My son bought a car from a crook this week

[Anordinarymum]

He bought a second hand car from a garage advertising on Autotrader. He paid by card for the motor, and obtained a receipt.
There was a delay in collection because the man said it had failed the MOT due to wiper blades needing replacing and they were waiting for the items to be delivered after Eid.

He picked the car up and the MOT was passed with no advisories which made him smell a rat.

On the patchy service history it is clear the car has been clocked and together with the MOT he decided to take the car to an independent MOT station.
My son took the cat to Kwikfit because he was worried - he felt the seller was dishonest and he wanted to be sure it was safe to drive as he has a child.
It has failed the MOT really badly with lots of major problems. It's not safe to drive.
He has asked the garage for his money back and the guy told him to fxxx off.
Does anyone have any knowledge of this sort of thing to offer help please? We do not know what to do next. Clearly something has to be done here.
Thank you

Thank you people. I am still here reading, but my son knows what to do now. Mumsnet is fab at times and this is one of them x x

Find your local council run mot test centre and get it tested again. They are totally independent and not looking to make money from failures. That will give you a better idea of what you’re looking at.

When it’s done park the car, keep it insured and do not drive it. If he’s goi g to formally reject it he needs to stop using it. Send a letter before action. There are templates online.

Lastly think long and hard about your steps. This guy probably has a dozen CCJs and Phoenix companies. A win in court will not guarantee you the money unfortunately and even sending in bailiffs won’t help if he’s wound up this business and started another. . Weigh up the cost of fixing the car vs the cost of small claims and your time etc.

Oh how awful.

I'd be tempted to tell the trader I wanted a refund or else I would report the MOT centre and the trader to the relevant authorities. But whether or not I got a refund, I'd do it anyway.

In the matter of mileage and clocking, you can check the mileage on MOT day for the last few years and pass, fail and advisory history on the DVLA website. Never even go look at a car until you have done this basic check.

I have heard lots of dodgy stories about KwikFit when it comes to MOT's.

I would get it tested again elsewhere first.

You should be able to look up its MOT history on the internet:

www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

Bit of a long shot but was the garage in question near Ashford?