I had misunderstood that when you said it would be easier to sue for repairs that this was going to be different to getting the repairs done before taking legal action. There would be a call out charge for diagnostics. Would you advise taking any action before getting the diagnostics? I would only have the broadest of ideas as t the cost of the repairs before this is done.

I am getting a mechanic to come out on Wednesday the 9th to do some diagnostics. I am going to end up getting the repairs and then sue the MOT garage for theses costs. I will post an update then.

My Losses would amount to the van at£2300 V62 comes to £29, 25 for the thing itself which ends up costing just over 28 as a postal order and then the cost of mailing it. £15.70 for 2 special delivery letters to Brunel used commercials. So far this is all as the DVSA assessment was free. Would it be possible to pay to have the van fixed with an idea to keep it and still sue for the cost of repairs? Otherwise I may have problems at the end of April when my friend is moving out. I would either have to have it towed a nonsensical distance or start paying the tax and insurance on it and leave it out on the streets, neither of which are especially appealing. In any case I am very keen to try legal action against Brislington MOT centre

Sorry for the late reply, I will send the mobile number to the admin address. I am attaching the MOT certificate that came with the car. The Mileage from the previous MOTs are 63,120 (2019) October 57,361 (2018) November 52,577 (2017) October 44,143 (2016) October I have got these mileages from the government website and they do go all the way back to 2009. MOT.pdf

After I contacted the DVSA by phone and then email and leaving my contact details I received an answerphone message with a mobile number. This number was for one of the DVSA quality control testers in Bristol rather than any kind of national line so I am not sure if it would be of any use to you, though I can forward it to the confidential email address if you do think you can find a use for it. @Manxman 65k does seem low for the age but as it was definitely owned by BA before (still has the stickers) and all the previous tests on the government database match up the mileage is about the only thing I think was genuine.

I think that the biggest problem I had was in having faith in the legal system vis a vis dangerous cars. Initially I contacted DVLA who gave me a number for the DVSA. The DVSA listened to my story and promised a call back, but no call back was forthcoming. After this I emailed the DVSA and this time did get a call back from a very helpful employee who after listening to my story from the start said that by the time these incidents arrive at his desk they have been diluted by the admin process. They came out to where the Van was as the Van did not run by this point due to the battery fault. The Van has 11 miles on it in between the MOT being issued and my having a test on it, I'll get you a scan as soon as possible.

ManxMan I had asked the CAB to take this up with Trading Standards and nothing seems to have happened, so I will try getting in touch with the local councillors.

I am attaching a scan of the DVSA assessment. Thus far I have not had a general assessment of the car or had an estimate to fix these costs. img20220124_18422025.pdfimg20220124_18422025.pdf

Yes I would be happy to take action against the MOT station and will post the details of the assessment as soon as I get back home. The whole reason that I did not really do my due diligence on the van was my belief that falsifying an MOT certificate had consequences and was pretty shocked to find that this does not really seem to be the case. I was also very frustrated at the idea that selling a car in a dangerous condition is a technically a criminal offence but was told that I cannot report it to anyone. It is in the jurisdiction of Trading Standards rather than the Police, but individuals can only report to Citizens Advice who may then report the matter to Trading Standards. As far as I can tell they have not and the people at the DVSA expressed surprise that Trading Standards had not been in touch. Regardless of whether I get any money back it would be good to stop these people selling cars that could kill.

Thanks for the quick response. Sorry I had missed that you had requested the name of the garage supplying the MOT, it was not deliberate. The testing garage was Brislington mot centre on Flowers Hill trading estate. I had driven the Van about 5 miles before the assessment was carried out. I took possession of the Van 2 days after the MOT The DVSA assessed the vehicle 19 days after the MOT. I had expected that winning a judgement was going to be more likely than enforcing it, especially after seeing the winding up order on the company. I am surprised that they are still allowed to trade years after going into liquidation.

Hi there. To answer your questions. The Assessment of the car I got was by the DVSA. The 3 Dangerous faults. Seatbelt webbing significantly weakened offside front. Seatbelt webbing significantly weakened nearside front. Passengers seat insecure Nearside. The Seven Dangerous Faults. Headlamp aim obviously incorrect. Supplementary restraint system indicates a fault Drivers door hinge insecure Fuel cap sealing device missing (cap seal missing) Fuel Cap Sealing device ineffective (filler neck sealing face damaged) Battery insecure and likely to cause a short circuit Power steering malfunctioning (limited power assistance, power steering pump noisy) 2 advisories no spare wheel fitted Tyre worn close to legal limit. The link to Companies House https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08471137 The MOT was obtained on the 8th of October after I had paid a deposit and two days before I took possession of the vehicle. The Garage the MOT was obtained from is in Bristol as is the dealer. I live around 130 miles from the dealer. I have engaged with the thread as far as possible with other commitments and did not notice the set of questions I did not reply to in my first post which was responded to at 1 in the morning. Any help is gratefully received.

I have, the van had a very good mot history. It was previously owned by British Airways, so the previous history seems plausible. I am guessing British Airways sold on a job lot of vans, as they were getting a bit long in the tooth and had a few problems. Brunel/van hub then inflated the value by getting a tame MOT guy to hand out passes without inspecting them

The address bought the van from and sent the letters to is Number 5 Ashton Vale Rd, Bristol BS3 2HA. I had just addressed the letters to the business name. Looking up Brunel at company house the name of the director and sole listed employee is Matthew Collins. This site also shows that there was an extraordinary order to wind up and an appointment of a voluntary liquidator on June 3rd 2019. Is this likely to mean that there will be no way to get money back even with a court judgement?

I mean that the letters were sent recorded delivery and they refused to sign for them.

On the 27th of October 2021 I paid a £300 cash deposit for a Van. I was told it would come with a full mot and with this in mind I was happy to buy without a test drive. On the 30th of October I paid for the van via bank transfer, for the remaining £2,000. I drove it for around 5 miles back to my friends house by which point it was obvious that the mot had not been legitimately obtained. The power steering pump was noisy and the airbag light was on. I contacted the DVLA who sent some people round to perform quality control. They found that the Van (which had come with no advisories) should have been given 3 dangerous and 7 major fails. I sent a letter to Brunel exercising my right of return within 30 days. The letter was returned, refused. I sent a letter intimating my intention to go to court. The letter was returned, refused. At this point the citizens advice service recommended making a money claim. There is another issue complicating this which is that my friend is moving out in April. I cannot drive the car as it is dangerous and I cannot park it on the road as I have had to declare it SORN. The only place I would be able to keep an unusable van is at my parents who live almost 200 miles from Bristol, so towing fees would be huge. Would I be best off claiming for the potential towing fees in the original claim? Is there any other way to resolve this issue? Would you be able to offer me any advise on how to present and word my claim, and is there any advantage to a claim made offline?