Really need car dealership advice!

[LittleRebelGirl]

Some questions if I may...

My DP wishes to buy a used car from a dealership. He has seen the car he wants to get, 3.5 years old, 10k on pcp. However I am wary for several reasons.

Firstly, the dealership let him test drive the car. When I asked him later on how much MOT it had he told me the dealership said it would have a fresh 12 months on, on purchase. I checked on gov.uk and it turns out that the car has no MOT currently, the 3 year expiry was 6 months ago. This means that the dealership knowingly let him test drive a potentially unroadworthy vehicle. It could have cost DP £1000 fine, it could also mean points put on his licence if it was later found to be dangerous on MOT. Neither me or DP thought to check the car had an MOT pre-test drive as I'd never known a car from a dealership not to have one. That would probably be our naivety as I've only bought a couple of cars before and DP never has. This makes me very wary on the trustworthiness of the dealership. It is a major Citroën dealership by the way, not a small company.

Secondly, the cars bonnet is slightly out of alignment. It isn't showing as written off or anything, but it is worrying that it would be like that.

Thirdly, the car has been sat in the dealership for 6 months (the last service was done in July, and it has done 20 miles since then). And then the MOT wasn't done. So presumably it was traded in around that point. Why has it not sold since?

Fourthly, the dealership are saying he needs to apply for finance before they will MOT and correct the bonnet. He did ask them to MOT first but they said no. He has poor credit, but doing some checks it looks like he may be able to get finance at a slighly higher apr. For this reason I don't want him to apply for finance on a car that he may want to reject if the MOT/bonnet isn't satisfactory. It will mean a hard search on his file which given his poor credit history can only harm things surely?

I'd rather he went and found another car that had already been MOT'd so we can see the history and any advisories etc. For example I personally wouldn't buy a car that had a whole load of advisories on its first MOT - sign it hadn't been looked after well, or the car was going to be a money pit. However he seems dead set on this car and if I could either get reassurance that all of these things are things not to be concerned about, or concrete information to take to him to show him that he should reconsider his options, that would be great.

Avoid it. Go to a recognised big dealership. The deal might not look as good, but the peace of mind will.

OP said it WAS a Citroen dealership.

Sorry, then avoid Citroen.

For example I personally wouldn't buy a car that had a whole load of advisories on its first MOT - sign it hadn't been looked after well, or the car was going to be a money pit.
That was my main reason as well. I looked at cars i liked then immediately checked their mot/advisory list. Some were showing as having a hard life, some showed as well cared for. I ignored any service history as that is mainly oils/filters and easy to do by yourself.

His car sounds like it's been in a little shunt rather than an accident but the way they make cars to fold up to protect the occupants would make me wonder what else is misaligned.

In short - I agree with you.

Any more opinions as he still isn't listening to me!

Make it a condition of sale that EVERYTHING mentioned in the MOT has to be done, even the advisories! Then the dealership can accept your offer or decline it. Either way, you're covered.

The thing is though, would you buy a car that had a huge list of advisories on the first MOT even if done? I know I personally wouldn't as I'd be worried about the reliability and ongoing costs if the car was a bit of a dud.

It’s perfectly normal for dealerships not to MOT a car until a buyer has committed. If your DP says he wants it, they MOT it, he changes his mind for whatever reason, they might not sell it again for 3 or 4 months so that buyer will want 12 months MOT. I would be steering clear of it, though, for the bonnet alone.

We bought a car at the beginning of October. It sailed through its first MOT and is absolutely immaculate. We’re in the process of rejecting it because it’s got a major fault, that they can’t fix. DH is an engineer and mechanically minded, he didn’t notice anything wrong with it at the time. The MOT didn’t and wouldn’t show the fault. It’s been a complete PITA. If you’re in the slightest bit doubtful go with your gut.

If it was under 2 years old, you wouldn't know, would you, because it wouldn't need an MOT at all at that age. If it were lower than average mileage and looked OK, inside and out, then lack of an MOT wouldn't even be on my radar.

But, any sign of "cosmetic" damage, i.e. the misalligned bonnet would have me running for the hills.

Does it have full service history which I think is more important as that will help prove mileage and show it was more likely owned by someone responsible.

Get an independent inspection done on the car before you buy it. I used AA cost me just shy of £200. I bought from a well known dealer, there was a fault with the car that we spotted on the test drive and some minor things the AA found too. Long story short they couldn't fix the fault, tried repeatedly, then tried to make me overlook it, I returned the car but they only really accepted it because of the AA report. The car was 2 years old and someone is driving that car now as they sold it.

Always get a report. Small amount for a large investment when you are not a mechanic.