ChristophStone Posted February 26, 2009 Report Posted February 26, 2009 Just got my car back from my local garage/electricians, they've had to fix, in no particular order: n/s/f indicator o/s/f headlight wipers washer jets horn main beam + flash on indicator stalk speedo dash light ignition + handbrake warning lights bonnet release cable handbrake adjusted up. All on a car that was sold to me with 12 months MOT put on it on Feb 12th Got it all done for £165 which I didn't think was too bad tho. Still need to address the steering and the camber - for some reason it looks like the wheels lean out at the top and in at the bottom? It tramlines like anything and the steering springs back to centre almost aggressively! Plus the suspension makes some very scary noises... But now I can drive it in the dark and in the wet and I love it!
wolf666 Posted February 26, 2009 Report Posted February 26, 2009 get your trackin done at your local ATS as there ace (i know i work there)
Retro-gone. Posted February 26, 2009 Report Posted February 26, 2009 im afraid id be knocking on the sellers door with a bat.
danny69 Posted February 27, 2009 Report Posted February 27, 2009 im afraid id be knocking on the sellers door with a bat. To be fair it could be a dodgy earth or two and a blown fuse and that would solve most of the problems in the list. WRT the camber issue, this is just related to the ride height as there is no way of adjusting this with standard track control arms. Tracking it will mke no difference to the camber but will need to be done again if you lower it.
Conor Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 im afraid id be knocking on the sellers door with a bat. Not necessarily. Most of those faults you can get with it being stood. I've certainly found that out. On the white 2.8 I had, and indicator stopped because of corrosion in the connector behind the bumper, high beam stopped working on one side because of corrosion in the fuse holder on the dip relay and washer jets because of corrosion on the spade terminal at the fusebox which would invariably decide to pack up the following week. Every Capri I've had has needed a new instrument cluster and indicator stalk so nothing out of place there either. Difference is that I'd do that list myself and it'd cost about £15, not £165. Must be one hell of a labour rate as you can have an instrument cluster out of a Capri in 10 minutes.
Retro-gone. Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 the seller should have checked the car thro before letting chris buy it and drive it home . simple as.
Conor Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 the seller should have checked the car thro before letting chris buy it and drive it home . simple as. Never a truer word spoken. Saying that though, I reckon most of us have done the whole heart over head thing with an OSF before.
Retro-gone. Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 true, but chris admiitedly knows almost bugger all about old cars, ideally he should have taken a mechanic with him, still hes got a nice car and once hes got it sorted hel be as happy as pig in sh1t .
caprinerd Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 im in the same mind as tony on this if the car had a 12 month ticket i dont think id be to happy at paying out for stuff which it would have failed the ticket on
OldskoolSue Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 Unfortunatly theres alot of this still about,i got done in the exact same way when i bought a gti,found all sorts wrong with it that clearly should of failed the MOT and this too had 12 months on it. glad your getting it sorted m8
TwoLitrePinto Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 never trust full 12months MOT its too easy to get a bent one... trust me
Retro-gone. Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 im afraid id be back at the sellers demanding money, if he didnt pay up id then contact dvla and report the garage,
Jimbob-Squarepants © Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 n/s/f indicator o/s/f headlight wipers washer jets horn main beam + flash on indicator stalk speedo dash light ignition + handbrake warning lights bonnet release cable handbrake adjusted up. All on a car that was sold to me with 12 months MOT put on it on Feb 12th Although I do sympathise with this member, it is easy to overlook certain things when buying a car. No disrespect to the member, if they didn't know what they were looking at, they should have taken a friend or mechanic with them to look at the vehicle first. It is easy to say you would threaten violence to the previous keeper for selling an un-roadworthy vehicle, but let's look at the list: The problems in yellow can be caused by 2 dodgy fuses and 2 blown bulbs & although it would be a coincidence, these could have failed since the MoT... it isn't unheard of. How many times have you taken your own vehicle to an MoT only to find a brake light or side light bulb has blown, even though just 30 mins previous, you had checked them all??? The other things are not MoT failiures apart from the speedo, but who has had theirs checked recently? The Handbrake could fail, but if it performs how it should on the brake test, it's up to the job. The MoT only deems the vehicle to be roadworthy on the day it was tested, & not for the whole year that follows. I would be more concerned if half the chassis had rotted away but still had 12 months ticket on it. To be honest, I would be more worried with what is going on with his front end and not with minor electrical problems. At the end of the day, the member looked at the car, liked it and so payed his money & until we find out what is wrong with the front steering/suspension, there is nothing there that can be reported to VOSA. It would be nice if we can go to look at a vehicle knowing there is nothing wrong with it, but this is the 21st century and not an ideal world. There is an old saying: Buyer Beware.
ChristophStone Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Posted March 2, 2009 The electrical items were working when I went to look at the car before it was MOT'd so I (naively perhaps) assumed they would be working when I went to collect it. The steering was easily sorted, the diff leak I was made aware of at point of sale. So not exactly perfect but not the stained picture some of you are painting. Maybe I could have spent time working with old cars and gaining the knowlege to do it myself for £15, but when I don't have a clue I didn't think the price for the work was bad. I'd have only made it worse or injured myself trying it I'm just happy to have it roadworthy and out in the sunshine . I've put 300 miles on it this week so it obviously goes OK!
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