Emily

Corrupt in my opinion

I bought a 10 year old Dacia Duster from Motor Mart LTD in Leicester. Before the car was delivered to me I looked at the MOT advisories and saw the following; Repair as soon as possible (minor defects): Front Windscreen wiper blade defective both (3.4 (b) (i)) Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories): Front Brake pipe corroded, covered in grease or other material both sides (1.1.11 (c)) Rear Brake pipe corroded, covered in grease or other material both sides (1.1.11 (c)) Nearside Front Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e)) Coil spring corroded all 4 (5.3.1 (b) (i)) I asked Motor Mart to complete all advisories before the car was delivered to me. They told me they would ‘do the brake pipes and the tyre’ and that the window wipers were already done. They said they could not afford to get all advisories completed and they quoted me to get the coils done which I accepted and paid in full. On Friday 18th August, Motor Mart emailed myself and stated 'brake pipes will be done'. On 22nd August, Motor Mart emailed regarding the brake pipes and stated 'but trust us, it has been done and it costed us more then what I quoted you'. We were never offered a quote for the brake pipes. When the car came to us, the tyre that we were assured had been replaced looked bald. The day after getting the car, I took the car to FOUR different garages. All four garages confirmed that the front nearside tyre is on the legal limit and needs changing, they also said the front offside tyre doesn’t have long left before it needs changing. The qualified tyre expert estimated a week before the front nearside tyre becomes illegal. I asked the last two garages to have a more in depth look at the car. Both mechanics confirmed that the brake pipes have not been done. One garage was surprised that it passed its MOT with the brake pipes as they are. He said they need replacing. We asked for a more in depth inspection from our trusted local garage, they put the car on the ramp and inspected the brakes and found; The outcome of this is as follows; BOTH brake pipes are corroded. Brake pipe LEAKING at offside rear at wheel cylinder. Brake pipes corroded through from rear to front. Fortunately, the windscreen wiper blades were replaced and an independent inspection by a qualified mechanic at Tyrefinders in Truro has confirmed these are merchantable quality. It is quite clear front the evidence of an expert mechanic that the work has NOT been carried out by Motor Mart as promised. We were told by the mechanic, that had we braked hard, then the brakes would have failed which would have likely resulted in us crashing the vehicle. I am currently heavily pregnant, we have three children under 9 years I was of course horrified! It is concerning that we have bought a potentially dangerous vehicle in which the brakes could have failed at any minute thus causing a fatal crash involving my family and/or other road users. Two separate mechanics told us that it should've failed the MOT due to the brake pipe corrosion and leaking. They also stated that the damage would not have happened since it 'passed'. I emailed Motor Mart after the inspection. Unfortunately I received an abrupt response, accusing the different garages of being untruthful, despite providing them with the inspection report. Motor Mart confirmed they had replaced the tyre with a part worn tyre. They said they asked a mechanic to check the brake pipes who concluded ‘they were all ok and was all a pass’. It is my measured opinion that Motor Mart knowingly and deliberately misled me into believing that they carried out this work. I asked that Motor Mart cover the costs of the brakes being replaced, they have said they will not cover this cost. They said ‘We don’t have time for all this please we really don’t like issues. We rather do the refund and get on with life’ and that they are ‘loosing money on this sale’. (All via email) I have also asked them for the details of their MOT testing centre so I can escalate concerns that the car passed its MOT with very corroded brake pipes and a leaky brake pipe.