Chimaera concern
Chimaera concern
Author
Discussion

kenny320

Original Poster:

1,598 posts

274 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
quotequote all
Ok... As some of you know I'm about to take delivery of my friend's (and my beloved) 94 Chimaera but an issue surrounding the paperwork has turned up. It seems that not long before she bought it, it had two MOT's done a few months apart, while belonging to the same person.

This has set me wondering what reasoning there might be for this, ie possible serious accident requiring new mot test. Does anyone have any idea how i could find out about possible insurance claims or accidents involving the car?

I SO want this car(!!!!!!!!), I just want to make sure I know what I'm getting. Thanks everyone

By the way, I have no idea why a proper check wasn't done on the car when she bought it.

Kenny320

ian8542

615 posts

281 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
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Sometimes people get a car MOT'd for 12 months as a selling point. Could be this. 12 months is better than 6 if you are a buyer.

kenny320

Original Poster:

1,598 posts

274 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
quotequote all
Good point,I'll check the dates compared to when it got traded, though I think the difference was about 3 months.

>> Edited by kenny320 on Wednesday 25th August 00:43

shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
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Get it HPI'd before you buy it. You will get the complete history of the car that way.

gf350

805 posts

295 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
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I got Rob Ingleby www.findasportscar.co.uk to inspect mine, he does an hpi as well but told me the paintwork was original and the chassis was undamaged.
GF

Ribol

11,992 posts

287 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
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One good reason for having two MOTs is that the car was clocked. Too many years around cars has made me thing this way

Ivan

Ribol

11,992 posts

287 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
quotequote all
shpub said:
Get it HPI'd before you buy it. You will get the complete history of the car that way.

Worth doing for sure but do not assume that this will give you the "complete" history.

Ivan

IPAddis

2,523 posts

313 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
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My car has two MOTs inside 12 months because the servicing garage did it without asking. I didn't pay for it though!

Ian A,

M@H

11,298 posts

301 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
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kenny320 said:
It seems that not long before she bought it, it had two MOT's done a few months apart, while belonging to the same person.



Did she not query it at the time..? It sounds a bit suspicious to me unless it was done to sell the car (in which case she'd know as she'd have bought it with 12 months MOT and the words "just MOT'd" )



..otherwise without a really good explanation I'd agree with others, its a way of hiding a mileage discrepancy. What other legitamate reason is there to pay time and money to get something that you already have in the first place...?

Edited to add: ..does it coincide with a Service..? you could always phone up the MOT station and ask them if they can remember the car and the circumstances?
Cheers,
Matt.

>> Edited by M@H on Wednesday 25th August 14:59

kenny320

Original Poster:

1,598 posts

274 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
quotequote all
M@H said:

Did she not query it at the time..? It sounds a bit suspicious to me unless it was done to sell the car (in which case she'd know as she'd have bought it with 12 months MOT and the words "just MOT'd" )



..otherwise without a really good explanation I'd agree with others, its a way of hiding a mileage discrepancy. What other legitamate reason is there to pay time and money to get something that you already have in the first place...?

Edited to add: ..does it coincide with a Service..? you could always phone up the MOT station and ask them if they can remember the car and the circumstances?
Cheers,
Matt.

>> Edited by M@H on Wednesday 25th August 14:59



Hmmm :Peers-back-into-the-mists-of-time:

I seem to remember at the time she was satisfied with the explanation (though I don't believe I was there at the time and no one seems to remember what it was). I understand the garage did an hpi and were satisfied that it wasn't a write off. What was never made clear was if it had maybe had enough of a bump to need some major work done.

It's certainly been through an MOT and service since then with differnt people so the car *should* be ok.

It's more just for my peace of mind I'd like to be able to find out as much about the history of the car as possible.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does find it a bit odd.



>> Edited by kenny320 on Wednesday 25th August 15:26

kenny320

Original Poster:

1,598 posts

274 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
quotequote all
IPAddis said:
My car has two MOTs inside 12 months because the servicing garage did it without asking. I didn't pay for it though!

Ian A,


That could be a possibility. I'll have a look at the paperwork and see what I can make of it.

Kenny

SwanJack

1,955 posts

301 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
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Maybe - first MOT cetificate lost, second MOT certificate aquired to enable car to be insured (as opposed to getting a replacement certificate for whatever reason or other). First MOT certificate turns up later on.

magnus

125 posts

287 months

Wednesday 25th August 2004
quotequote all
Ribol said:
One good reason for having two MOTs is that the car was clocked. Too many years around cars has made me thing this way

Ivan


Possible but surely anything suspicious like this would show up on the servicing records---I mean has the car done a very low mileage since the last service--much lower than usual.

woody_450

452 posts

266 months

Thursday 26th August 2004
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I wonder if Mr Plod pulled the previous owner for something like a blown exhaust which happened after the first MOT and requested they got it fixed and re-MOTd?!?

This happened to me and a mate in this Mini...

crimsonchim

424 posts

299 months

Thursday 26th August 2004
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It is the same registration No. isn't it?

I think if you add/remove a private plate you need a new MOT.

Just a thought...

Ribol

11,992 posts

287 months

Thursday 26th August 2004
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crimsonchim said:

It is the same registration No. isn't it?

I think if you add/remove a private plate you need a new MOT.

Just a thought...

If you change a plate they alter the MOT, don't need a new one.

Ivan

matthewbinns

18,506 posts

276 months

Thursday 26th August 2004
quotequote all
How long has your friend had the car? If it's been running well for a number of years (remember the car is 10 years old and will have some history) does it really matter?

You are getting a good car from a person you trust and know. The best way to buy I would say.

M@H

11,298 posts

301 months

Thursday 26th August 2004
quotequote all
matthewbinns said:

You are getting a good car from a person you trust and know. The best way to buy I would say.


So you'd think.. I was looking into a car and delayed going to see it due to the history seeming a little bit odd. The current owner had been told that the car had been serviced twice by the previous owner before he bought it but had no paperwork to prove it. Accordingly there was a small gap in the service history, but the chap took this at face value and bought the car as all else seemed fine.

Now 18 months on when he comes to sell it, people (well me anyway) started asking questions about this gap which the chap was very upfront and honest about.

Eventually he discovered that his pride and joy was CAT C and he never knew about it.

Always best to double check everything. The Chim I'm buying this weekend I have already spoken to the garage who sold it to the previous owner, both of whom told me it was all A1 and cat clear but I still got it HPI checked again anyway (all clear).. better to find out earlier than later.

Cheers,
Matt.

kenny320

Original Poster:

1,598 posts

274 months

Thursday 26th August 2004
quotequote all
matthewbinns said:
How long has your friend had the car? If it's been running well for a number of years (remember the car is 10 years old and will have some history) does it really matter?

You are getting a good car from a person you trust and know. The best way to buy I would say.



Thats what I reckon. She's had the car for a year and there are certainly plenty of receipts etc. There is nothing too worrying about the actual condition of it. I need to have a better look at some of the details but I reckon all should be ok. It's more that two MOT's did raise an eyebrow when I was thinking about some details.

There is no way I'm gonna turn this deal down provided there are no major problems.

M@H, there is certainly plenty of history in the receipts etc. I'll check the dates and be sure everything adds up.

Cheers
Kenny

>> Edited by kenny320 on Thursday 26th August 15:52