Just boutht a car, problems

[Depo]

4 days ago bought a car from trader, 200 miles away from where I live. On my way back I heard some knocking noise coming from front, nothing disturbing. Next day I checked MOT history online and turns out this car failed MOT in March with long list of things. This trader runs his own MOT garage as well, so he gave it new MOT in April, signed himself. I took car to local garage yesterday and they checked it - list is even longer, lot of things need to be repaired totalling £300 and there is no way this car would have passed MOT, basically is fraudulent MOT.

 

I`ve got quote for repairs and willing to contact seller. Problem is - he will be willing to repair it in his garage(I hope so), but its 200 miles away. Its lost days/two wages +travelling costs.

 

Where do I stand? Can I get him to appoint me to any local garage where I live by his choice?

 

Thanks

[MARTIN3030]

You need to give the garage an opportunity to sort this,and make sure that you have some proof of the response,either retaining any recordings of telephone conversations,or putting things in writing.

Selling a vehicle in an unroadworthy or dangerous condition is a criminal offence,and Trading Standards are usually interested in taking up such complaints if they are done quickly.

From what you say,this trader does need reporting,if only to prevent him from continuing to do business in this way.

As you have already got an estimate to carry out the work,you should be contacting the seller and getting their proposals.

Once you have done that,you will be in more of a position to get things moving.

I take it you dont want to return the vehicle ?

If so you could demand any associated costs/expenses or else sue them for those.

Should the trader not be showing any interest to sort this,then you do need to contact your TS and in fact the TS in the traders home area.

You could just get the repairs done and sue the trader for the costs,but you would need to have some firm evidence in support.

I suggest getting a written expert report,and if possible taking photographs.

Keep us posted.

[Depo]

I`m willing to give him opportunity to fix it, but 200 miles isn`t 20. That will be 4.5 hrs to garage, overnight stay(or 2?), 4.5hrs from garage, two days lost wages. I cannot afford it. Does that mean I`m stuck do to it myself?

 

My first idea was reporting him to VOSA, but then he might go "Well, you reported me already, so I won`t fix anything, no point". I want to keep a car as I really like it, it took me 2 months to find it.

 

I had similar case, law has ZERO power, its useless, it doesn`t work. I bought car, it died in two weeks, trader didn`t bother replying, I sued, he didn`t turn up to hearing, I won, got CCJ, transferred to High Court Enforcement, they went around trader, ups, sorry A1 XXXXX XXXX isn`t here any more, we are A6 XXXX XXXX company, bye. Just by changing one digit in company name, nothing can be done to them. As for expenses recovery via court, waste of time.

 

I have lost £140 in court fees, time off work, £60 to send around bailiffs +£60 for non recovery paid to bailiffs.

 

Well, can`t afford to go same route this time.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Depo

[sailor sam]

Sorry Martin, got to diss-agree with you here. From the OP's account the car has been miss-sold so he should reject it and demand a refund asap. It sounds too dodgy to me to advise otherwise. I certainly would'nt be comfortable in this 'trader' carrying out the repairs himeslf.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[sailor sam]

I`m willing to give him opportunity to fix it, but 200 miles isn`t 20. That will be 4.5 hrs to garage, overnight stay(or 2?), 4.5hrs from garage, two days lost wages. I cannot afford it. Does that mean I`m stuck do to it myself?

 

My first idea was reporting him to VOSA, but then he might go "Well, you reported me already, so I won`t fix anything, no point". I want to keep a car as I really like it, it took me 2 months to find it.

 

I had similar case, law has ZERO power, its useless, it doesn`t work. I bought car, it died in two weeks, trader didn`t bother replying, I sued, he didn`t turn up to hearing, I won, got CCJ, transferred to High Court Enforcement, they went around trader, ups, sorry A1 XXXXX XXXX isn`t here any more, we are A6 XXXX XXXX company, bye. Just by changing one digit in company name, nothing can be done to them. As for expenses recovery via court, waste of time.

 

I have lost £140 in court fees, time off work, £60 to send around bailiffs +£60 for non recovery paid to bailiffs.

 

Well, can`t afford to go same route this time.

 

With respect, I would of thought you would of been a tad more careful then.

 

From your account, I would advise to reject it and walk away. How can you have any confidence in the car knowing it has a list of MOT failure faults? Ask yourself, why would someone hide these faults and give it an MOT with them instead of making the car properly roadworthy? I suppose you could get a qualified inspection carried out to see exactly what needs to be done and at what cost, but i doubt whethere the trader will pay someone else to fix it properly otherwise he would of done this before selling it.

 

Reject it is my advice.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Depo]

I already put road tax on it and bought insurance so I can drive it. I`ll loose that if I reject it.

[sailor sam]

I already put road tax on it and bought insurance so I can drive it. I`ll loose that if I reject it.

 

Personally I think you will loose a lot more if you don't but its your call. Road tax can be mostly re-claimed and insurance can be transfered to another car. It would'nt be so bad if the trader wasn't 200 miles away because I see you having to make this trip more times in the furture as my guess is that you will continue to have problems unless a qualified inspection shows otherwise.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[MARTIN3030]

SS from the outset I agree 100% with what you are saying.

My take on it was based on the OP wanting to just get the jobs done and keep the car (thats how I was reading it)

If it were me I would be demanding my money back right away.

The fact that its 200 miles away is not a factor that should prevent action.

Clearly the OP has recourse under his rights-thats not in dispute.

I would also seeking to recover any costs incurred if I was intent on keeping the car.

So yes-reject it now and get the money back and report it,or else make it clear that you want the repairs done and any associated expenses included.

I suspect that the trader may well want this sorted quickly due to the implications.

On the other hand,he will be unaware that the op has the benefit of support from the CAG-which he ignores at his peril.!!

[MARTIN3030]

Depo-forgot to ask also-how was payment made for the car ?

[Depo]

Depo-forgot to ask also-how was payment made for the car ?

 

Cash and I do have full, proper invoice for it.

[Depo]

I`ll give him a call today and see what he says, mentioning that I will be passing this case to VOSA & Trading Standards if he doesn`t agree on repair in garage within 10 miles where I live.

[MARTIN3030]

Ok.

Up to you then.

Obviously next move is for you to inform the trader of your concerns-but more importantly your targets for sorting this.

I understand what you say about your past experiences-this does happen,and theres not a lot can be done if the trader is hell bent on avoiding any recourse.

But faced with action from TS its certainly far less easier for them to simply set up again-we are talking criminal prosecutions.

We have had a few cases reported on CAG too-in one instance the trader after becoming aware that his activities were showing on a google search found it very difficult to continue.

[sailor sam]

As far as i know, if the OP agrees/wants the vehicle repaired then then SOGA provides the seller the right to attempt that. The seller dosn't necessarily have to agree for another garage to carry out the repairs. A court would say that it is not the seller's fault that the buyer lives 200 miles away.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Depo]

Just phoned him. He said "Go to garage, get proper report for all problems and quote and send it to us".

[sailor sam]

Don't forget that a garage may charge you for an inspection and I would suggest you take it to an approved garage, maybe a main dealer of what ever make the car is.

 

Do keep us posted.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Depo]

Phoned VOSA, "Because its been more than 28 days since MOT, we cannot do anything about this MOT".

 

This system is made for abuse and car sellers/MOT garages know all loopholes.

[Depo]

Don't forget that a garage may charge you for an inspection and I would suggest you take it to an approved garage, maybe a main dealer of what ever make the car is.

Do keep us posted.

 

Are you joking? Main dealer will charge arm and leg for such inspection £100 per hour minimum. I`m thinking KwikFit - I got one locally. They should be able to produce detailed inspection report.

[MARTIN3030]

Not sure I would be going to Kwikfit-based on what we see posted on here.

What about AA ?

[Depo]

Not sure I would be going to Kwikfit-based on what we see posted on here.

What about AA ?

 

They are known, big brand, government approved - why not?

I`ve got RAC. How much they would charge to come and inspect my car?

[MARTIN3030]

https://www.aacheck.com/viproducts.asp?persist

 

RAC pretty much same;

 

http://www.rac.co.uk/products-services/vehicle-inspections/

[Depo]

Cannot afford that money. Even I could, there is no guarantee I will get it back from seller. It will cost more to take to court.

[MARTIN3030]

Maybe worth a call to TS in the traders home area-see if he is known to them ?

[MARTIN3030]

We have some good tools on the site team.

If you could send us info via the report icon (black triangle) we may be able to turn something up.

[sailor sam]

Depo, what ever you do is going to cost you money to resolve this in my opinion. And personally I think you will end up having to take the seller to court in anyevent which will again cost you more money initially (as you already know because you have been there before). As Martin has said, we have heard some negative things about certian 'well know' motoring centres which specializes in tyres and exhausts at least a main dealer is more like to know what they are talking about. This is why you may as well take the less complicated option of rejecting the car but you would need to do that now. At least you won't have the hassle of getting it inspected and repaired. Not sure what else to advise to be honest.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.