Should I cancel my order?

[NA1983]

Hey all,

So on the 3rd January 2023, I put a deposit down on a rather nice Mercedes E Class but because they are the other side of the country, they were going to deliver to me the following week (w/c 9th January 2023) with a new MOT. I paid a £250 deposit with the rest to be paid on delivery. The garage is just a small independent garage.

Anyway, they had to make some repairs to the car during week commencing 9th January 2023 and with those repairs having finished on 11th January 2023, the car is now waiting to be MOT'd. It has been sat at the MOT garage since this date.

Having checked just now, it has still NOT been MOT'd.

The garage is apologetic and all that but to be honest, it causing me a right faff being without a car for so long. The garage I am buying the car from don't appear to be any major rush or put any pressure on the MOT garage to get it done (from what I can see anyway).

So I am just thinking that should I cancel my order and look elsewhere? Or is this pretty normal and I am being too harsh?

Thanks for your advice!

[alscar]

I guess technically you are still within only one week late from the original suggested / agreed delivery date.
I think before you cancel ( which does seem a little quick unless you have found something better elsewhere ) maybe get in touch and just ask when will it now be delivered as you need it.

[Roboticarm]

There's tons of MOT places out there, I'd be tempted to tell the seller you need it asap and they should consider another MOT garage
Most local councils run a turn up on the day test facility

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Have you actually seen the car, in person? I wouldn't buy any used car without seeing it.

Even hi res pics can be misleading if selected right.. plus over a week to run a mot?

Have you entered its reg into the government site incase it was entered but failed on a number of points?

[nunpuncher]

Talk to the garage and tell them that being without a car is causing you problems.

I bought a used car from a small independent garage in 2018. I left a deposit on the car mid February with the sale being on condition of a list of repairs I wanted done (following an independent inspection). The repairs dragged on and on due to the garage doing the repairs being busy, parts on back order, issues they couldn't diagnose, yada yada. After a month I'd lost patience and wanted my money back. I took the wrong approach when I spoke to them and I came away fuming and started a ranting thread on here. Anyway, because of the car and my location someone worked out who the garage was and the owner got in touch regarding the thread. He was younger than me, but much more grown up about the whole thing and gave me a choice of cars from the showroom to use until mine was ready. The car ended up taking until the end of May and I had a nice 911 turbo to thrash for a few months.

The morale of this story. Don't do anything rash. Talk to people, explain your situation and give them the chance to make good. Small businesses especially can really value their customers.