Bought used car very recently - believe it is decatted
Discussion
Bought a used car a few days ago and tried putting it through an MoT to check it out. The CO result was marginal and the tester thinks it has been decatted - the primary cats at least.
I’d be grateful for any views on approaching the trader who sold it. Do I have any come back at all? He did say it was standard.
Thank you.
I’d be grateful for any views on approaching the trader who sold it. Do I have any come back at all? He did say it was standard.
Thank you.
It passed with CO of 0.16% which is very much worse than the 0.0% I am used to seeing. The tester just suspected it could have been done not that he could check.
Update my son went through the receipts in the car and found one for it having the downpipes ‘gutted’. He tell me this means the tester is correct, not that I would know. So it looks like it probably is decatted, or was at some point. I gather the only way to check is to remove the downpipes and check the cat from the manifold end. Sorry if I’m sounding vague but I’m struggling to come to terms with the idea that someone would pay money to make their car worse.
Update my son went through the receipts in the car and found one for it having the downpipes ‘gutted’. He tell me this means the tester is correct, not that I would know. So it looks like it probably is decatted, or was at some point. I gather the only way to check is to remove the downpipes and check the cat from the manifold end. Sorry if I’m sounding vague but I’m struggling to come to terms with the idea that someone would pay money to make their car worse.
richie99 said:
It passed with CO of 0.16% which is very much worse than the 0.0% I am used to seeing. The tester just suspected it could have been done not that he could check.
Update my son went through the receipts in the car and found one for it having the downpipes ‘gutted’. He tell me this means the tester is correct, not that I would know. So it looks like it probably is decatted, or was at some point. I gather the only way to check is to remove the downpipes and check the cat from the manifold end. Sorry if I’m sounding vague but I’m struggling to come to terms with the idea that someone would pay money to make their car worse.
A decat doesn't make the car worseUpdate my son went through the receipts in the car and found one for it having the downpipes ‘gutted’. He tell me this means the tester is correct, not that I would know. So it looks like it probably is decatted, or was at some point. I gather the only way to check is to remove the downpipes and check the cat from the manifold end. Sorry if I’m sounding vague but I’m struggling to come to terms with the idea that someone would pay money to make their car worse.
Cats are only there for emissions reasons, and many people when tuning fit decat pipes which are less restrictive, and flow more air (and as such can afford more power)
I wouldn't do it personally but do you think F1 cars, Touring cars etc use them?
don't waste time / money on inspection
You've got the receipt and the emissions test, there seems little doubt what has been done.
If we are talking about an approved used car, or at least a fairly new car from a reasonable dealer reject it
If its an older car just accept it, it passes and MOT and probably had its cats ripped out to resolve a fault which might be common on that model so if you bought another similar one that hadn't been done then you could end up paying for the same thing yourself in a year or 2.
You've got the receipt and the emissions test, there seems little doubt what has been done.
If we are talking about an approved used car, or at least a fairly new car from a reasonable dealer reject it
If its an older car just accept it, it passes and MOT and probably had its cats ripped out to resolve a fault which might be common on that model so if you bought another similar one that hadn't been done then you could end up paying for the same thing yourself in a year or 2.
That’s very helpful Mr F. Thanks. I was thinking misrepresentation but am not used to this stuff. Thing is the car seems great otherwise. Ideally I’d like it fixed.
Mr eh has a far point though. It’s more than 10 years old and was from an independent trader. At around 10k the cost of replacing the downpipes would be around 10% of the cost of the car.
On balance I think I’d like it fixed and try to get some of the cost from the trader.
Mr eh has a far point though. It’s more than 10 years old and was from an independent trader. At around 10k the cost of replacing the downpipes would be around 10% of the cost of the car.
On balance I think I’d like it fixed and try to get some of the cost from the trader.
Edited by richie99 on Monday 28th February 21:28
That’s very helpful Mr F. Thanks. I was thinking misrepresentation but am not used to this stuff. Thing is the car seems great otherwise. Ideally I’d like it fixed.
Mr eh has a far point though. It’s more than 10 years old and was from an independent trader. At around 10k the cost of replacing the downpipes would be around 10% of the cost of the car.
On balance I think I’d like it fixed and try to get some of the cost from the trader.
Mr eh has a far point though. It’s more than 10 years old and was from an independent trader. At around 10k the cost of replacing the downpipes would be around 10% of the cost of the car.
On balance I think I’d like it fixed and try to get some of the cost from the trader.
Edited by richie99 on Monday 28th February 21:28
Highly unlikely it would pass the emissions without a cat fitted, so I'm guessing the main one is still fitted, and the pre cats closer to the exhaust valves have been removed.
These are fitted to some models, in some markets to achieve cleaner running sooner. As they reach working temperature quicker being closer to the engine.
Its passed the UK mot gas test, so is still legal, although not as originally it was when new.
These are fitted to some models, in some markets to achieve cleaner running sooner. As they reach working temperature quicker being closer to the engine.
Its passed the UK mot gas test, so is still legal, although not as originally it was when new.
richie99 said:
...the car seems great otherwise. Ideally I’d like it fixed...]
It passed the MOT.It seems great.
You couldn't tell before you bought it from the noise that it was decatted.
Struggling to see the issue here.
It will be an absolute ballache to try and get anything from the dealer to cover this unless by some miracle they happen to have the highest moral standards of any car dealer ever. Move on.
Centurion07 said:
richie99 said:
...the car seems great otherwise. Ideally I’d like it fixed...]
It passed the MOT.It seems great.
You couldn't tell before you bought it from the noise that it was decatted.
Struggling to see the issue here.
It will be an absolute ballache to try and get anything from the dealer to cover this unless by some miracle they happen to have the highest moral standards of any car dealer ever. Move on.
Thanks for all your views gents. After some more research I’m left believing that the car is not road legal since it should, theoretically, fail an MoT if any of the emissions equipment has been removed, whether or not it passes the emissions test. In practice of course the tester can’t know they have been gutted so won’t fail it but it is still not legal from what I can tell.
This creates a knock on problem with insurance who won’t want to cover a non road legal car so looks like a big problem all round if you are a stickler for compliance ie you want insurance that is actually valid and will pay out. As correctly spotted it is a 10k car and replacing with used downpipes is about 1k.
This creates a knock on problem with insurance who won’t want to cover a non road legal car so looks like a big problem all round if you are a stickler for compliance ie you want insurance that is actually valid and will pay out. As correctly spotted it is a 10k car and replacing with used downpipes is about 1k.
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