First time buyer advice - MOT
Discussion
Finally found a car that seems to tick all my boxes and for a reasonable price. The only glitch is that MOT is due in 2 months.
The car had these advisories in the previous MOT:
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
travel on hand brake
Nearside Rear hand brake slight low effort
engine cover & under trays fitted unable to examine testable items
Nearside Front Shock absorbers light misting of oil or has limited damping effect (5.3.2 (b))
Is this something to worry about? Can anyone advise how much we're looking at in terms of repairs considering it could have gotten worse over the year?
The car is Skoda Fabia 2012 1.6
Cheers guys! Much appreciate any advice.
The car had these advisories in the previous MOT:
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
travel on hand brake
Nearside Rear hand brake slight low effort
engine cover & under trays fitted unable to examine testable items
Nearside Front Shock absorbers light misting of oil or has limited damping effect (5.3.2 (b))
Is this something to worry about? Can anyone advise how much we're looking at in terms of repairs considering it could have gotten worse over the year?
The car is Skoda Fabia 2012 1.6
Cheers guys! Much appreciate any advice.
Typical VAG ... the rear brakes will want stripping and cleaning, if it has drums then it might be a leaking cylinder, if it has calipers then its likely a caliper is seizing. Shock absorbers always leak on VW's, undertrays are nothing to worry about.
The items may have already been addressed, but i'd be asking for 12 months MOT if i agreed to buy.
The items may have already been addressed, but i'd be asking for 12 months MOT if i agreed to buy.
It can be quite intimidating buying your first car.
There are a lot of pitfalls. Even seasoned car buyers fall into them sometimes. I will happily put my hand up and say that i've had my fair share of successes as well as failures.
For cars where there may be numerous examples about, buying one fairly locally with 6months + MOT and history is your ideal starting point. An indicator of care can be the MOT and service history. Is the servicing up to date? Has it any paperwork to substantiate work done during ownership.
Check the GOV MOT history website using the number plate. If the car has passed every MOT with minimal work it can be an indicator that its had a good life or an easy life (no guarantees mind). It would still need inspecting etc. If the last MOT was only minimal items as you've listed and its not failing year on year. It COULD be worth a bit of a gamble.
That said. I wouldn't necessarily see the car as an issue with only two months MOT. There could be numerous reasons why its being sold right now - with most of us not driving to work and suffering effects of lockdown financially. Maybe a car on the drive is an easy bit of equity to release and you may not wish to spend anything more on it. There could be numerous other reasons.
I would ask the seller if they are willing to MOT the car for sale - the response will be more telling. If its negative there could be questions as to why - but as i just said, money could simply be one of them. Nothing is cheap these days at a garage, especially if you don't have the money in the first place.
Same goes for you - can you afford within your budget to cover any repairs that the car may need? If the answer is no or unlikely, then maybe look for something elsewhere that gives more piece of mind. Suggesting to adjust your budget to allow a £500 cushion for works. This could be a point you use to negotiate a better sale price " i like the car, looking at the MOT history it's likely to need X...So i'll offer you £x off the asking price" Using the money to alleviate the issues you may have getting it through the MOT.
All this is easy to say, ultimately its your choice. You pay your money and you roll the dice with second hand cars either private or from a dealer. Especially low priced ones. Its never going to be a sure fire thing.
Do your research, ask the right questions, test drive the car and ask the seller why its not MOT'd for 12 months and if they'd be willing and then weigh up how you feel about it??
There are a lot of pitfalls. Even seasoned car buyers fall into them sometimes. I will happily put my hand up and say that i've had my fair share of successes as well as failures.
For cars where there may be numerous examples about, buying one fairly locally with 6months + MOT and history is your ideal starting point. An indicator of care can be the MOT and service history. Is the servicing up to date? Has it any paperwork to substantiate work done during ownership.
Check the GOV MOT history website using the number plate. If the car has passed every MOT with minimal work it can be an indicator that its had a good life or an easy life (no guarantees mind). It would still need inspecting etc. If the last MOT was only minimal items as you've listed and its not failing year on year. It COULD be worth a bit of a gamble.
That said. I wouldn't necessarily see the car as an issue with only two months MOT. There could be numerous reasons why its being sold right now - with most of us not driving to work and suffering effects of lockdown financially. Maybe a car on the drive is an easy bit of equity to release and you may not wish to spend anything more on it. There could be numerous other reasons.
I would ask the seller if they are willing to MOT the car for sale - the response will be more telling. If its negative there could be questions as to why - but as i just said, money could simply be one of them. Nothing is cheap these days at a garage, especially if you don't have the money in the first place.
Same goes for you - can you afford within your budget to cover any repairs that the car may need? If the answer is no or unlikely, then maybe look for something elsewhere that gives more piece of mind. Suggesting to adjust your budget to allow a £500 cushion for works. This could be a point you use to negotiate a better sale price " i like the car, looking at the MOT history it's likely to need X...So i'll offer you £x off the asking price" Using the money to alleviate the issues you may have getting it through the MOT.
All this is easy to say, ultimately its your choice. You pay your money and you roll the dice with second hand cars either private or from a dealer. Especially low priced ones. Its never going to be a sure fire thing.
Do your research, ask the right questions, test drive the car and ask the seller why its not MOT'd for 12 months and if they'd be willing and then weigh up how you feel about it??
Thank you so much for your responses guys! I really appreciate taking your time to reply to me. Special thanks to stevekoz for giving me such an exhausting advice!
I see your point and absolutely agree with it. I still think the car is a good deal for the price it's being offered for and the specs it has but will be asking the seller to get it MOTd if I agree to buy. Overall, it doesn't have a star MOT history but it not so bad either, and seems to have been mostly due to worn tyres and minor issues which were previously addressed.
I see your point and absolutely agree with it. I still think the car is a good deal for the price it's being offered for and the specs it has but will be asking the seller to get it MOTd if I agree to buy. Overall, it doesn't have a star MOT history but it not so bad either, and seems to have been mostly due to worn tyres and minor issues which were previously addressed.
ilikejam said:
If it were me, I would have just put an MOT on it before sticking it up for sale.
Could be anything from lazy bastid, to cheap bastid, to the bastid knows something's wrong with it - and anywhere in between.
Exactly what any sensible person would do or expect, unless they were knowingly trying to pass off a pup Could be anything from lazy bastid, to cheap bastid, to the bastid knows something's wrong with it - and anywhere in between.
I have a car up for sale with only 3 months MOT left, however I do state it will be supplied with a full MOT prior to sale.
Red flag when anyone is selling a car with less than 3 months & also a huge advantage to knock the price down. I'd always look elsewhere if it's less than 3 months.
Red flag when anyone is selling a car with less than 3 months & also a huge advantage to knock the price down. I'd always look elsewhere if it's less than 3 months.
The price would need to reflect a brake strip and clean, a set of handbrake cables, the front dampers and an MOT as you can be assured the problems wont have improved.
Unless its priced to reflect the repairs and you know a trusted workshop for the jobs (or can DIY), I would look for a cleaner example.
Unless its priced to reflect the repairs and you know a trusted workshop for the jobs (or can DIY), I would look for a cleaner example.
dont go thinking a car with a fresh mot is some fully serviced , refreshed , almost good as new car either ....some right worn out dogs can pass an mot
if the price is right doesnt sound so bad , needs an hour spent on the handbrake and maybe a damper ...might have had all that done already
if the price is right doesnt sound so bad , needs an hour spent on the handbrake and maybe a damper ...might have had all that done already
In the big scheme of things those advisory notices on a 2012 car are nothing, but could be a good bargaining chip. Also you can inspect the shocks (to see if their new or the misting is still just misting - as I suspect) and push on the front wings to see if they're really shot, the hand brake you can try on a test drive, the use of the word 'slight' in that could me barely anything, just early warning of a brake and/or cable seizing up. Mot places vary these advisories might not have even been mentioned by another tester.
The mot won't tell you about the clutch or if it uses water a whole multitude of things, it's good to look at the history but it's just for pointers really. Sometimes you can see subsequent invoices for the work and take a positive view the owners care for it, that's fair enough still doesn't mean the clutch or head gasket is just hanging in there and they might not even know.
I think above a certain level most sellers would put on a fresh MOT but I suspect it's low value and so the seller doesn't want to pay to take a risk, some might say this is at least a positive as if he was totally dodgy then it would already have a clean fresh MOT!!!
You can't ever be totally sure of everything, just do what you're doing if you are nervous of the Mot items then perhaps buy one with a fresh MOT just to give yourself that 12 months breathing space, but things can randomly go wrong anytime. Seeing a seller and the car in the flesh is often a deal breaker one way or another and can be more positive or negative than any research/paperwork history, but I appreciate that's not easy right now.
The mot won't tell you about the clutch or if it uses water a whole multitude of things, it's good to look at the history but it's just for pointers really. Sometimes you can see subsequent invoices for the work and take a positive view the owners care for it, that's fair enough still doesn't mean the clutch or head gasket is just hanging in there and they might not even know.
I think above a certain level most sellers would put on a fresh MOT but I suspect it's low value and so the seller doesn't want to pay to take a risk, some might say this is at least a positive as if he was totally dodgy then it would already have a clean fresh MOT!!!
You can't ever be totally sure of everything, just do what you're doing if you are nervous of the Mot items then perhaps buy one with a fresh MOT just to give yourself that 12 months breathing space, but things can randomly go wrong anytime. Seeing a seller and the car in the flesh is often a deal breaker one way or another and can be more positive or negative than any research/paperwork history, but I appreciate that's not easy right now.
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