1997 Mini cooper s cont'd

[want2findout]

Continued from last post. I said it was going to be a long one didn't I?!...

My opinion is that garage A should arrange collection of the mini, and re-weld as what is the point of welding to spec of original mini cooper if no other mot centre will pass it? but they are so confident that they have done the job correctly that they are happy for us to report garage B!

Help! we're so fed up! This has gone on for so long and it is costing us a fortune! also, had we known that this was going to happen we would never have bought the car but the mot certificate from the day of purchase mentioned only of the headlamps and emmissions. Surely they are at fault here too?!

We don't know what to do now... the car is sat at garage B. They will not pass it but we cannot afford to spend any more money on it. Should we insist that garage A take the car back and weld it so that it passes the mot and risk upsetting them enough to do a ****** job of it! or do we contact VOSA re. garage B who if forced to pass it on welding will probably do us no favours in getting it passed based on emmissions (I think this is currently borderline!)

What a nightmare! bloody car! We want rid asap but for that to happen we need car tax and an mot!

[johnny37]

Am I correct in saying that the only point of dispute at the moment is that garage B wont pass it because of the welding? If so how do you expect garage A to rectify it if they are saying that it is correct? Tell B that you want to dispute it. VOSA will send someone to inspect the car. If the welding is correct then B can issue a certificate. If it is wrong then ask for a written report so that A can do the job again at their expense to VOSA's satisfaction. Either way A or B will have to refund you the VOSA fee and any other extra costs that have been incurred.

As regards the original sale, as this was only a few days after it first failed, sounds like you were done up like a kipper. Talk to Trading Standards about that or maybe someone here can comment on the legality of that?

[want2findout]

That's excellent. Thanks for that Johnny37. We've been going round and round in circles and I guess we just needed somebody to tell us where we stood!
Yes you're right, garage B wont pass it because of the welding so I guess a call to them would be the first step in order to tell them that we wish to dispute it? what do we need in order to do this? a copy of the mot fail certificate?

many thanks

[johnny37]

There is a standard disputes procedure that B will have to initiiater for you. VOSA charge a fee but not sure what it is at the moment. B will have all the details. Be polite. Its just business to them.

[tufty7]

A lesson to be learnt here, firstly with the benefit of hindsite,
firstly you should have insisted it was mot'd before you purchased it ,
secondly why did you not take it back to the garage it originally failed its mot at??
thirdly, "advise" the garage that completed the welding that "if" the car is failed by vosa, they will be responsible for any cost's you have accumulated by them the "mini specialist" , you may wish to advise them the local paper would be interested in this too,
I reckon that the garage doing the mot is being very fair with you , garages will sometimes charge you storage if the car is left for any period of time , Best of luck in sorting this out , please put a resolution on here and tell us what happened ,