Bent MOT ???

Picked my Disco up from a small dealer who trades from his house all offical 2 days ago.

I wanted a new MOT to which he agreed on the invoice, today I get chance to check it over and a few things got my mind going. It failed the MOT on brake pipes from front to rear and a blow on the exhaust and this was all done he told me.

These are the things I have found that have aroused my suspisions. Click on the thumb nails below to enlarge the images

Loose battery


Fuel cap


Front tyre


After find these I looked further and found some rot that I dont know if it would fail on?



The front to rear brake pipes look a bit old and dirty to me to only have been done 2 days ago, and they are tight against part of the chassis and i am sure they could chaffe


Oh and i asked for the aircon to be looked at, he told me the compressor needed replacing and he could not warrent that so it had been disconnected and he gave me £45 back so i though that was ok. I looked under the bonnet this afternoon and found 2 blown fuses laying on the top of the inner wing lip and this was the state of the disconnected wiring


He seemed a great guy, but now I have more than my share of doubts

What do you guys think about the MOT was it done

sounds like you should be reporting the MOT tester AND the dodgy trader to me.

if you are not happy with the MOT as given - contact VOSA there details are on the certificate, do not contact the seller until you have contacted VOSA and had another MOT test done by them. Once you have those findings then contact him and ask either for your money back in full or he pays to have the work rectified professionally.

I am in the motor trade, so I'll try and not let this get all 'consumer rights' and have things blow out of proportion!

My first observation is that your trader is not the most professional of blokes.

Stuff like that wiring, that's just shabby. Ok the wirings screwed and he's told you he's not sorting it, but you would at least tape/cable tie it up.

So using that as an example, it explains other things like the battery.

If that car were in our garage we would do our best to rectify the niggly bits for as little as possible, to make the car road worthy, fit for sale, presentable, reliable etc, whilst maximising profit potential.

Fixing the battery clamp would cost pennies, but he's overlooked it. Same could be said for your messy wiring. Maybe that's the problem even?

Those brake pipes are definitely new. They might look grubby if the pipe was not bought recently (sat on a roll for years etc) but you can see from the shiny bits it's new to the car.

Quite recently we had to fit new front to rear pipes on a td5 for it's MOT, we decided to get the job done elsewhere cos it's such a pain.

The lad who did the job is neat and tidy and we trust him well, but still the pipes looked like yours, kinda wobbly and untidy. He said it took a good few hours to get it all routed through, major PITA.

As for your tyre and your rust, I expect those would pass, although maybe pulling up an advisory.

All in all, it depends how happy you are with the car as a whole. Not denying you've bought from a sloppy seller, but if the cars nice enough, good price and history etc then why kick up a fuss for a few niggles.

You could always ask your seller to sort bits out, but you might make a neater job yourself!

Cheers for the replies, the wiring was ok when I first looked at it, its when it went to have the aircon done that they must have done it, but he should have said look and sorry but that dont matter really now.

I like the car and dont want any grief and I am not a trouble maker, but i did not want to be ripped off big time, as my wife is giiving me hell for selling my 05 plate mondeo and going back to a 97 P plate Disco..

an unsecured brake pipe is a fail... assuming it wasnt secure at time of mot

The only thing that is a definate fail there is the fuel cap,
the tester would say that the brake pipe was secure at time of test,
as for the rust can you push your thumb through it? cos apart from a small plastic hammer that wouldn't brake toffee thats all the tester is allowed to use Thumb preasure.
The tyre wouldn't be a fail as doesn't appear to be through to the braiding under the rubber. If it is then it should have been a fail.
Having said all that apart from the fuel cap i would have done a pass and advise on all of the other items, there is a box on your mot cert that say's wether or not it had an advisary notice issued, if it says yes but you didn't get one then he's hiding something.
He could be hiding something potentialy more serious than the items you have found.

You're getting a lot more steel in a disco than a mondeo.

And besides, if the weather gets heavy again this winter you'll have a million last laughs.

Have you a warranty or guarantee on the car at all?

I would suggest sorting out as many problems as possible yourself, and ask for help from the dealer if necessary, and generally make sure you're happy with the car before it's too late.

We don't sell dodgy cars so I don't know what the situation could be, but I do know that sometimes it is difficult to get everything as good as the customer might want - we're talking about a 13 yr old car here!

Hope you get it all straightened out though, and welcome to land rover! Tee hee

oldskool said:

The only thing that is a definate fail there is the fuel cap.

Click to expand...

Why is the fuel cap a fail?
Is it because it doesn't have a vent like a proper one?

It looks like one of those temporary ones. I had one for awhile and I'm sure it passed an MOT like that, but I have replaced it with a proper one now.

Hi, there was no advisory issued and the tyre is not down to the braids. So I am fairly happy now.

I am well aware its a 13 year old girl and expect to have the welder out for next year

I looked at a few rotten ones before finding this one. I did have a TD4 Freelander for 18 months of trouble free motoring (I was a lucky one) But guess what wally sold it last Nov, then the snow started and I had a Mondeo :doh:

Praying for snow this winter

Thanks for all the help guys

having looked at the pictures, the rust looks to be surface rust so wouldnt be a fail, the tyre might get you an advisory, the battery clamp is a fail but its at the discretion of the tester to say but in any case it should have gained you another advisory, i cant comment on the fuel cap only that if the seal allows fuel to leak or the cap is loose thats a fail, as for the wiring that as been burnt and needs to be insulated, i would do the little jobs and also iether wax oil the chassis or treat the chassis with some sort of rust protection, it will last a lot longer.

rip up the boot carpet..

I will unscrew the trim and remove the carpet tomorrow and update you all with pics of what it reveals.

Fingers crossed it will be ok as I really like the motor.

good luck with the floor

Beast o Bodmin said:

rip up the boot carpet..

Click to expand...

Why??????????

You`ll get a better view of the back axle:hysterically_laughi

Richard Martin said:

Why is the fuel cap a fail?
Is it because it doesn't have a vent like a proper one?

It looks like one of those temporary ones. I had one for awhile and I'm sure it passed an MOT like that, but I have replaced it with a proper one now.

Click to expand...

Yeah, why would it fail on the fuel cap? Everything else looks passable, infact the corrosion looks to be pretty mild compared to some I've seen of similar age.

MOT Manual has this to say MOT UK car and vehicle MOT information equipment car servicing parts and spares - exhaust emissions

I guess depending on your testers opinion, a temporary cap could be considered as insecure, or failing to seal properly. Of course if it is secure, then it should pass.

MW

the temporary fuel cap is not secure but as long as it has a lockable flap (which the dsco does) then you are ok and would not be a fail.

bigrichsri said:

Yeah, why would it fail on the fuel cap? Everything else looks passable, infact the corrosion looks to be pretty mild compared to some I've seen of similar age.

Click to expand...

a. Fuel tank cap does not fasten securely
. by a positive means, and
. such that pressure is not maintained on the sealing arrangement
Thats why, that cap just pushes on doesn't matter if it has got a locking cover over it as a disco has cos the cap can still come off and leak fuel.