I guess you just need to sit tight and see what follows. Its like being flashed by a speed camera, its the wait to see what's going to happen that's the kicker. It does seem to be a common theme that people who fraudulently use travel passes/parking badges etc are seemingly the biggest worriers out there. It would be precisely the fear of dealing with something like this that would stop me doing it in the first place. Good luck with it, at least you won't be doing it again in a hurry (I hope).

Some occupations are 'notifiable professions' as well which means the police have to notify your employer. I know if you are a nurse etc. then the police have to let your employer know about the situation. Not sure if you would fall under that umbrella or not.

so you are suggesting that it is prudent to submit a document, that could later be used in a legal/court case, which clearly states that it is non admissible in such circumstances. Surely that is akin to buying a life jacket which clearly states that it is not designed for water survival! can I ask if you have been present in a small claims court when a case has been brought against a motor trader?

I think you will find that the AA/RAC vehicle reports clearly state on them 'not to be used as a legal defence' or something similar. There are forensic engineers who specifically examine vehicles for the purpose you describe and produce a report that is suitable for court use, this can be prohibitable regarding cost. TBH courts/judges seem ok with reports/inspections carried out by most well established garages and if they are a VOSA approved MOT station then that helps. Obviously if your Uncle Baz produces something scrawled on the back of an old ECP invoice that won't help. A typed, dated and signed report on letter headed paper will suffice.

My experience suggests that the gearbox becoming unserviceable is most likely unrelated to the cars service history. Many cars with this transmission have had at least one replacement gearbox fitted, or open heart surgery with the clutch packs being replaced. The terminology is important regarding repairing engines and transmissions. People often say ‘it’s had a refurbished ‘box in it’, which often means it’s been simply swapped for a used example. Possibly with more miles on it or older. if you are getting quotes then you need to clarify if the supplier/repairing agent is doing the above, or taking out the existing gearbox and repairing it, taking out the existing gearbox and refurbishing it (fixing the fault and replacing serviceable items such as clutches, filters, valve seals, mechatronic sleeve, seals, sump pan etc), replacing the gearbox with a refurbished/repaired exchange item or finally, and by far the most expensive option, is to fit a new ‘crated’ transmission from the manufacturer (FoMoCo). The latter could possibly write off the car in financial terms. is it widely known that main dealers often farm jobs like this to Independant specialists? When I go in a gearbox place the white board is filled with some very well known main dealer franchises and car supermarkets. They just add 40% GP to the Bill they pay. So maybe clarify if they are doing it ‘in house’. I apologise for not noticing in the threat that it is Advantage you are dealing with. They are a reasonably large company/provider and they have a dedicated resolution team. I’m amazed they haven’t capitulated yet as they are far from the most hard nosed finance houses.

Many car dealers have multiple company’s and partnerships. Buy their stock using one company name, so all their cars have auction invoices in that name etc. Then sell the cars using another, different company name. The aggrieved buyer ‘wins’ court case and gets judgement against them/CCJ, pays for the bailiffs to go in, bailiffs find all the stock belongs to a different company than the one on the CCJ. And you are pretty much dead in the water. I know this because I personally know others who do it themselves. Also, this exact thing happened to me. I left a car (that was worth several thousand pounds at trade price alone) at a largish garage for repair. Never saw the car again, with the scenario in the paragraph above as the rest of the tale. The ‘people’ behind this place in Burnley do this kind of thing in their sleep. It’s an effective business model for them. The CRA 2015 sounds great when read. But in practice all one has to do is wind the company up and set another up using your wife’s name etc. and you are home free. A licence to rip people off. I remember in ‘15 reading the CRA and everyone ringing each other complaining how strict it was etc. Looking back I can’t believe it! I just can’t believe folk give these people tens of thousands of pounds before checking them out properly. Many garages write their own AT reviews. I despise scumbags in the motor trade because I am lumped in their with them. Sorry OP, you should follow Bankfodders excellent advice but I have been down that road myself with the results I described. I guess it’s all you can do? Good luck

Of course they can! What do you think about complaining to the Ombudsman? Companies don't like it as it costs them circa £500 per complaint. 'Fast Motor Finance' is most likely a finance broker. These brokers very rarely have their own 'book' i.e. their own money. They act as a middleman and make their money that way. I would say that its important to find out exactly who the finance company is that actually provided the money. When an invoice is requested by the broker to the dealer, the actual finance company goes on one side, with the 'to be delivered to' i.e. the private customer on the other side. The broker is not mentioned on the invoice usually. They are just the 3rd party passing the info between the customer and the company actually putting up the advance. Like I say, it is super rare for these smaller companies to have enough capital to use their own funds. In both lockdown periods, many dealerships have offered 'click and collect' or had the cars delivered, after the car has been paid for in full most of the time. Would you send someone you have never met £7,000 for a car you have never seen, driven or inspected out of your own personal money? The answer should be no. Most cars sold in lockdown have been financed. This is because the customer knows that if the car is not as described or has a fault they will be calling the finance company to sort it out, as it is the finance company's car after all. Car retailers and finance company's all know their obligations and their responsibilities under the CGA of 2015. The tactics that the OP has described are common where a 'high rate' lender is involved. They take advantage of people in often vulnerable circumstances who, I have to say, have a history of making poor financial decisions and often have a limited reading and writing ability. Anyway enough about that, I just thought a view 'from the other side of the fence' might help. In this situation the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Polite and meek customers will be ignored as they have the habit of giving up and going away to repair the cars themselves. With your help this should be resolved. The responsibility lies with the finance company, end of.

I was stating that, in my experience, 'poor credit no problem' finance companies are very often total scumbags. The interest in this 'deal' was over £5,000 on a car purchased for just over £7k. They take advantage of folk in poor circumstances by coming over as the only people who can help them. It is common for interest rates to be over 55% APR.

This will be the Ford 'Powershift' gearbox which is widely considered to be the worst gearbox on the market. Its not a full automatic in the sense that it is not a fixed speed torque converter design. It uses a fiercely complicated mechatronics unit coupled with a dual clutch pack that is either wet or dry. I was recently in the automatic transmission specialist that we use and the owner pointed to a Volvo (so still a FoMoCo product with the same gearbox) and simply said 'never buy one of those'. They can fail in each vehicle multiple times from as little as 2,000mls from new. A fluid change is often attempted as a last ditch effort to avoid major heart (and wallet) surgery. It almost always makes no difference as its a mechanical/electrical fault. Its very similar to VAG's 'DSG' gearbox only even more unreliable. Even when working correctly they are a jerky drive. I would strongly advise not to go down the route of having the 'box serviced, it will not make any difference based on all evidence and experience available. I'm amazed that more people don't do more research when buying a car, specially if it has a complicated engine or gearbox, they are far from equal regarding reliability . In this case though, and as has been said already I think, its the finance companies car and their problem. https://www.motorbiscuit.com/fords-crazy-powershift-transmission-mess-what-were-they-thinking/ I know someone who runs one of these 'poor credit' outfits and this car would be dumped outside his premises with the V5 stuffed in the glovebox and the Key posted through the letterbox. He considers this a 'positive outcome'. They all know their responsibilities, they just avoid them as long as possible. On every phone in the place I know is a salutation reminder saying 'The customer cannot return the vehicle' and 'The customer cannot cancel the agreement once they find out just how much interest they are paying'.

In the handbook of VAG cars iirc it says that oil consumption of 1LTR per 1,000kms is within normal limits. BMW petrols can use a LTR every 1,000 MLS or so. Some engines consume oil when in normal use, Ford/Mazda 1.8 petrol, Peugeot/Mini VTI 1.4/1.6 petrol variants etc. The OP does not state how old their Audi is but increasing oil consumption is all part of running a car as it gets older. Some people think cars are like washing machines and will just run without attention for 15 years. The modern combustion engine is a miracle of human engineering with some components moving with the same intertia/speed as a bullet when it leaves the barrel of a firearm. Audi dealers will perform a consumption test on these TFSI units where they top up the oil and then ask the owner to run the car to accurately measure the oil being used to see if it is within tolerance.

Most diesel engined cars need to cover at least 12 miles or so before the oil starts getting warm. Forget the water temp gauge or the fact that warm air is coming through the cars interior vents as most diesels have electric air heaters as the engines themselves take so long to warm up. At Skoda, for example, i remember the sales staff being instructed to advise customers that DPF equipped vehicles should be covering 25k per year, now 25k sounds a little excessive but ive seen problems with VW's that were doing circa 16k miles per year. Many DFP equipped cars rarely get hot enough to perform passive regeneration. Every time a forced regen is attempted it shortens the lifespan of the filter and puts the engine under strain. Most of the time the filters are replaced they didn't need to be in my experience, plus the OE part is then replaced with a pattern part which does not have sufficient flow rate to work properly. Many companies charge around £200 to perform a DPF clean where the filter is placed in a rig and chemically cleaned. This can also be done in DIY fashion using Cillit Bang and a pressure washer! If you are using poor quality fuel you will most likely find that the car will attempt to perform a regeneration more frequently. For every person moaning saying they are having DPF issues there are many others who have never had a single issue driving DPF equipped cars. If your car had a hydraulic fault with the clutch the supplying dealer should have come to the party. The DPF issue is less clear though, is it a fault with the system on your car (pressure/temp sensor etc) or is it simply not being used enough, and in the correct fashion, to passively regenerate. When hooked up to decent, dealer level diagnostics the live data should indicate how the filter is functioning (if its blocked and if the flow rate is ok ETC).

That does sound like a hydraulic fault rather than the friction plate being burnt out. You can burn a clutch out within 50 miles if hard of hearing or inexperienced. That is precisely why i suggested the first call would have been for the garage to inspect the clutch and go from there. Regarding the DPF if you are saying you are only doing 30 miles per week then a diesel is not suitable for your style of driving. Some 6 speed cars are so low revving that even at 60-70mph in top gear the revs are too low to create the heat to regenerate. Did you do any research before buying a diesel car?

If you only did 200 miles in six weeks it would suggest that you should not have purchased a diesel vehicle. If you do lots of short runs or a majority of your driving is urban driving then the car is completely unsuitable for your usage. A clogged DPF is a sign it is not getting hot enough to regenerate (every 300/500 miles usage/model dependant). Diesel engines are very thermo-efficient so take a long time to warm up. For a DPF to regen the car needs to be driven at 40mph plus with the revs not too low. The supplying garage not even getting involved with the clutch is a poor show but how do you know the clutch failure was not down to driver error?

It is only considered 'best practice' to list cars with finance outstanding on an HPI/Experian check. There is nothing to make finance companies declare an interest in a vehicle. I know this as i was in a very similar situation and ended up paying for the car again. This was 2 years after we purchased the car. The dealer had a finance agreement on the vehicle and then went bust. At the time of purchase the vehicle was 'clear' on the Experian check. I think the 'insurance' against the information will not help. The finance company own the car and will win in court.

Im glad no one is overacting at all here, in any way. This is merely an admin error at the supplying dealers end (which it sounds like doesn't exsist now anyway, at least in the same ownership). How much is your insurance excess? The trade cost of painting an entire cars bumper (notr smart repair) is £120, even if you said retail was £250 its surely less than your insurance excess. As the owner of the vehicle it is you alone who is responsible for ensuring the vehicle is road legal. Sure, it sounds like MB 'owe' you an MOT. All this talk about accidents that could have happened has nothing to do with anything.