MOT clear but has life threatening faults
 

Now here's summat to ponder. I bought a cosmetically immaculate V6 this month with a 3 month old 100% clear MOT and 1500 miles added since, so I didn't bother to peer underneath. Being a cautious so and so - I dropped it into my local MOT garage who've looked after my Tourer for the past 5 years. They immediately declared it unsafe and too dangerous to drive as they had found:

• a two inch split in the front tyre inner wall, marked up but ignored
• brake fluid seeping from both central pipes
• both rear brake pipes badly corroded
• leaking front shock absorber
• split in front drop link boot
• broken rear spring
• rear caliper springs both missing
• horn not working
• And what should have been two advisories of near limit tyres.

All of these faults with possible exception of the rear spring and missing caliper springs would have been readily spotted by any member reading this forum, let alone a qualified MOT tester.

Now I've been driving for nearly 60 years - never had an accident - but I don't know whether I could handle a front tyre blow-out at 70mph - and don't wish to put it to the test.

Friday I got on to the Essex MOT garage and have sent them photographic evidence - and I have a boot-full of corroded brake pipes.

So how did this car ever get an unqualified pass? Did it ever see the ramp?

You may have heard last week that a driver was jailed after a tyre blow out caused her to kill a passer-by; and she then committed suicide. That could have been me - or the previous owner.

Your thoughts awaited.

Dave

As it used to say on the certificate, when such things were issued, the test only relates to what was found at the time when the test was carried out.

A lot of it is subjective and seems to vary according to how much of the garage's revenue is obtained from MOT repairs- I doubt that anyone has ever had an MOT issued by KwikFit without having to buy at least one tyre and two shock absorbers.

Sounds a lot like my gold diesel when I bought it.. 13 Months MOT, two completely bald front tyres, and no rubber at all in the front arm bushes!!

Advisories are pretty irrelevant anyway. I owned my Rover Stering (on the right, with the Rover 75 I have now) for eight years, and every MOT for eight years had an advisory for "both rear shock absorbers have a light misting of oil". But it never once failed on shock absorbers.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ps41bccc55.jpg

Private sale but I'm trying not to go down that route at present: my beef is with the Essex garage.

I suspect if you reported this to VOSA the said garage would get a visit and probably a check that they are doing there job correctly.

We all used to know of garages that were less vigilant than others but over the last few years this has been clamped down on. I know of one that would pass anything with wheels and looked OK a few years that was shut down after VOSA put a car in for test that passed and it had several ''dangerous'' items that is should have failed on and it came out without even an advise.

I know some people get very upset when there cars fails it annual test but this is a minimum standard and it should be viewed on that this keeps the roads that we all drive on safe.

You can inform DVSA if you think that an MOT certificate has been incorrectly issued, although I think that the time elapsed since the test would be the problem here.

Out of interest, have you checked if the horn works yourself? Although there are two horn buttons on the steering wheel, it's quite common for the one on the left to fail. This isn't an MOT fail so long as the other one still works.

• a two inch split in the front tyre inner wall, marked up but ignored-----tested with other wheels fitted?
• brake fluid seeping from both central pipes-------unsurprising when people "dress up" brake pipes prior to test
• both rear brake pipes badly corroded-------as above
• leaking front shock absorber---------one pothole is all it takes
• split in front drop link boot--------could well have been ok when tested
• broken rear spring---------as above, to be fair it is quite difficult to spot sometimes
• rear caliper springs both missing--------I'm sure this has happened to me before :getmecoat:
• horn not working--------both buttons tested?, or in the case of the plank who tested my 75 a few years ago, did hitting the badge on the airbag with the heel of his hand, not make the desired "parp parp" noise :shrug:
• And what should have been two advisories of near limit tyres--------not on the MOT test tyres.

Just to put this into context, four years ago I had the ZT tested, clean sheet.

Drove home (three miles) and after I parked up, I noticed the car had a distinct port list.

So after a cup of coffee, I jacked it up and found a nice new shiny break in the front spring :eek:

I had a second hand one which I fitted as a temporary job while I ordered a pair of new springs.

A couple of days later, as I wasn't using the car, I loaned it out to a local member while repairs were carried out to his 180, only to have a call from him four days after he took custody, to say that there was a twang, and the other front spring had snapped.

Fortunately the broken end of the spring was about 1/16 " from the top of a sub 500 mile Dunlop SP Sport 01, and after fitting a space saver, I drove it home to fit the new springs which had arrived that morning.

What I'm trying to say is the test is only applicable to the items tested at the time, with the exception of corrosion issues, where a three month time limit is applied to items such as sills, floors etc.

If the rest of the car is ok, then you put right the faults and congratulate yourself on having the presence of mind to have the car checked out so soon after purchase.

Brian :D

End of sorry tale (possibly)
 

For those who dislike loose ends, I am moderately happy to report that the MOT garage in Wickford that ignored the split tyre, leaking and corroded brake pipes, split drop-link boot, weeping shocker, broken rear spring and missing brake caliper spring has coughed up a token £250, to slightly allay the £850 I had to find to make the V6 safe.
And did I get the balance from the previous seller - and club member? Well not exactly . . . I've never had an apology, just a threat to "report me for harassment if I contacted him again." And though RAC Legal Services have told me I have a case against him for selling the car in such a dangerous condition, I am presuming he relied on the duff MOT cert as much as I did.