We have had a few calls of late regarding catalytic converters, specifically missing ones.
A car has been sold, and some time later the customer returns to the dealer to report that they have found themselves on the wrong side of an MOT failure due to the lack of a catalytic converter. In February this year, VOSA issued a notice stating that “Any vehicle where a catalytic converter or particulate filter is missing where one was fitted as standard will fail the test”.
Now the question for our dealers is how do you establish that one was present on the car when it was sold? If it wasn’t present, the car was arguably sold as unroadworthy – not good. If the MOT was undertaken before the rule change in February, then the dealer is going to have trouble arguing otherwise. If however, you are selling a car which has an MOT dated after the 16 February 2014 you will be in a stronger position – a good as reason as any to put any car you are selling through a new MOT if the current one ran out before February.
All that said, who would a judge believe? It’s a difficult one to call but with reports published last year about the rise in thefts of catalytic converters, dealers who sold a car with a post February 2014 MOT may well be able to argue their corner better despite the trend against car dealers.
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