any of the points above can be a fail or no fail depending on the examiner
they are all a simple fix as the wish bones can be surface rust mine had rotted at the top soon welded a plate on them for the mot
track rod ends may have been just ok on the last test again a very easy quick fix
the flexy pipe again may have been ok on the test
an mot is only valid for 24hrs saying your car had passed on the day you could go back a day or a week later and it could fail
goto 3-4 different test centres in a day and you can get 2 passes and 2 fails
Ron

if you say what area you are from a member may be able to have a look for you and possibly help
i dont think anyone is having a fix it day at the moment but most members are willing to help out

 

You bought from a dealer - any warranty?

The MOT is no guarantee about condition other than at the time it was issued, it might be that the dealer will claim that they occurred after the MOT - however unlikely that is - but the car is supposed to be fit for purpose at the point of sale and a blowing exhaust is not FFP.

Back to the dealer straightaway, decide on your position and stick to it - be ready for the trading standards route. Was it cheap to buy eg under £1700 - plenty of good ones are available for that price or less.

 

Who carried out the MOT?
Was it the dealer?

 

I often find that a "Will come with MOT" means nothing from a dealer. They have a garage they send all there work to and get "special" treatment from them. Ive been told by our local garage (for everything other than mgf specific) that when one of the lads worked at a rival garage they were told to "advise if its serious and only faily if its likely to go very soon".

Little niggles get ignored.

TRE's are not expensive to replace, Corroded wishbones can juts be surface rust an will usually clean up.

 

One of the things that you could consider as a tactic is to tell the dealer - if he isn't constructive - that you will advise DVLA of the MoT with no advisories and the condition of the vehicle one month later and ask them to inspect it - a formal inspection and report from the AA or RAC may help.

As MoTs are more tightly controlled, the dealer who issued the MoT may not be keen to hold the line

 

Who did the service? Are the looking for work I wonder. If they are they may have your pants down big time.

 

This was my thinking? It could be either the dealer or the service garage?

Welcome to the forum and don't think about coming on FRL.....DO IT

 

Hi all,

Thanks for the quick replies! The MOT was done by the dealer. The car itself was £ 1,300. For the time being, the dealer is being constructive... We spoke over the phone and he has agreed to have a look at the car and we can then decide what to do next. We still need to iron out the details, however, because I have no idea what he can see by poking his head underneath my car, without a mechanic in tow.

Having had a better look at the MOT paper (i.e. sitting down with a cup of tea and calmly going through everything again), rusting is mentioned for the subframe as an advisory item (my bad, completely went blind on that bit), so I guess I am on my own for that - but as bugsb and Jay13 mentioned, it can be dealt with easily.
For everything else, however, I will have a word with the dealer, and yes, stick to my guns. I had no idea the MOT was valid for 24 hours only, but fact remains that in my opinion selling a car worth £ 1,300, which I have been quoted £ 1,000+ to fix, is far from correct - whether it was knowingly or not.

The garage is a specialist one, which I went to after reading many positive reviews. The experience there was top notch and much different from any other mechanic I had ever been to, so I would rather keep them unnamed! Although I agree that sometimes mechanics do get carried away with what is actually necessary work, I want to know exactly what the score is before passing judgment.

In terms of warranty, I have one of those 'Customer Protect' silver covers. Having done a bit of research, I have only found negative comments about them. I know that you rarely have people going out of their way to post glowing product reviews on the Internet, but it just does not smell convincing, so I am saving them for later.

Should worse come to worst, or should the dealer only agree to fix some of the faults, I have been looking on the forum's how-to section, and some of the threads I have found make things so clear that even I could attempt them :lol:

I will let you know how everything turns out! Thanks for the replies, and for the time being I will enjoy Linda as much as I can... already thinking of signing up to the Friends Round London in February :wooman:

 

The car itself was £ 1,300 - not too bad as a starting point

 

Any pictures of your car? Interesting to see what £1300 buys from a dealer

 

Right... I tried making a post this morning but it said it needed to be checked before appearing. Nothing happened, so I am assuming that it got lost in transit and I am trying again.

This is the dearly beloved the day I picked her up. If you spot anything or have any comments feel free to throw them my way!

In terms of niggles and foibles, all it has (apart from the already mentioned faults) is a sticky throttle cable (sorted), squeaky clutch cable, squeaky driver's seat, a heater knob that needs to be pushed in when rotated to actually work.

The only major thing I can think of is this rip, which I am trying to figure out a way to fix - if anyone has had this, feel free to chip in with suggestions

The cockpit is nothing fancy or flash, but nothing is wrong with it - even the clock works! The driver's seat is in relatively good shape, with no rips or tears - I just had to add floor mats. A new head unit is on its way, with a motorised screen and built in sat nav, so I can get rid of the phone holder hanging off the windscreen and just keep it stowed away somewhere discreet.

So yes, this is what £ 1,300 buys you in the West Midlands! I plan on keeping this car for a loooong time, and with time and money, change a few things. Top on the list are LED replacements for the rear light clusters. Next up would be HIDs for the front, should I be happy that they will not melt the wires! With time, I hope to fit a wind breaker, front splitter, and a heated rear screen - but as it stands, I am really happy with the car!

 

Looks quite good! Good luck with the dealer, hopefully you have more luck then I do haha!

 

I would get the car independantly inspected by someone trusted. It a/ gives more leverage when taking to the dealer and b/ will verify/discredit what this other garage have said.

Don't automatically assume the garage has sold you a pup/the servicing garage is taking the **** but a second opinion will confirm one of the two.

 

£1300 for a mid engined sportscar is dirt cheap. So I think youve got to expect to do some work. If it's DIY well get out and get under. If it's scary get one of the forum's resident mechanics to do it for you.

I have a very low opinion of smaller dealers however who will tell you everything is fine when often it isnt. Cars become cheap for a reason.

Anyhow now youve got it, get it fixed and when (if) the summer comes along it WILL all be absolutely worth it all!

 

.
I have a very low opinion of smaller dealers however who will tell you everything is fine when often it isnt. Cars become cheap for a reason.
.

Me too although I would not tar them all with the same brush. Main reason why many cars are cheap, not just MGs and Rovers, is because of the fear of Consumer legislation constraints. Almost certainly why you see so many half decent used cars in breaker yards now which many folks throughout the world would pay good money for. A V-Reg Rover 600 no longer seen as "a nice little earner" is worth up to £200 scrap value depending on current scrap metal values. Even in some countries on mainland Europe, that same car in the same condition would change hands for thousands of Euros.

Even BMWs and Mercedes-Benz of similar age and condition to that Rover now get weighed in for that same reason. Consumer legislation constraints. Not worth the bother so consume you B*********************** and get this country back on its financial feet.

Fat chance. Every time we've consumed our way out of deep recessions since the 1970s, it has merely been a short term fix. The answer is to produce our way to a sustained recovery, not create additional and quite unnecessary consumption with huge individual personal and frequent huge company debt.

Nice little earner:~

Earn .... perhaps the most wrongly used word in today's UK. Far too many want to take a profit, asset strip and run rather than actually earn it. Not to mention huge over rewards for... failure. Stupefying bonuses for failures and even half a million severance package for 51 days work .... These examples are endless.

Does you good to have a rant occasionally...

Anyhow now youve got it, get it fixed and when (if) the summer comes along it WILL all be absolutely worth it all!

Spot on.

 

The heater knob just seems to be like that - mine is - the trouble seems to be that the knob and the coolant valve shaft it rotates are misaligned slightly so they jam a little about the twelve o'clock position.

As said, a track rod end isn't that expensive. You bought a £1300 car, it isn't going to be perfect - and as anyone here will tell you, even the more expensive ones have niggles - head gasket failure, underfloor coolant pipe failure, a rear mirror mount so flexible you can barely use it, a gearknob that freezes your hand to it, leaky windows, a weird driving position, a soft top that always sticks half-way down...but that's what makes it an interesting car to own ;0)

 

hi matey would be interested to know what tyres you have on her as those sidewalls look very large on the pitcure but could just be me.

regards
kerry

 

Kerry,

Rear tyres are Accelera 205/55 R15 88V

Front tyres are Runway Enduro-556 185/55 R15 82V

Do bear in mind that I took that picture when I picked the car up, and pressure, if memory serves, was at least half a bar below optimum.

From what I have read (and felt), the brands are rather on the budget side. However, they came with still plenty of thread, so I cannot make myself spend £ 200 on new tyres while these are still very roadworthy!

 

Plus there only 15" so they will always look bigger then 16".


Nice TF mate, welcome to to the forum. :broon:

 

Plus there only 15" so they will always look bigger then 16".

Hm.. I will have to remember that one with the ladies :bgrin:

Thanks, I am really enjoying the place already, definitely a nice bunch of people on here!

 

I'm Free !

 

Sounds and looks a great car for £1300. With any second hand car it is a bit of pot luck.
Reckon you have a beauty there though :broon: