Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car

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Thu 2 Jul 2020 23:44
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - Ahmed Elmatary

Hi everyone, I’m new here to this forum.

I’m interested in buying an approved used Mini from an official BMW mini dealer.

one thing that I’m a bit concerned about is the MOT. when I check the government website to check last MOT, it says that the MOT expired in 26 July 2019 and that the last MOT was done in July 2018. The car is a 2015 model.

I asked the dealer about this this and he says that once he acquired the car, the MOT gets cancelled and this is why it shows up this way. He advised that the car has been in their possession for only a week.

this is a first car so should I be concerned? It’s an approved used car from a mini franchised dealer so I was wondering whether I should be fine or whether this MOT issue is concerning? This is my first car so not much experience in buying cars.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 05:44
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - catsdad

MoTs don’t get cancelled like this. Road tax does get cancelled when ownership transfers. I suggest you recheck. If it is indeed the tax then the date will indicate when it naturally expired or when it was sold by the previous owner. Unless it was being used untaxed this would indicate it’s been sitting off road or in the trade for nearly a year.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 09:25
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - badbusdriver

I asked the dealer about this this and he says that once he acquired the car, the MOT gets cancelled and this is why it shows up this way. He advised that the car has been in their possession for only a week.

This sounds well dodgy!. As catsdad says, you don't cancel MOT's. I mean, why would you, what would the benefit be?.

Particularly worrying that a main dealer would feed you this rubbish!. The only thing i can think of is that they are trying to hide from you how long the car has been in stock. But in doing so, they are taking a risk, because it would not take much looking into to uncover the deception. Surely better to be honest?.

A Mini isn't my cup of tea at all, but i certainly wouldn't be buying one from that place!.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 09:58
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - thunderbird

When a car is sold these days any remaining Tax (VED) is paid back to the previous owner and the new owner then has to tax it before using it on the road. This applies to private sales/purchases and trade sales/purchases.

The MOT remains until it expires, it cannot be cancelled unless it is proved the MOT was obtained by fraud.

So there are 2 options here, either you miss heard or misunderstood and the trader said VED not MOT or the dealer is an outright liar.

But since its clear to me that since the car has not been used for over a year there is a serious issue with it thus RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN

Remember the 3 rules of car buying:

Rule 1. All salesmen are liars

Rule 2. All salesmen are liars.

Rule 3. Refer to rules 1 and 2.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 11:41
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - Galaxy

As others have already said, an MOT doesn't get cancelled when a car is sold or traded-in. This is completely different to Car Tax which is, of course, now automatically cancelled whenever a car is sold on.

Most car dealers will provide a new MOT for any cars they sell at the time the vehicle is sold. This is a benefit for the new owner and also partly for the protection of the dealer from any possible subsequent claims that the vehicle is unroadworthy.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 12:06
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - sammy1

If the DVLA has no record of an MOT since July 2019 then the car has been off the road since then, driven illegally, or even been accident damaged. There are thousands of Minis for sale, find another dealer and if you are sure of your facts complain to the dealer manager.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 12:03
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - FoxyJukebox

It was clearly the VED that got cancelled/not renewed, thus the MOT lapsed. Might be worth looking at the previous MOT history via the official site-paying particular attention to any items listed in the advisories section.

If it was me and the car seemed in good condition and drove well, I would see if you could strike a bargain. If this car has been sitting in a showroom for months--the dealer must be itching to get rid of it. The B side of that of course is the vehicle is duff and nobody wants it?

The choice is yours

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 12:09
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - badbusdriver

It was clearly the VED that got cancelled/not renewed, thus the MOT lapsed. Might be worth looking at the previous MOT history via the official site-paying particular attention to any items listed in the advisories section.

If it was me and the car seemed in good condition and drove well, I would see if you could strike a bargain. If this car has been sitting in a showroom for months--the dealer must be itching to get rid of it. The B side of that of course is the vehicle is duff and nobody wants it?

The choice is yours

The OP has already looked at the MOT history, that is how they became suspicious about what the dealer said.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 12:19
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - gordonbennet

I doubt a dealer would try and suggest the MOT had been cancelled simply because they aquired it, maybe there's a misunderstanding here and it was last taxed a year ago.

There could be umpteen reasons for this, some fair enough (illness/bereavement) some not so encouraging (illegally driven for months, major fault taking months to fix, accident damage, stolen recovered, all could be unrecorded).

Just make sure you go into this with your eyes open, a HPI check is worthwhile but if its unrecorded stolen or damaged they won't know, and double check the chassis numbers are all correct as per the reg document.

I know these appear nice little cars and they are cute looking but they arn't the most reliable vehicles you could buy.

Edited by gordonbennet on 03/07/2020 at 12:20

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 12:25
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - daveyjp

The fact the salesman lied about the MOT being cancelled is enough for me to walk. Sounds typical of the type of sales staff employed by premium marques.

The car has been laid up for some reason. There are hundreds more Minis out there so take your time and find one with a more honest history.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 13:47
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - Ahmed Elmatary

thanks everyone for your advice.

I called up the dealer and I said wanted to take it on a test drive so can you do an MOT in order for me to be able to do this? He said franchised dealer used cars don't need MOT to be taken for test drives which I don't believe is true. He said if you decide to buy it you'll get a 12 month MOT.

This further made me uneasy and think I'm going to look elsewhere.

Shame an official franchised dealer does this, as I was hoping that an approved used would come with a certain amount of safety, but clearly not!

Edited by Ahmed Elmatary on 03/07/2020 at 13:47

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 14:21
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - daveyjp

From this very site!

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/131141/is-it-legal-to-test-drive-a-car-with-no-mot-if-it-s-on-trade-plates-

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 14:27
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - Engineer Andy

I doubt a dealer would try and suggest the MOT had been cancelled simply because they aquired it, maybe there's a misunderstanding here and it was last taxed a year ago.

There could be umpteen reasons for this, some fair enough (illness/bereavement) some not so encouraging (illegally driven for months, major fault taking months to fix, accident damage, stolen recovered, all could be unrecorded).

Just make sure you go into this with your eyes open, a HPI check is worthwhile but if its unrecorded stolen or damaged they won't know, and double check the chassis numbers are all correct as per the reg document.

I know these appear nice little cars and they are cute looking but they arn't the most reliable vehicles you could buy.

It could be PX that the previous (private) owner did not MOT because they either forgot or deliberately did not get it done. A near neighbour of mine has done this to at least two of his cars over the years (they are cars that are 10y+ old) and has easily avoided being fined by the authorities or stopped by Plod because they appear to have other priorites.

Such a person could then PX that car for a new(er) one at a main dealership, and either they get less for it because it's MOT has expired, the salesman forgot to check before going ahead with the deal, and/or it's been sitting on his forecour unsold for ages and he's either been VERY forgetful to get it MOTed or dodgy in trying to flog one that isn't road legal.

I personally would be concerned either way - including with the dealership as a whole. It's not as though there is a dearth of second-hand Minis at the moment!

If I wanted a peppy supermini (mInis ain't small any more), I'd look at a second hand SEAT Leon SC 1.4TSI (not much bigger) - better equipped than the equivalent Golf and cheaper. Very nice looking, goes well, good mpg, decent boot space. Similarly, the Mini-sized Suzuki Swift Sport (especially in two-tone black/red or blue) 3dr.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 14:26
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - Andrew-T

It was clearly the VED that got cancelled/not renewed, thus the MOT lapsed.

MoTs don't lapse, they expire after 12 months - or more under the present arrangements. VED 'lapses' when a vehicle changes ownership, which may be another reason why traders don't 'own' a used car, so that it remains driveable without the need for trade plates.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 14:39
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - Brit_in_Germany

One possibility is that it could have had a personal plate put on and then taken off again when sold. I believe the MOT system cannot cope when the registration changes. Why the dealer came up with that story is another matter.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 15:27
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - RT

One possibility is that it could have had a personal plate put on and then taken off again when sold. I believe the MOT system cannot cope when the registration changes. Why the dealer came up with that story is another matter.

The system copes with personal registrations just fine most of the time - the MoT record is transferred as part of the registration transfer - each of my previous cars show the correct MoT history when checked using their present registration.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 16:32
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - thunderbird

The system copes with personal registrations just fine most of the time - the MoT record is transferred as part of the registration transfer - each of my previous cars show the correct MoT history when checked using their present registration.

I seem to remember a work colleague having issues with a car he bought that had been on a private reg and been fitted with a new plate prior to his purchase. It was taxed with no issues and the dealer simply crossed the old reg out on the MOT and wrote the new one and signed it.

But when it went for its next MOT the system would not recognise the reg but the tester deemed it not an issue and produced a certificate that showed the VIN instead of the reg (he was told normal practice) that then had to be sent to the DVLA who simply sorted an issue that in reality should not have existed.

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Fri 3 Jul 2020 18:07
Mini One - Buying Approved Used Car - RT

The system copes with personal registrations just fine most of the time - the MoT record is transferred as part of the registration transfer - each of my previous cars show the correct MoT history when checked using their present registration.

I seem to remember a work colleague having issues with a car he bought that had been on a private reg and been fitted with a new plate prior to his purchase. It was taxed with no issues and the dealer simply crossed the old reg out on the MOT and wrote the new one and signed it.

But when it went for its next MOT the system would not recognise the reg but the tester deemed it not an issue and produced a certificate that showed the VIN instead of the reg (he was told normal practice) that then had to be sent to the DVLA who simply sorted an issue that in reality should not have existed.

That sounds like the transfer wasn't done properly - way back I bought a Vauxhall Senator which had been on a private plate, the MoT had been amended by the DVLA office to show the new number.

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