help please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just wondering if anyone can help, I bought a GTI cabriolet 3 weeks ago with 12 months MOT I am no mechanic but everything looked in order and the 12 months MOT made me feel secure in the knowledge that it was safe.

On Friday I handed the keys over to the families? local mechanic who has done loads of work on cars for me in the past. I prepared myself for him to say it needs a new gearbox, clutch etc but he didn?t (that would have been good). What he told me was that the car had been in a massive front end smash and that the smell of petrol was the petrol tank leaking onto the exhaust. He said that the chassis is bent and that in place the car is not attached as it should be, and that I should not drive it. I told him that I bought it because it had 12 months MOT and he was very surprised, I have now got it booked in for an MOT tomorrow at a large company and in the hope that they fail it and say it is unsafe so I have some come back else I?m set to lose money.

It has been suggested that I should be able to get help from trading standards as I was not informed about the damage.

Has this happened to anyone else can anyone advise me on what I should do, I have called the guy but he says he did not know even though he had it for 14 months.

Thanks

A lot will depend on if you bought from a private seller or a trader, if a private seller you may struggle? I see two issues if bought privately, number one check out the validity of the last MOT pass in relevance to the damage you say is present and secondly, see if there is any way to prove when the damage happened.

Keep us posted on how you get on

Did you HPI check the car or similar?

Cheers

I would contact trading standards and the mot inspectors , a car shouldent pass an mot with a fuel leak nevermind the crash damage , did the person you brought the car off put sold as seen on your recipt as this would mean that it was up to you to check the car for any defects before agreeing to purchase . Its not a lost cause if he did because trading standards use the phrase 'unfit for purpose' if you can prove that your car is 'unfit' then you should be ok.I think its the DVLA in swansea you need to contact with regard to the mot station you can then arrange to have an mot performed at one of theyre official testing stations , if they find anything they belive to be in contravention of mot standards they have the power to remove the offending mot inspector that originally tested your car . I hope everything works out in your favour and i think most people on this site would be appalled that anyone would sell a car in this state without informing the purchaser of the problems . My heart is in my mouth everytime i buy a car you just never know what nasties you will uncover on closer inspection .At least you discovered these problems before they cause any harm . Good Luck .

if u got car from private seller then there is no comeback to the seller if u look at mot cert there is contact number thats if the mot is a valid  and not stolen cert/copy if u have got car from trader then u are entitalled to a full refund if car is writeoff then its down to trader to check before buying/selling if is gen mot then there should be comeback to mot station good luck

That sounds all a bit much . Where exactly is the front-end damaged, what parts are not attached? Mot certificate should have testing station name, address and number in bottom corner. Got the below from here

What if I think it has wrongly passed?

These cases usually relate to recently purchased vehicles and you should let us know as soon as possible. We will then offer an appointment within 5 working days to recheck your vehicle without charge, provided:
1. not more than 28 days have elapsed since the MOT test; or
2. not more than 3 months have elapsed since the MOT test for a rust or corrosion related problem.

What action can I take against the garage?


VOSA cannot seek redress or compensation on your behalf - although it is open to you to take action in conjunction with your local trading standards department. Take out proceedings personally or refer the matter to the police.
Any subsequent action which we decide to take against the testing station which tested your vehicle is at our discretion, and should have no bearing on any action you may decide to take

Cheers

hi  mate its noddy here ,and im in the bump car came and let me tell you to bend legs on a cabbie means its had a hell of a bump the last time i had a mk1 on the gig it took 25 tonnes of power ten bags on sand and heat then it had to be lefted over night to pull it back in to shape
                      alway with the legs being over it doent mean that it shopuldnt of gone thought a test its a gray area also it may of been bumped after the test  8O  keep in touch and send me some pics of it ill give you my opinion on it mate

The only come back you have against a private seller is that the goods should be 'as described' So basically if he's described it as 'imaculate condition and no accident damage' and it clearly has, then he has breached the sale of goods act and whether he wrote sold as seen on the receipt or not you could get your money back as the sale of goods act is a statutory right, and nothing written on a receipt can actually remove that right. You would probably have to take him to a small claims court to do it though, unfortunitely a very long and drawn out process.

You never know with a mechanics report, and you armed with the correct information he might settle amicably and give your your money back, but very unlikey in my opinion.  It does of course depend whether the person selling it was aware of the accident damage when he sold it to you, but a good mechanic should be able to tell roughly when any major repairs were done.

Also might be worth getting a check on the car, as if it was written off during the time the previous owner brought it, then I would say you have a very strong case, of course just because it's been in an accident doesn't mean it will have been written off, but worth a go!

If it was a trader on the other hand, then the full sale of goods act applies and you should have no trouble getting your money back.

I would also get trading standards involved, as there is no way it should have passed an MOT test with a leaky fuel tank.

Mike

I'm sure it is against the law to knowingly sell a car with a dangerous defect without telling the purchaser - Check it out with your local trading standards and/or the police (if they can be arsed to help you).

AL.

AL_Mk1 said

I'm sure it is against the law to knowingly sell a car with a dangerous defect without telling the purchaser - Check it out with your local trading standards and/or the police (if they can be arsed to help you).

AL.

well its not its up to the purchester to aks

susan-and-noddy said

AL_Mk1 said

I'm sure it is against the law to knowingly sell a car with a dangerous defect without telling the purchaser - Check it out with your local trading standards and/or the police (if they can be arsed to help you).

AL.

well its not its up to the purchester to aks

It is illeagal to knowingly sell a dangerous car unless you disclose the fact to the buyer, no matter who you are. It will end up being a civil matter.

If the MOT's legit then approach the relavent authorities (not sure who deals with these now), I think any structural defects found within 3 months of the test are presumed there at the time of testing.

Hope this helps.

OK, been trawling the web in some free time at work, found the following which may help.

DTI fack sheet on sale of cars (most of it applies to buying from a garage)
http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/cars.htm

Fact sheet on the Sale of goods act (again mostly applying to retailers selling, but this act applies to the sale of any goods including cars)
http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

and a nice extract putting it all in persective for buying from a private seller:

When the Sale of Goods Act doesn't apply:
The Sale of Goods Act doesn't apply when you buy a house or flat. And if you buy something privately (from a person, rather than from a business, like a shop), the legal principle of 'buyer beware' applies, so you should check something carefully before you buy. This is because the parts of the Sale of Goods Act that say things must be 'of satisfactory quality' and 'fit for their purpose' don't apply to private sales.

But you do have some rights when you buy privately (from a person, not a shop or other retailer). The law says that even private sellers must not 'misrepresent' goods to you by misleading you or lying to you about something. So, for example, a person must not give you false information about the age or mileage of a second-hand car they are selling.

If you relied on something a private seller told you when deciding to buy and it turned out not to be true, you may be able to claim compensation from them. But you may need legal help to decide whether you can do this and how to go about it. See 'Further Help' for details of where you can get help.

(Taken word for word from http://www.clsdirect.org)

And with reference to it being illegal to knowingly sell a car with a dangerous defect, I'm 99% sure that part in law only applies to motor traders, not private sellers (biiiig loop hole!) As far as I can work out it is perfectly legal for a private seller to sell a car with a known dangerous defect. As long as he doesn't mis-represent the goods by stating that the vehicle is 'imaculate' or 'no accident damage' then unfortunitely as the law stands you have very little comeback.

I know, sucks doesn't it!

Mike.

stew72 said

susan-and-noddy said

AL_Mk1 said

I'm sure it is against the law to knowingly sell a car with a dangerous defect without telling the purchaser - Check it out with your local trading standards and/or the police (if they can be arsed to help you).

AL.

well its not its up to the purchester to aks

It is illeagal to knowingly sell a dangerous car unless you disclose the fact to the buyer, no matter who you are. It will end up being a civil matter.

If the MOT's legit then approach the relavent authorities (not sure who deals with these now), I think any structural defects found within 3 months of the test are presumed there at the time of testing.

Hope this helps.

you try and prove the last owner new it had been in a bump mate! not as easy as it seems. all they have to do is say i know northing about cars!  try and prove they do.

susan-and-noddy said

stew72 said

susan-and-noddy said

AL_Mk1 said

I'm sure it is against the law to knowingly sell a car with a dangerous defect without telling the purchaser - Check it out with your local trading standards and/or the police (if they can be arsed to help you).

AL.

well its not its up to the purchester to aks

It is illeagal to knowingly sell a dangerous car unless you disclose the fact to the buyer, no matter who you are. It will end up being a civil matter.

If the MOT's legit then approach the relavent authorities (not sure who deals with these now), I think any structural defects found within 3 months of the test are presumed there at the time of testing.

Hope this helps.

you try and prove the last owner new it had been in a bump mate! not as easy as it seems. all they have to do is say i know northing about cars!  try and prove they do.

Thats right you will have to prove it. Chances are that if they know nothing about cars then somebody will have pointed the defects out and that's why they've got shot of it. If they've just got an MOT and the car is that broken then they're probably well aquainted with whoever did the MOT.

Trading standards can bring a prosecution on behalf of the buyer, if the car was sold with a defective chassis, if the car was described as good condition by the seller. The fine back in the late 80s was about 1.5k for a trader. A trader is classified by the amount of cars he has sold in a year.


Goodluck

Thanks people

Where I?m currently at:

Its been for a MOT and failed (I?m happy about this) the leaky petrol tank is my only hope as I rang the DVLA and they said anything mechanical has to be questioned within 28 days but with corrosion you have 3 months to question the MOT.

The bent cassis can not be questioned as it is not corrosion (so if you prang a car and get a dodgy MOT and wait 28 days till you sell it ha, ha)

The DVLA now want to come and take a look at the car as do trading standards. The car was sold privately but from a company address so they are not happy and I may have some comeback.

This should all happen in the next few days so ill keep you informed.

Thanks for all your help

well if you get stuck with it and can donorthing with it send me some pics and we could try and have a deal

If the seller to you is not already aware perhaps mention to them about DVLA, trading standards etc. It may be they give you a refund straight off to avoid any hassles?

K11BYY said

The DVLA now want to come and take a look at the car as do trading standards. The car was sold privately but from a company address so they are not happy and I may have some comeback.

That sounds like good news mate - hope it works out!

Glad your getting things sorted.

An official solicitors lettter might hurry things along. Ive had to send a couple due to work related issues (late payment, breach of contact,etc)
and its amazing how it can focus peoples attention.and get issues resolved. I think the last one cost me fifty quid,but was worth its weight in the long run.
  my sister had the same problem with her camper van (crash damage, various associated mechanical problems, from a dodgy Romford geezer who refused to acknowledge he was a dealer ) so i know it can be an absolute nightmare.

good luck