Big Warning To All 205 Buyers...

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Pretty sure that cut & shuts are illegal as they're just welded end to end rather then interleaved and spot welded so the strength is missing and if not welded good enough could just break in half.

[aarontrophy 26]

Hi guys

 

I have been doing the work on this car and it is shocking!! The bulk head is red inner wheel arches red the vin number has been cut out full of filler! Will get more pictures this week. It looks like it's been done years ago such a shame

 

Under the carpet it's looks like it's been cut in half and sprayed under carpet with a black rattle can, when jacking the car up the gaps on the p/s door was getting closer together very un safe

 

 

Someone must know about this car

 

Who is Mr dimma

Edited April 15, 2014 by aarontrophy

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

No vin number alone should fail the mot shouldn't it? I know its on the plate on the o/s inner wing but the bulkhead vin needs to be intact surely? Some mot'ers will have some questions to answer if this goes to the po po

[GLPoomobile 958]

I too would assume that it was done years ago, simply by way of the fact that 205 values have been so low for years that it simply wouldn't have been to anyone's financial benefit to go to the effort to do it! I honestly didn't think this sort of thing really went on any more, and if it does, it would have to be on cars that would be worth more than £1k-1.5k I would guess (and I'm assuming the OP didn't pay more than this!).

 

buyer beware......... look a bit closer next time or have someone quaified view for you.

 

Exactly. As much as I feel for the OP, the key lesson from this thread is always to fully inspect ANY car, or get someone else to inspect if you can't do it yourself.

[Davy 18 1 Cars]

buyer beware......... look a bit closer next time or have someone quaified view for you.

A lot of that would have been noticeable from a quick look underneath, however thats still a disgrace selling something like that on. I very much doubt the previous owner knew nothing of it, and perhaps he was in a similar position to yourself when he aquired it.

 

Gutted for you!

 

Also saddened to see the N.Ireland reg!... Is there any Northern Irish history among your paperwork (eg old green registration book?) For some reason the reg is too old anyway, O is around 1978 and IA means it's a County Antrim number. I know our numbers are sometimes classed as dateless (dont know the full details), so wondering if this has been used in any way to hide the identities of the two possible write off's / stolen cars that have been used there?...

 

Hope you get some sort of resolution somewhere!

[aarontrophy 26]

its such a same that its been done, the car looks like a good example from the history and the general body work until you look underneath and start investigating

[Bogsye 22]

Sorry to see this Adam

 

I think it was quite common to use N.I plates as a cheap means of breaking the trail on identities and hide the history in the short term. I think GLP is right, it's a historic job. N.I. plates used to be about £85 a pop years back.

 

A few years ago I went to a salvage auction to look at a TVR Chimera. By chance my Dad's recently written-off Volvo S80 was going through. It was badly enough damaged that the front chassis legs were both badly bent, so a pretty significant job to rectify. I kept an eye on the DVLA enquiry website and 8 months later it was taxed again. 1 year after that it wasn't. My guess was a poor lash-up, dodgy MOT, and sold to some unsuspecting punter, who then got caught out at the next MOT.

 

If this was my 205 I'd be onto VOSA regarding the last MOT. It's old damage for sure. Just depends if some of the damage was cosmetically covered up at MOT time but deteriorated in the interim.

 

Oddly, when I bought my 205 it was the one thing that concerned me - the cut and shut, hence I was mainly concerned in lifting door seals and checking the floor. In fairness, like my Dad's car, I think most of these cars don't survive too long after, so this is probably a bit of a rarity.

 

There's an XR3i in the Glasgow transport museum that's an example of a cut and shut. In someways, I admire someone who can get shutlines to match up. When I replaced the sills on my Austin-Healey Sprite, it was a nightmare getting the front and back aligned satifactorily.

 

Hope it all works out!

 

Brian

[AdamF 19 1 Cars]

A lot of that would have been noticeable from a quick look underneath, however thats still a disgrace selling something like that on. I very much doubt the previous owner knew nothing of it, and perhaps he was in a similar position to yourself when he aquired it.

 

Gutted for you!

 

Also saddened to see the N.Ireland reg!... Is there any Northern Irish history among your paperwork (eg old green registration book?) For some reason the reg is too old anyway, O is around 1978 and IA means it's a County Antrim number. I know our numbers are sometimes classed as dateless (dont know the full details), so wondering if this has been used in any way to hide the identities of the two possible write off's / stolen cars that have been used there?...

 

Hope you get some sort of resolution somewhere!

There is no Northern Ireland history, I have the official cherished plate certificate from 1992 which was acquired in the UK.

[Rich_p 23]

Was it purchased via ebay or was the deal done seperatley?

[AdamF 19 1 Cars]

It was done separately, the guy had a traders policy I know that much.

[notamondayfan 44]

Just get as much legal advise as you can, VOSA, trading standards, citizens advice, etc, and document what you can.

 

To me it sounds like the last owner bought it, realised it was f***ed, then tried to sell it on quickly, in which case he is to blame for selling it to you.

 

Keep us posted though.

[2-Pugs 57]

Very sorry to read this.

 

Please send me a PM, AdamF

[willis 18 1 Cars]

Surely if he has a traders policy then you can have him?

[speno 239 2 Cars]

I know Dave webber

He is a collector/profiteer on the pug scene

but is not on any forums

this looks like it was done a fair while ago tbh

Buyer beware , easy to say this now

Sad really but it happens

pm me if you want to know more

Edited April 16, 2014 by speno

[tartanbloke 35 1 Cars]

Afternoon,

 

Yes, it is a rather nasty shock and first thing to do is get in touch with VOSA on the basis that the vehicle should not have passed an MOT.

 

Follow the advise on this website

 

I have dealt with similar situations in the past with Trading Standards etc and it can be resolved but it does take time.

 

For some reason the attached link to the site has disappeared....strange....www.findlaw.co.uk

Edited April 16, 2014 by tartanbloke

[AdamF 19 1 Cars]

Requested a full history from DVLA and VOSA is investigating previous MOT station.

 

On the hunt for a nice shell and will get mine destroyed. Chin up!

[willis 18 1 Cars]

Requested a full history from DVLA and VOSA is investigating previous MOT station.

 

On the hunt for a nice shell and will get mine destroyed. Chin up!

Fair play mate, making the best of a bad situation!

[johniban 59 1 Cars]

is it very noticeable without pulling up trims and carpets? as the mot tester may have just not prodded around where he wasnt aloud to, to notice it.

[Anthony 1,003]

The lack of a VIN plate and the significant rust on the underside should have easily been spotted and failed by a "proper" MOT test, IMO at least.

[pugdamo 111 2 Cars]

I agree anthony,im a tester and if i hadnt noticed something like that i would say its time i stopped testing,its not like the floor area of a 205 is covered by plastic trims like an a class or something.

[jackherer 543]

The lack of a VIN plate and the significant rust on the underside should have easily been spotted and failed by a "proper" MOT test, IMO at least.

 

To be fair to the tester for all we know he could have been presented with a totally different car with this cars VIN and reg plates.

[willis 18 1 Cars]

And here it is, The Arches, I mean Vanborn & Radford. It is very backstreet. I didn't bother getting out to ask any questions as you have informed VOSA and I thought it best to leave it to them, also, I didn't fancy facing Phil Mitchell with a crowbar!!!

 

Where did the guy you bought it from live? It is one of those places that you only go to if you know it's there (or who works there.....)

[Anthony 1,003]

To be fair to the tester for all we know he could have been presented with a totally different car with this cars VIN and reg plates.

That's a fair point I hadn't considered that MOT might not actually have been done on this particular car.

[AdamF 19 1 Cars]

And here it is, The Arches, I mean Vanborn & Radford. It is very backstreet. I didn't bother getting out to ask any questions as you have informed VOSA and I thought it best to leave it to them, also, I didn't fancy facing Phil Mitchell with a crowbar!!!

 

Where did the guy you bought it from live? It is one of those places that you only go to if you know it's there (or who works there.....)

It cant be him, he's a member of the 'good garage' scheme! Guy I bought it off lived out in the sticks.

 

Good news is I've sourced a red J reg shell and aseperate gti6 engine to keep me positive!

 

Thanks

 

Ad

[jackherer 543]

That's a fair point I hadn't considered that MOT might not actually have been done on this particular car.

 

I once bought a Volvo with a dodgy MOT and the first thing I did was phone the garage to talk to the tester in case the seller was stitching them up as much as me. As soon as he started swearing at me I knew he was complicit in the whole thing. That was when I went to VOSA for an inverted appeal, interestingly they held it at my local MOT centre which is run by a friend of mine and the dodgy tester had to come all the way from West London to Suffolk to watch them do it.