Problems with horsebox vehicle inspection

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Bangagin

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Before buying my lorry I had it inspected, as neither hubby nor I know much about lorries. I paid £175 for quite a comprehensive inspection and a road test. The report that I got was very good for a vehicle of that age (H reg). The only faults picked up was some corrosion around the bottom of the cab doors (which we had noticed but was far less than some other lorries that age we had seen), engine has some small oil leaks but he said nothing unusual for a vehicle of that age, and the heater fan wasn't working.

So we were pleased with this report carried out last June, and bought the lorry. All was fine until we realised some of the side marker lights weren't working. We phoned up the guy that carried out the inspection as there was no mention of this in the report - lights all ticked as working. He said they were all fine, and it must be the bulbs. Hubby checked all bulbs and fuses and still some of these lights would not work. I didn't take it out in dark so it wasn't a huge problem, and I asked my mechanic to look at this before taking it for its MOT.

Everything else was fine until it went for MOT in January. It failed on the rear brakes being slightly under. Now my mechanic has told me that the inspection wouldn't have picked this up. However he noticed several repairs here and there on the braking system which indicated some patching up had been carried out.

What he has told me though is that there are a number of faults he would have expected to be picked up in an inspection - suspension springs bodged with rubber, the side marker lights faulty, and the whole front underside of the lorry rusted with very obvious bodged repairs. (Nothing was noted under corrosion or suspension or lights.)

I am waiting for him to submit a proper report, which he has said he will do. I think if these faults had been pointed out we may have thought twice about buying the lorry. It really was a glowing report we received.

I just wanted to know if I have any recourse with the company that carried out the "pre-purchase vehicle inspection"? My mechanic isn't sure I received the service I paid for. :(
 
Bangagin said:
Before buying my lorry I had it inspected, as neither hubby nor I know much about lorries. I paid £175 for quite a comprehensive inspection and a road test. The report that I got was very good for a vehicle of that age (H reg). The only faults picked up was some corrosion around the bottom of the cab doors (which we had noticed but was far less than some other lorries that age we had seen), engine has some small oil leaks but he said nothing unusual for a vehicle of that age, and the heater fan wasn't working.

So we were pleased with this report carried out last June, and bought the lorry. All was fine until we realised some of the side marker lights weren't working. We phoned up the guy that carried out the inspection as there was no mention of this in the report - lights all ticked as working. He said they were all fine, and it must be the bulbs. Hubby checked all bulbs and fuses and still some of these lights would not work. I didn't take it out in dark so it wasn't a huge problem, and I asked my mechanic to look at this before taking it for its MOT.

Everything else was fine until it went for MOT in January. It failed on the rear brakes being slightly under. Now my mechanic has told me that the inspection wouldn't have picked this up. However he noticed several repairs here and there on the braking system which indicated some patching up had been carried out.

What he has told me though is that there are a number of faults he would have expected to be picked up in an inspection - suspension springs bodged with rubber, the side marker lights faulty, and the whole front underside of the lorry rusted with very obvious bodged repairs. (Nothing was noted under corrosion or suspension or lights.)

I am waiting for him to submit a proper report, which he has said he will do. I think if these faults had been pointed out we may have thought twice about buying the lorry. It really was a glowing report we received.

I just wanted to know if I have any recourse with the company that carried out the "pre-purchase vehicle inspection"? My mechanic isn't sure I received the service I paid for. :(
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My guess is its a old lorry and the inspection would have taken this into account some rust and minor faults would be expected, totaly different if it had been
fairly new , horses for courses and all that!!! IMHO
 
Yes I've already said it's an H reg lorry, so definitely old. But surely if they give you a huge checklist four pages long, which has lots of subdivisions for suspension and corrosion you would expect mention of those points? No point in having an inspection otherwise IMHO. My mechanic seems to think that mention should have been made of the repairs being bodged rather than carried out properly.

What about the lights not working? I don't think it is legal to drive it without the side marker lights working and so I presume I could have been pulled over for that? You seem to be saying that it is ok for the inspection not to pick up faults like that?

I think that if you pay for a service then surely you should expect to receive one?
 
Bangagin said:
Yes I've already said it's an H reg lorry, so definitely old. But surely if they give you a huge checklist four pages long, which has lots of subdivisions for suspension and corrosion you would expect mention of those points? No point in having an inspection otherwise IMHO. My mechanic seems to think that mention should have been made of the repairs being bodged rather than carried out properly.

What about the lights not working? I don't think it is legal to drive it without the side marker lights working and so I presume I could have been pulled over for that? You seem to be saying that it is ok for the inspection not to pick up faults like that?

I think that if you pay for a service then surely you should expect to receive one?
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Yes I agree to a point however the marker lights could have failed at anytime from say a coroded wire or rubbing thru on something , if the inspection had judged it as a new or nearly new vehicle and listed all faults its doubtfull you would have bought it or any other lorry of a simalar vintage or price range!!!!! however I guess like me you havent got £60,000 plus for a new lorry so sadly its going to be a older lorry which will need a little tlc to get it up to scratch, I would try and win the lottery !!failing that its car maintenace classes or hoping your mecanic has a sense of humor and is a fair guy when it comes to the bill,
 
I would suggest that you have recourse in as much as the bodged suspension and corosion on the underside should have without doubt been noted on the report. Get your mechanics report and send a copy to the person that inspected the vehicle.
 
The inspection guy should have done what horse vets do to cover themselves IE the slightest unsoundness or blemish.... Fail it !!!!! he still gets the fee and no flack, and possibly more work vetting other horses to fail!!!!
 
well for an H reg lorry (that is quite old) it was sound on the day! lights go ten a penny! i have a 2001 lorry, and every year we replace bulbs/lights/mirrors to agree with the plating!¬!!!
 
You say you had your inspection done in June? Well that was 9 months ago. I get my vehicles inspected every 6 weeks and there are always things coming up here and there... so you've done well on 9 months...
 
I think providing the repairs would be sufficient for the lorry to pass an MOT on then you'll not really have recourse with the inspection firm. On the old lorries you get a lot of patching up to get them through a test. It is a matter gradually going through them as the patches fail and you either do the same or do it properly if you intend to keep it long term. We have a J reg and we need to have £300-£1000 spent on it per year to keep it running, yet we have friends with much newer boxes that cost tens of thousands and they still spend the same. They are just not cheap to keep on the road unless you are unusually lucky.
 
Pre inspections are a good thing and can highlight current issues a vehicle may have. That said, the inspection can only tell you what the person found on the day and as with any older used vehicle be it a car or lorry there is aways the risk of something not being right. Ive just bought an older box with 12 months plate and full service history - that said the engine might blow up next week. Will I be pee'd off? yes of course I will but unless you can afford to buy a brand new unused chassis (and even they can go wrong!) then there is always that risk, same as there is with cars. With regards the lights etc they can go at any time as can other things.

Fair enough though he should have been able to spot 'patching up' on the brakes etc rather than a proper job being done and at least make you aware of them. On that point I would be ringing him up to ask wether or not he had noted these problems
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. It wasn't so much the work on the brakes or the lights - more the rear suspension being bodged and the amount of rust underneath the cab. Those things wouldn't really have changed that much from June to January when my mechanic first started to work on the lorry.

Obviously they didn't affect the lorry getting through its MOT, as it only failed on brakes - but when my mechanic saw these areas and heard that I'd had a pre purchase inspection he asked if the guy had just drive it briefly and never actually inspected it! He thought those two points would have been worth mentioning for certain to a prospective purchaser.

Whether the guy inspecting noted them or not - he didn't mention either in the written report (4 pages long) or to me on the phone when I rang for an update. So I still think they should have been mentioned, and therefore he didn't really do a proper inspection! It's the principle more than anything.
 
I think because of the time period it will be very hard to get a refund.

But I do think that it sounds a bit poor show not spotting the big stuff.

If it were me (which it isnt tho I do have an old box and the comments about the money it costs to patch them up each year are spot on), I would write to him saying that you are not asking for money back but you do want to draw to his attention (what you have described in this post). So that he can do a better job in future!

I might even be tempted to keep a copy of it and send it special delivery, so that if in future someone has some dreadful accident because he hasnt inspected a lorry at all competently, there will be a record of this 'shot across the bows' previously and so he would not be given the benefit of the doubt.

That might help the 'principle' grumbling away; money wise its probably cheaper to move on; it's a bit like vet report, for what worth on the day they are fine but the next day .....
 
I've just found one of their ads - which states .....

Our specific checks carried out during our inspection are: Body exterior. Engine compartment. Electrical / controls. Interior luggage compartment. Front suspension steering. Clutch / transmission - manual. Rear Suspension and underframe. Wheels and tyres. Exhaust system. Fuel System. Brakes. Road test. Please note, there is no stripping involved in the above inspections. We inspect any motor vehicle, van, truck or classic car. In particular as horse owners we specialise in horse box inspections.

So they specifically check the body exterior and rear suspension - interesting! And horse boxes are their speciality!
 
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