allow the car to fail MOT on 7 counts some of which are illegal??????

[barbs26]

look on trading standards website,go into consumer advice,then click on advice sheets,put in used cars,it gives you your rights on buying used cars.The part you will be interested in is in paragraph 3 with regards to sold as seen,which states such phrases are meaningless and don't alter your rights.

[skintandbroke]

thanks, will do x

[barbs26]

no probs,glad to help.

[Gallen]

Hi Skintandbroke!

What did the car fail on?
7 items may not be that bad, and garages often use the "it's illegal to drive" scare tactic to get the work, and charge you handsomely for it.

As I understand it, the dealer agreed to reduce the screen price by £300 to allow for you to get the MOT done??? I have to say that that is the risk you took, and are now complaining (sorry!).

...The garage have offered to MOT it for you or pay for it (up to the £300 figure which is more than fair in my opinion - they probably get things done and buy parts at trade cost so that seems very fair). I honestly don't think they are being unreasonable. (Does the car have a current MOT? - in which case you can drive it). The tax is down to you.

Also, i must say that you obviously signed and agreed to the "sold as seen" and "without warrenty" because you got the 300 quid off and thought you were getting a good deal - I hate to say it and feel sorry for you, but I don't think it's the garages fault here as they have ofered to rectify, or allow you to rectify the problems at their cost/effort - whichever you choose.

All I would say is to protect yourself, get it in writing that they are prepared to pay up to £300 for repairs.

Good luck whatever happens :-/

[tiaposy]

If they are a trader, sold as seen means nothing. I had the same thing with a Rover I bought and the head gasket blew up on the motorway on my way home! After a long fight I got my money back, but you have to give them chance to repair it first. Don't bother with Citizens advice as they gave me all the wrong advice. I used a legal thing I had with my RAC cover and they were great.

[patdavies]

Let's just look at thos from another point of view for a moment.

Originally Posted by Gallen

What did the car fail on?
7 items may not be that bad, and garages often use the "it's illegal to drive" scare tactic to get the work, and charge you handsomely for it.

Agreed and accepted - this is often used as a 'scare tactic' to try and get the repair work. However, if they are correct and the acid test would be to ask them to put it in writing, then the dealer is guilty of a criminal offence since they sold an unroadworthy vehicle

As I understand it, the dealer agreed to reduce the screen price by £300 to allow for you to get the MOT done??? I have to say that that is the risk you took, and are now complaining (sorry!).

Not if the vehicle is unroadworthy - note that this is not the same as no MoT

...The garage have offered to MOT it for you or pay for it (up to the £300 figure which is more than fair in my opinion - they probably get things done and buy parts at trade cost so that seems very fair). I honestly don't think they are being unreasonable. (Does the car have a current MOT? - in which case you can drive it). The tax is down to you.

It is perfectly lawful to drive it without tax and MoT to and from an MoT test appointment. It must however, be insured.

Also, i must say that you obviously signed and agreed to the "sold as seen" and "without warrenty" because you got the 300 quid off and thought you were getting a good deal - I hate to say it and feel sorry for you, but I don't think it's the garages fault here as they have ofered to rectify, or allow you to rectify the problems at their cost/effort - whichever you choose.

I agree. They appear to be offering to do the work necessary. However, a problem may arise if the work is going to cost more than £300. As others have posted, 'sold as seen' and 'without warranty' are not phrases any dealer can use to get out of their obligations under the Sale of Goods Act. A car which is un-MOTable is patently not fit for purpose

All I would say is to protect yourself, get it in writing that they are prepared to pay up to £300 for repairs.

Absolutely get it in writing

[skintandbroke]

Thanks PatD and Gallen for your comments.
They have the car back and are repairing the damaged parts, and will return it to us when this is done. It took a bit of disputing to get this far, but glad we read up on trading standards site - and quoted them the law!!
Cheers Pat for answering Gallen's points, no MOT isn't the same as unroadworthy, and sold as seen means nothing at all if a dealer willingly sells an URW car.
Anyway - we're getting there now and should be able to use our new car soon.
Thanks again, your help is much appreciated.
Have a good bank holiday