Leaderboard

Paid for a basic Autotrader history check at the time which showed no issues. I've just done a Car Vertical one too though and seems to check out, no odometer or damage history. My indie did say that there are some crash codes missing, so he thinks it's had a knock in the past. Thanks, I'd come across VAG technic. Seems to be lots of debate online about them in the forums but I spoke to the guy on the phone and he seemed reasonable, so maybe will try there next. Thanks very much for your help!

Just to keep you all updated. My car is sorted and back on the road. It only took a few days fortunately. I was told part fitted now is a better version. I did not to have to pay for anything it was done under 7 years extended warranty. Thank you all for sharing your experience here especially Mark as otherwise I would probably not know about it and ended up paying 1000s.

Mark. I see you looked at this forum yesterday, so have you made any progress on the matter?

In my experience, using bushes is only cost effective if you're doing the work yourself. As you mentioned, labour is the killer. For convenience, replacing the entire arm is the way to go. The suspension arm needs to be completely removed, the old bush pressed out and the new one pressed in. On lower arms, some vehicles may have hydra bushes fitted (filled with a liquid). Once it's all done, the vehicle tracking geometry should be checked. Personally, I'd have chosen a random MOT centre and put it through. You might get some disparity between the two checks, but it should be minimal, as the garage's MOT certification is at stake, so it's in their interests to be honest and impartial. Visual inspection is only part of it, the tester should put a pry bar on those joints to check for flex.

Thanks Mark, If it were mine:- (1) I would not return it to the same MOT station - they are highly likely to pass it again - perhaps with a backside- covering advisory. As said, I would chose a random local MOT station. (2) Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but would I have put my faith in the car’s total condition being assessed via a seller-chosen MOT and the seller’s word? No ( in caps). (3). Such MOT issues are drawn to the attention of VOSA and not DVLA. As an aside, I go back many decades, at the time I was selling a MK2 Cortina Estate. A potential buyer ( without having seen the car) arranged for an AA inspection. They came up with about half a dozen trivial conclusions on what was a nice vehicle, and understandably, he did not buy it - but someone else did shortly after. The point I make is that paid-for inspections can be a backside covering assessment, to prevent any ( in caps) come backs. Might be worth keeping this in mind, and the affair may turn out to be a storm in a tea cup. We can only offer advice to follow on the ‘if it were mine’ principle, and it’s obviously up to the poster to chose whether to follow it or reject it. Good luck with whatever you decide to do Mark, but please keep us up to date on progress. Kind regards, Gareth.