Does anyone in CC land work for an MOT garage?

[Saluki]

You've done well there.

You must have had them backed into a corner as you didn't let them give you any nonsense.

I knew that we were in the right here. I researched, talked to people on here and researched some more. The fact that I caught the boy out in a big fat hairy lie didn't help their case at all either. I think that they just want us to go away.
I won't back down when I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I'm right. I can be a bit of a terrier sometimes, and just not back down or give up. It's not often I am so 100% sure.

 

[Milkfloat]

So what is wrong with the car you have swapped to? Might be worth getting it checked out independently before you commit.

 

[subaqua]

So what is wrong with the car you have swapped to? Might be worth getting it checked out independently before you commit.

Ooh somebody as distrusting as me. Good call. If it seems too good go be true it generally is!

 

[Saluki]

So what is wrong with the car you have swapped to? Might be worth getting it checked out independently before you commit.

Our Jody is going to give it the once over for us, he is very thorough. The car has been on their website for sale since November but not sold. I'm wondering if he just wants shot of it. It's £240 a year to tax, which is half the problem, I think. A lot of them are only £120 a year. His wife has been driving it for a couple of months so I don't reckon that there is much up with it as I don't think that he'd let his wife drive something that was about to fall to bits. We've checked the amount of brake pads left, the tyres etc. It runs smoothly, better than our old one actually.

I have a feeling that he's had a lot of complaints of late, we wouldn't back down, threatened him with VOSA and Trading Standards, not to mention Facebook, Google reviews, Yell reviews and anything else we could think of. We also knew that we were in the right.

I still have a healthy amount of suspicion though.

 

[TissoT]

I have been reading this thread with interest.. Hats off to you for taking them on
Personally once you have swapped for a different car with the company I would still tell the authority's what he has been up to
Arthur Daily's like him should be struck off the list for selling cars .

 

[Drago]

I pay £240 tax on my petrol car. It's still cheaper than a new DPF and a lot less grief.

 

[Saluki]

I have been reading this thread with interest.. Hats off to you for taking them on
Personally once you have swapped for a different car with the company I would still tell the authority's what he has been up to
Arthur Daily's like him should be struck off the list for selling cars .

That might well have crossed our minds. It's certainly crossed Hubsters.

I had a look on Saabscene (not a member but found it accidentally) and there was a chap there having a right old rant about them, back in 2005. Then, after about 7 posts said that he was retracting every single word. I think that he might have had a solicitors letter. He hadn't deleted the post though, it was there for all to see.

 

[Saluki]

I pay £240 tax on my petrol car. It's still cheaper than a new DPF and a lot less grief.

When it's car tax time, I find myself really missing my Smart Car. Then of course, I couldn't get Greyhounds and a bike in one.

 

[Andy_R]

When it's car tax time, I find myself really missing my Smart Car. Then of course, I couldn't get Greyhounds and a bike in one.

2 words

Skoda

Octavia pdi

Ours(56 plate) has only cost us tyres and brake pads for the last 6 years, and it's currently on 120K plus miles

 

[classic33]

"set of interesting problems with a 2005 Saab 9-3 Z19DT (8 valve)"
https://motorvationsaab.wordpress.c...icle-filter-dpf-an-interesting-set-of-faults/

 

[RichardB]

[QUOTE 4104049, member: 9609"]And I also think the MOT station has went a bit OTT insisting it is fitted, they were not mandatory until late 2009, so any vehicle reg after that date should be checked, but a 2005 car, I think they are being ridiculous.[/QUOTE]
Not so: the rules are quite clear. If the car had a DPF fitted as standard when new, then it must be present. Nothing to do with the year of manufacture. The MoT tester has no discretion in the matter.

Diesels are wonderful things, but inherently dirty. By nature they are solid and reliable, but the ever-tightening emissions legislation means that makers have had to devise more and more ridiculous solutions to get round them - EGRs, DPFs, AdBlue injectors and on and on. These are all essentially sticking plasters to get round the inescapable fact that diesel combustion produces a lot of stuff we don't like. I spend a lot of time on a motoring forum, and there are ridiculous numbers of people who come on to complain about rough running, breakdowns and expense, all related to the fact that the modern diesel is only really happy if run for long intervals at a decent temperature. Salespeople are still selling diesels to customers who only use them for shopping and local trips, when in fact they are totally inappropriate. The government gave us all those tax breaks to get us buying diesels, and now they are going to have to reverse them. My daily driver is a Mondeo diesel and I don't have any problems with it (56 reg, no DPF) but when the time comes I will be replacing it with a petrol. Higher VED and uses more fuel, but better for the environment and less risk of huge, life-changing bills.

 

[Saluki]

[QUOTE 4104049, member: 9609"]@Saluki - you may be better off not having that saab with a DPF fitted to it, it was probably taken off in the first place because it was giving no end of problems. an old car with a DPF is not a desirable thing.

In fairness to the garage, they may have bought the car from someone else and never knew the DPF was missing, very very unusual to have a DPF on a 55 plate car. And I also think the MOT station has went a bit OTT insisting it is fitted, they were not mandatory until late 2009, so any vehicle reg after that date should be checked, but a 2005 car, I think they are being ridiculous.[/QUOTE]
Thank you.


Knowing what we now know from one of your previous posts and us researching, I too think that the MOT station was a bit OTT. I've mentioned this to our usual mechanic chap.
Neighbour's son is a mechanic. He has crawled all over the potential swap Saab and says that it's sound, it needs nothing doing to it but will need a new spare tyre in the next few months or so. He looked in the service book and manual and it's got a full history and says to go for it. Says we'll get a good £800 if we sell it on as it's very tidy.

 

[screenman]

£800 does not buy a lot of Saab, do you need such what can be an expensive to run car? The bills an be huge once they start coming in, mind you having said that most cars can bring big bills with them.

Must admit people on the net have far more problems with DPF's than the garages I work with daily do.

I am glad you have it sorted to your satisfaction.

 

[Spinney]

2 words

Skoda

Octavia pdi

Ours(56 plate) has only cost us tyres and brake pads for the last 6 years, and it's currently on 120K plus miles

Unless you need a new exhaust gas recirculation valve (I think that's what it was called) at a cost of £800 fitted. And the engine management system won't let you drive around at anything much more than a crawl until it's fixed, so you can't just ignore it.

And with the prospect of having to have your engine meddled with sometime this year because VW are a bunch of cheating gits.

DAMHIKT

 

[Saluki]

[QUOTE 4104460, member: 9609"]Indeed the rules are very clear, however on a 55 plate car I would imagine not all testers will be making a specific and detailed check. I have an 09 plate diesel van that has never had a DPF, however a friend had the same van and engine on an 08 plate had a DPF. it was causing huge problems so it was taken off and a hole bored through it, his mpg went up from high 30s to low 50s. his will pass its MOT as the casing is still on the van. Daft isn't it. The emissions test is purely an optical test for smoke.


I wonder if the garage being a SAAB dealer (?) is obliged to fit original parts, if so the DPF is probably well over a £1000, plus the work to remap the ECU could effectively write the car off - Not that I would do the following, but I'm sure someone with far less scruples will simply source an old blocked up DPF from a scrap yard, gut it, and fit it on. all the difficult stuff with removing it from the ECU has been done, so for £25ish quid and a few hours work they will have an excellent car and a trouble free quality engine that will last for many many years and be MOT compatible.[/QUOTE]
They are an independent dealer so not tied to SAAB bits and bobs. I had a Vectra rear wiper on it, fitted perfectly

We are off to explore the inside of the loaner/possible swap car in a min. It's vast so considering taking a ball of string so we can find our way back out of it. For such a huge car, it is surprisingly agile and easy to park (I need all the help I can get as not a confident parker)