Deposit paid but failed MOT

[brian5423]

Hope someone can advise me. I went to view and test drive a car at the weekend. Everything seemed fine with it and the dealer said they would service and MOT it. I have just looked today on the check-mot.service.gov.uk website and discovered that the car has failed the MOT for the following reasons:

Nearside Rear Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))
Offside Rear Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))
Nearside Front Brake pipe excessively corroded front to rear (1.1.11 (c))
Offside Rear Brake pipe excessively corroded front to rear (1.1.11 (c))

Bit worried the car's going to cause me even more problems as it had these issues. Am I within my rights to ask for the deposit back? I didn't sign anything and paid it over the phone as I was worried I'd lose out on the car.

Where do I stand here?

Please help!

[Pistonheader101]

They’ll sort it at their cost.

[Big Al.]

Easy really, seller to get it sorted and provide clean MOT, or deposit refund and walk away!

[brian5423]

Are these failures potential red flags? It's an 06 Mini. I'm a bit concerned they'll do a dodgy job to pass it

[ClaphamGT3]

No, on a 12 year old Mini, those are service items and are not, in themselves, in anyway concerning

[Mexman]

Hate to have to break this to you, but it's a 13 yr old Mini.
Were you expecting it to fly through the MOT without a single failure or advisory?
If it has failed on these items, then the dealer will have to rectify, in order to continue the sale.
I don't see what the problem is?
Perhaps you should cancel the order, and put your deposit towards the cost of a brand new one then?
I dispair sometimes, I really do.

Edited by Mexman on Tuesday 19th February 18:18

[snake_oil]

I'd certainly be inspecting these items on pickup... in case the dealer has a 'friendly' relationship with the MOTer.

[Pistonheader101]

snake_oil said:

I'd certainly be inspecting these items on pickup... in case the dealer has a 'friendly' relationship with the MOTer.

If the relationship was that friendly they’d have not mentioned it on an MOT

[Mexman]

snake_oil said:

I'd certainly be inspecting these items on pickup... in case the dealer has a 'friendly' relationship with the MOTer.

If that was the case, then the tester would have just passed it or advised it surely????
It's failed., What can they possibly do now apart from renew????
Honestly, I give up.

[stevemcs]

At least that’s 4 things off the to do list, better get saving for the next 12 months, mini’s can be problematic little buggers

[don29]

It’s a good thing.

Bits of the car you’ve bought are now brand new and won’t need replacing for a while.

[Jamescrs]

If it was me buying it I would be quite pleased that:

1- It's had on the face of it a genuine MOT and the dealer hasn't got his mate to knock out a dodgy one overlooking those faults

2- It's failed on only minor issues that the dealer is now going to have to sort at their own expense.

Seems like a pretty good position to me for the age of the car.

[POORCARDEALER]

Get used to issues if you are buying a 13 year old mini

[Sir Bagalot]

I'm more concerned as to why someone is buying a 13 year old mini from a dealer?

[Mexman]

Can't be worth much surely?
I've just taken a 52 plate Mini Cooper in part exchange , bit rough around the edges but drives well enough.......£75 quid I gave for it.
How much is this car OP?

Edited by Mexman on Saturday 23 February 17:59

[Deep Thought]

Mexman said:

Can't be worth much surely?
I've just taken a 52 plate Mini Cooper in part exchange , bit tough around the edges but drives well enough.......£75 quid I gave for it.
How much is this car OP?

Assuming less than 100K miles and a Cooper, then approx £1600-2300 ish depending on spec, colour and condition (on AT anyway)

[Mexman]

Yeah, this one isn't great , but I would be surprised if it was more than £1800 quidish.