Modern classic sports car from dealer - mot expired?

[Tyrell Corp]

Seen something I like the look of, a modern classic sports car - very rare and 'specialist' at a classic car dealer (not brand specialist)

I realise traders will put a fresh 12 month ticket on only after the sale, but this one expired several months ago and has been advertised a couple of months already.

This is the sort of car that would need very careful checking over, and an expectation of possible high repair bills.

Seems a red flag to me, I'm puzzled why a dealer wouldn't just mot it for a test drive unless he knows it might be a ticking time bomb? car is over 20k.

Edited by Tyrell Corp on Monday 7th August 16:29

Edited by Tyrell Corp on Monday 7th August 16:30

[Andy665]

Not unusual or suspect at all.

When someone agrees to buy the car it will be MOT'd - completely standard practice.

I have just sold a car, had two months MOT on it, advised I would put a fresh 12 months on it and I did - when someone had committed to buying it - maximises the length of MOT they drive off with

[Xcore]

Gives the buyer a full 12 months from the date of sale…

[Tyrell Corp]

so I simply buy the car untested and it gets an mot, what could go wrong?

I'd like to drive, inspect and then (maybe) negotiate, rather than agree to buy before a decent test drive. The mot is expired several months ago.

[Andy665]

Tyrell Corp said:

so I simply buy the car untested and it gets an mot, what could go wrong?

I'd like to drive, inspect and then (maybe) negotiate, rather than agree to buy before a decent test drive. The mot is expired several months ago.

Have you explained this to the dealer?

[Tyrell Corp]

Andy665 said:

Have you explained this to the dealer?

No, I guess he would have worked it out already, do people really buy 30 year old cars at over 20k without a proper road test ? (from dealer, not auction)

Ultimately, any MOT fixes would likely be a minor consideration on what is reputedly quite a high maintenance car. (mid engine sports low build numbers)

[n3il123]

30 years old? Does it even need an mot now?

[griffter]

If the test drive is on trade plates does it need a mot?

Either way what can you learn about the condition and maintenance of the car from the online mot history? Probably a lot more than from a test drive imho. Test drives can be useful for establishing whether you like the car, but are limited in what they can tell you about its condition, beyond any funny noises.

Presumably the dealer is assuring they will right any wrongs, so I wouldn’t let the mot status from a reputable dealer put me off enquiring.

[123DWA]

Tyrell Corp said:

do people really buy 30 year old cars at over 20k without a proper road test ? (from dealer, not auction)

Honestly, yes. I sell a few classics a year alongside my normal stock, so far this year I've sold a Daimler Series 2, Healey 3000, TR6 & MGB. All of them were only driven round my yard to check the driveline is ok & they go through the gears after a decent inspection in my showroom. This wasn't something I stipulated and even offered 2 of them to take it up the road but both said it wouldn't be necessary.

[sixor8]

It's 40 years old to be exempt the MoT test, and only if it has not been substantially modified in the last 30. Can be a grey area that one, DVLA have guidelines. Classic car auctions have several cars recently being pushed through at 40+ with no need for one, buyer beware if they've been in somebody's garage for donkeys without regular use.

To the OP, yes it's very common practice; a car that age, especially if tagged 'classic' could take a year or more to sell, at which point they'll MoT it, hopefully a genuine one with faults rectified. I've seen several cars at auctions with a very recent 12 months ticket that were obviously passed by a 'friendly' tester or themselves....

[charltjr]

griffter said:

If the test drive is on trade plates does it need a mot?

Yes, trade plates only cover tax, the car must still have a valid MoT. Easy get out is for the dealer to “book a mot” with a contact in the trade and then the car is legal as it’s being driven to a pre-booked MoT….. Obviously such things would never happen

In reality though, the chances of getting a pull for no MoT are so vanishingly small it’s pretty much irrelevant. It would be a very, very bored trafpol who’d give a classic on trade plates a tug for a no MoT ping.

[biggbn]

If you are not happy with the 'arrangement', don't buy it. Seems simple?

[OverSteery]

charltjr said:

Yes, trade plates only cover tax, the car must still have a valid MoT. ....

Well I've learnt something today. I always assumed a trade plate would include not MOT, but no....

[breamster]

It wouldn't be a red flag for me. It's fairly normal to fresh mot on point of sale. However as it is a fair chunk of money maybe get an inspection done by a trusted garage or specialist. Dealer arranged Mots can be questionable anyway.

[hunt123]

I bought a high end quite rare motorbike (not classic) without riding it and with a new mot and service after sale. No problems with it. If you're considering doing this i'd say choose the dealer wisely.

[Mr Whippy]

OverSteery said:

charltjr said:

Yes, trade plates only cover tax, the car must still have a valid MoT. ....

Well I've learnt something today. I always assumed a trade plate would include not MOT, but no....

I test drove a 15 year old car with no MOT with trade plates.

Just look elsewhere. A road test is pretty important to make sure it runs well.

It’s not so much about the MOT, but about the road test I think.

I wouldn’t want trouble because no mot should something happen, trafpol, accident, blah blah.

[ingenieur]

I bought a car once which had a perfect MOT history without a single advisory or failure. It had about 8 months left but the dealer put it through a fresh MOT and it failed on a worn tyre.

Would have been better if he hadn't gone to the trouble. Although being nerdy about a clean MOT history is something for the real nutcases such as myself.

[Tyrell Corp]

biggbn said:

If you are not happy with the 'arrangement', don't buy it. Seems simple?

Yes, just a bit too simple for me.

[biggbn]

Tyrell Corp said:

biggbn said:

If you are not happy with the 'arrangement', don't buy it. Seems simple?

Yes, just a bit too simple for me.

If I was spending that money on a car I'd want a decent test drive. If the vendor, for whatever reason, could not or would not allow this, I'd walk. There is one thing that I know, there are many used cars around and I don't have an endless supply of money.

[ingenieur]

biggbn said:

Tyrell Corp said:

biggbn said:

If you are not happy with the 'arrangement', don't buy it. Seems simple?

Yes, just a bit too simple for me.

If I was spending that money on a car I'd want a decent test drive. If the vendor, for whatever reason, could not or would not allow this, I'd walk. There is one thing that I know, there are many used cars around and I don't have an endless supply of money.

Classic cars can be very expensive to keep running well depending on what you've bought. They're also relatively rare. So you find one at a dealer and you have a look around and if it is a genuine car you buy it. When it's your car you then start spending on the things you want to have refreshed. If there's a choice of two then perhaps you can weigh up the pros and cons of each more extensively. It's not the same as buying a second-hand VW Sharan off a back street dealer and then crying to him when it gives up in a cloud of smoke on the M6.