Help/Advice needed, van needs £1000 welding done

[TobyGilden]

OK, so I pretty much retract what I said last night - apart from the fact that the guy over at 'The Hot Works' is an artist.

I just took the van to an MOT test centre.....

The van was put up in the air for all to be seen, here is a list of what was found (pictures to follow after I have cooked dinner);

-Numerous rust patches around accelerator pedal.
-Completely rotten driver side wheel arch - including the seat belt mount (both sides + can be seen from underneath).
-Seats bolted directly to van - mounts are rotten.
-The plate which was welded in on the driver side step isn't even attached underneath.
-right hand side front suspension dust cover missing.
-every corner (near jacking points) has nasty rot, hidden by the fresh undersell - where plates are in place, they aren't even attached.
-The rear driver side CV joint gaitor is held in place with a cable tie and some bathroom silicone sealant, wrapped in electricians tape in an attempt to cover it up.
-The rear passenger side panel isn't even attached to the van (hard to explain without a picture)

The list goes on.....

I gave the CAB (citizens advice) a ring and they were very helpful, and they have set up a case for me. Under the 'Sale of goods act 1979' it is an offence to give an item any sort of 'Mis-description' or to sell a product of 'unsatisfactory quality'. Because safety has been jeopardised (dodgy MOT) the CAB have informed trading standards.

I just rang the seller and explained (on a voicemail, as he didn't answer) that under no circumstances do I want him to carry out any work on the van and that I want a full refund. I have explained that if I don't hear from him tomorrow I will be getting in touch with VOSA (they have their own MOT centre 7 miles from me), and that I will be getting in touch with the courts. Now hopefully he won't want me going to VOSA as I can only assume that his mate will lose their license to carry out MOT testing, and he wont want me going to the courts as he would then have to pay 'consequential losses' to cover any money I have had to spend.

I will post some photos very shortly.

[Jim San]

Good for you, hope this has a happy ending.



Get him to swap it for that other one he has for sale, it sounds really good - no rot, solid and everything

[kevtherev]

jeez what a mess!
He's a crook, make no mistake.

Spread the word folks, ain't nobody got the right to do this.
If you make a living from the "scene" then you will suffer from the same folks.

[paperhouselad]

Good luck, the thin end of the wedge has gone in there.

[keytouch]

You need to go to VOSA anyway. If someone is dishing out dodgy MOT's then they are risking everyone's safety

[dbz864]

Glad you finally followed my advice to take it for an mot, now you have proof, a qualified (to ministry of transport standard) has done a mot, its basically unsafe to drive, in the eyes of the law he is an expert you are not. He advertised it using many words describing the condition, clearly not a honest description. send him a letter (one that he has to sign for), email him, text him,as well send the exact message each time, saying mainly he has sold you a vehicle that is unsafe and is not to be driven on the road, you have no trust in him to repair it correctly and you want a full refund or to be able to choose where to have it repaired. Keep copies of everything. Keep on with cab, contact vosa,asap. Don't give him the van back,unless he repays you.

[dbz864]

Forgot to say, id say you shouldn't be using it now, presuming you've got a failure sheet. If you have to use taxis, buses, take time of work record it all, you will get it all back.

[HarryMann]

Duncan DSMs advice was good and led to a back stop solution... if all else fails.
But things seem to have moved on... hope you get a result but don't expect resolution overnight might be a battle so slowly steadily catch ee monkee

[what2do]

Hurrah for the righteous, if possible, see it through to the end. The vendor has made his bed of nails by advertising it as rot free when in fact he's committed the worse crime of all - tried to hide it. 100% deceitful which has been proven by the report you now have. May not be an easy ride but it appears to be stacked in your favour.

[Waynerrr]

You need to inform VOSA ASAP. I did this when I found we had a dodgy MOT on our van and because we'd waited too long, they couldn't check it. I think it's a very short period of time too.