[Pescatore]

Hello everyone, first post and appreciate any advice - I'll try and keep this brief.

Last October I bought an old motorhome from a private seller, via a brokership. Liked it, put down a deposit, it was taken for MOT, which it failed due to bad brakes. These were then replaced, and voila, paid up in full and arranged collection.

Now I've a litany of stories beginning with arriving to collect and it not starting (loose battery connectors so no massive issue, but something of an omen...) which I won't go into here. After a couple of months or so, took it to a mechanic for an issue I was having with what I thought were glow plugs (turned out there weren't actually any), and he told me part of the back suspension had collapsed. Ok, s**t happens, whatever. He couldn't source the parts but expressed great surprise after having a look around underneath that it had passed a recent MOT - 'I'd say that's a very lenient MOT...'

Fast-forward a couple more months and I get it to a different mechanic who informs me of a whole host of other structural issues. And corrosion he tells me would in no way pass an MOT at his place. They fix what I can afford, and he wishes me luck, advising 'that thing is not getting past an MOT in the state it's in...' It's been approximately five/six months now, and I've done barely a few hundred miles.

Fast-forward another few months, and I'm out in Italy, whereupon the power-steering fails. Again, it happens. It's old. However, at the Italian mechanic I'm told the chassis is so corroded it's dangerous and I probably shouldn't be out on the road. Again, (in Italian) 'there is no way that is passing at any garage here'.

All three mechanics have told me it would not pass an MOT, with the latter two telling me the corrosion is so bad there's no way it was passable back at the end of October. Which was, obviously, only 10 months ago.

Now... I appreciate this is likely impossible, but do I have *any* chance of getting anything from anyone involved in the MOT/sale? Ought I to at least report the garage to the DVSA? I've actually booked it into the same place for its upcoming MOT, though I'm unsure yet how I'm going to play this.

Advice..?

Thanks!

[Motman]

After that amount of time, I’m afraid you have absolutely no chance of any comeback. The time limits for a retrospective appeal (where it passed but you think it shouldn’t have) has well passed. I'm also afraid that the two 'mechanics' who told you recently that it shouldn’t have passed last October are talking, quite frankly, out of their arse and are giving you false hope. The absolute limits are 28 days for mechanical items and 3 months for corrosion related defects. DVSA will simply not entertain you. Sorry.

[Pescatore]

Thank for the response - and that was my assumption too, until I read other forums talking about severe corrosion being a unique case. The false hope wasn't too strong, don't worry... ;)

[Pescatore]

Originally Posted by Motman;n195377

After that amount of time, I’m afraid you have absolutely no chance of any comeback. The time limits for a retrospective appeal (where it passed but you think it shouldn’t have) has well passed. I'm also afraid that the two 'mechanics' who told you recently that it shouldn’t have passed last October are talking, quite frankly, out of their **** and are giving you false hope. The absolute limits are 28 days for mechanical items and 3 months for corrosion related defects. DVSA will simply not entertain you. Sorry.

Thank for the response - and that was my assumption too, until I read other forums talking about severe corrosion being a unique case. The false hope wasn't too strong, don't worry... ;)

[Hometune]

Well, after I had a protracted fight with DVSA re MOTs, don't give up hope entirely. I took my complaint all the way through DVSA to an Independent Adjudicator and last week finally got an apology from them. This concerned corroded brake pipes.
Go through and print off the MOT history. You can see where the car was tested if you enter the reference number from the V5 registration document, If the history shows there were advisories or even fails before, then use this to force the MOT division of DVSA to look into it. As Motman says there are limits but these are NOT absolute as the apology letter from DVSA head of policy confirms.
In the meantime take the car back to the same garage and see what happens. If it fails on all the corrosion then that's that. If they pass the car call DVSA immediately and take your car off the road and don't use it at all. They can then retest it themselves and take it from there.

[Pescatore]

Originally Posted by Hometune;n195399

Well, after I had a protracted fight with DVSA re MOTs, don't give up hope entirely. I took my complaint all the way through DVSA to an Independent Adjudicator and last week finally got an apology from them. This concerned corroded brake pipes.
Go through and print off the MOT history. You can see where the car was tested if you enter the reference number from the V5 registration document, If the history shows there were advisories or even fails before, then use this to force the MOT division of DVSA to look into it. As Motman says there are limits but these are NOT absolute as the apology letter from DVSA head of policy confirms.
In the meantime take the car back to the same garage and see what happens. If it fails on all the corrosion then that's that. If they pass the car call DVSA immediately and take your car off the road and don't use it at all. They can then retest it themselves and take it from there.

Thanks, and yes, this:
'If they pass the car call DVSA immediately and take your car off the road and don't use it at all. They can then retest it themselves and take it from there.'

That's exactly the idea.

Glad to hear you got your resolution anyway!