It should be a VOSA matter, as when retesting the vehicle, the repair, the advisories and anything that is likely to be affected by the repair (such as the brakes, wheel security,etc.) should be checked, possibly to the extent of carrying out another roller brake test.

Sounds to me like a VW group car. What can the garage do when the thread strips when taking the plug out?, it's hardly their fault. The threads in VW alloy sumps are weak and at presumably its 10th oil change they are going to be worn. You don't renew the washers on these plugs, you replace the plug which has an integral washer. Why would you want to grease threads that basically live in a pool of oil? They tried to get you out of trouble for £48 and it didn't work so a new sump is required to fix it, that's cars, things wear out. You could negotiate the cost of the repair deducted from the cost of replacing the sump and chase all the previous servicing garages for a contribution.

I agree that a current MOT certificate should not be taken as an indication of the cars condition, however the part that I have highlighted is not true. The item is deemed to be a pass or fail at the time of test only, otherwise there will be plenty of complaints of failing cars on things such as tyres when they are 0.1mm above the limit. He's a trader, it wasn't an auction (if it was the car was not as described), he should have responsibilities under SOGA.

I had a problem with my Aspire 7720, after it had been running a while it would shut down and on the restart it would just keep shutting down. If it was left for a while, it was OK. I removed one of the rear covers and found some fluff in the fan, not much, but it was sufficient to block the cooling duct to the processor. Since cleaning it out, I've not had a problem with it.

I'll go for an EGR flow rate code. Across all the VW systems the software that we use can read over 13000 fault codes, so it's not surprising that the warning light coming on is perceived as a very common fault.

The lambda probes and catalytic converter can get contaminated by lead. Though unleaded petrol has been used, it is not lead free, there is a small amount of naturally ocurring lead present. Also the use of silicone sealant for gaskets will contaminate the probes. The only get out that I can see is if this model of car was advertised under Fords slogan at the time: 'Engineered to last' With Ford saying this, they should be better informed than most.

Only Citroen can void or limit the warranty, what have they got say about it? Holding Arnold Clark responsible is a bit much for your not in effect reading the manual. Presuming that you got a warranty/service book with the car, what does it say in that about the terms and conditions of the warranty? Whilst there, you could read the bit about the service intervals. Annual servicing is not a new concept and remember (because AC might not tell you) that the car will be due for a MOT test not later than 3 years from the date of registration, not from the purchase date. The only time I have ever have service histories requested for warranty claims are for goodwill (warranty recently expired) payments or for import vehicles.

Tyres deteriorate with age as well as use. Their use is subject to variable conditions, damage from rubbing up against and over kerbs, owners not checking the pressure, UV damage from sun light and extra loading from the car and contents, driving style and from suspension/steering that has been knocked aout of alignment. What next? a complaint to dealer about the wiper blades?

It's a nine year old car coming towards the end of its design life, you can't reasonably expect the bodywork to be factory fresh.

The driver is responsible for ensuring that the tyres are legal, having a garage check them once does not absolve you of this responsibility. I am very surprised/shocked that the thought of endangering other motorists seemingly hasn't ocurred. For all we know the specialist may have said that all 4 tyres were shot, customer says we can only afford 2. Oil leaks can be hard to track down, they may have given the worst case, rear main seal gone or gearbox input seal gone - both are labour intensive to replace. Possibly the specialist spent time cleaning the oil away from the engine, which made it very much easier for the second garage to spot the leak.

A 'banjo' type connection between the hose and the caliper requires sealing washers where the bolt passes through. As for the headlamps 'apparently just an adjustment was needed', that is the usual method of re-aligning them. It may sound trivial to fail the car on that, but the powers that be have made it a testable item. Mis-aligned headlamps are a at best a nuisance at worst a safety issue, and if the tester went round replacing bulbs/wipers and re-aligning headlamps without failing the car, VOSA would be extremely unhappy as it would distort their statistics. They monitor what each staion fails cars on and if they fail too many things such as tyres they will phone up and ask why? and do you fit tyres? Their latest, is to leave a car for a pre-booked test out of hours (no one sees the customer), with a sat nav holder on the screen or an oversized air freshener dangling from the rear view mirror to purposefully restrict the drivers view of the road. In VOSAs view the tester would be in the wrong to pass the car.

That may be quite easy for the seller to do, as there were no warning lights on at the time of purchase and for some 9 weeks after. Also if the car came with a recent MOT pass, this would prove that the ABS warning light system operated to the manufacturers specification.

The AA man could well be correct in his diagnosis. This engine has a chain driven overhead camshaft, the chain is tensioned by a hydraulic tensioner, which is supplied by pressurised oil from the lubrication system. However this is the part which you don't want to hear. The oil pressure could have dropped, causing the tensioner to relax, the chain to slip and the engine to stop due to low oil level. These engines I think have a total capacity of less than 3 litres. When was the car last serviced and the oil level checked? VW deem that oil consumption of 600 miles per litre is an acceptable minimum. All the garage will have to do is check the oil level and if it is very low come to the conclusion that the failure is down to lack of maintenance/basic checks and no liability on their part. These engines are not unknown for this problem and as you already have found out they do suffer from failing coil packs as well.