Bought a lemon!

[MrTurner]

Sorry yep, is a bit scaremongering - but like you say, any car could have a serious failure, even as new straight from the factory. 

Legality wise, I'm not sure.  My guess would be that the failure means it's meant to stay off the road, but if you had a word with a friendly tester and said 'would my car fail on anything', you'd be alright.

[hammonds]

Thing that worries me is if you do run it for 12 months on a dodgy MOT, is that safe for you?  If it would fail at another place today, is it worth the risk of tw@ting the barrier of a motorway if something gives?

Good point, albeit a bit scare-mongering in some respects.

A component could fail on any car at anytime so I wouldn't worry too unduely.

One little pointer - which I may research ( cos I'm sad like that) the car currently has an MOT, ok, so if it were to be reMOT'd and failed can it still be driven based upon the original MOT issue OR does the new MOT take priority thus meaning the car must be taken off the road until rectified?? Anyone know the legalities here?? 

I think if it was reMOT'd and failed it would be a fail.  I'm pretty sure that if you were to get your MOT early (a month before the due date) and it failed then, you would not be legally aloud to drive it for the rest of the month, even if your last MOT hadn't run out. I'm pretty sure the same would apply if it was a reMOT.  If it isn't safe to be driving on the road then you shouldn't be driving it.

[madhouse]

Sorry yep, is a bit scaremongering - but like you say, any car could have a serious failure, even as new straight from the factory. 

Legality wise, I'm not sure.  My guess would be that the failure means it's meant to stay off the road, but if you had a word with a friendly tester and said 'would my car fail on anything', you'd be alright.

There's a thought Mr Turner.... chrishyder do you know a local garage well enough to do a pre-mot check for you, may cost £20 or so but this way they would inspect the car under MOT checks but the car wouldn't be logged on the VOSA system as having ungone a retest - thus if it failed it wouldn't then be "online" as a failiure with the VOSA 

[AudiA8Quattro]

Can you not sort the rust spots yourself? or do they need welding? They don't look that bad on the photos. To be honest i've seen plenty of mk3's with rust, they are not made as well as people think. My old vr6 that my mate now owns has got plenty of rust spots. The sills seem to be a common problem.
Underseal should be checked at least every 2 years at a service, and any damage repaired straight away.
I would also recommend checking jacking points, particularly after tyre garages touch your car!
As for the rear axle bush in your photo, that shouldn't of passed an MOT as its split.

[chrishyder]

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for replies.

Upon sleeping on it, I'm starting to think about getting a few more quotes re: welding.  The rust does actually look a lot worse in person than by the photos alone (and there's quite a few more spots than I took pics of) so will get a few more prices before making a decision as love the car!

In two minds about the VOSA situation - the car definitely shouldn't have passed (the garage I took it to do MOTs and the guy said he wouldn't ever have passed the car).  See, the problem is - if I get it VOSA checked I'll most likely have the MOT certificate taken away, dilemma! 

In terms of replacing the rear axle bushes, what sort of cost am I looking at to get a garage to do this?  Also, (sorry not too technically minded with cars), the boots covering the UJ in between the front wheels has also come loose - again, any ideas on cost?  Hoping that it's not too cacked up so it can just be regreased.

Cheers
Chris

[Wayne]

To be honest if you don't think the car should have passed a mot then report it, if your cars not safe ask yourself if your happy to drive it.

[MrTurner]

From all that your saying mate, I think I'd want to give the car back and get my money back!  Not sure how sale of goods act or whatever works.  If you can prove it shouldn't have passed an MOT, surely you should be entitled to get rid of it?

[LazyLunatic]

Make friends with someone who can weld....... cause then its very cheap or free if your lucky! defo try looking around a bit for a cheaper price.

defo try and claim about the mot, sounds dodgy for sure. A genuine mot place would never ever miss something like that. I hope it aint the mot place i use

LL

[Dragon6]

You get exactly what you pay for in this kind of field and believe me welding underneath cars isnt the most fun and it needs to be done properly to keep the tin worm at bay, it is easy to clag a bit of plate on top a bit of bird sh!t welding and a load of underseal to cover it up,until next MOT time.The rot all needs to be cut out and plate fully welded in.Dont get the cheapest quote and I personally would like to see there work before hand unless you know the person doing it.

[madhouse]

Dragon6 is right too welding is an art if done right.

any clown can tack plates in place and slap some underseal over it. a proper job is to be cut out and replaced.

with the CV joint boot - repack with grease and a large tie-wrap 'should' hold it sound, but would benefit from a steel band type clip.

Time to sit back and tot up the repair costs to put the car in a position that YOU are happy with verses the hand it back to the seller and ask for your money back persued via a small claims court if needs be - this usually provokes a response.

if you love the car truely....spend the dosh and treat it as a project???

i'd still have a MOT type check done tho just incase there's anymore nasties you've not spotted.