Newbie and some advice.

[Rmaya]

Hi,

I am a newbie however in need of some advice.

Looking to buy an ML350CDI (2015) I have found a car on Autotrader that meets my needs, agreed on a price with the seller and did an HPI check on it which came clear and indicated the car had MOT. However, when i went to the government website I couldn't find any MOT on the car since it was bought. The first one should have been done on 2018 so someone has been running this car for more than 2 years without an MOT.

I am not sure how to approach it as its not really close to me so that I can go and see it. The guy seems ok and has provided all the info I asked with regards to the car.

Should I just walk away? I was going to fly in order to buy it this Saturday.

 

[W1ghty]

Has he got a paper copy of the MOT ? You could ring the garage named on it to check .
Could the mot have been done on a personal number plate that has been changed for sale ?

 

[Rmaya]

It's weird cause i now checked on the gov web site if the vehicle is taxed and MOT'd and it states it is. It is only on the MOT history website that it does not come up at all?

 

[QuattroRS6]

Ask for the previous MOT details or last garage that did it.
Could be a private plate thats recently been put back to age-related. MOT site can take a while to update.
If you can get the paperwork then no reason to walk away.
Garage or private?

 

[Rmaya]

Private 70k miles good price 2015 model. Has a total of 5 services 4 including the last one in MB. The car looks good only thing i could fault was that it has the fake leather seats, however, they look spotless.

Anything I should be worried about on the 350d V6 engine?

 

[Smiley]

Has the car been in NI? The MOT history from NI may not show up.
The 350 is a strong engine. Make sure that there is no sign of an oil leak - it will have the later oil cooler seals at 2015 but still worth checking as it is a ca £1k repair bill. There are multiple sensor related potential problems I would ask the seller if it has had any problems in the last year eg engine mgt light on / adblue sensor problems / other sensor issues? And are they fully resolved. Check whether the ATF has been changed - should have been changed once at that mileage but lots of owners don't want to pay. If it has not been changed then it would be advisable to get it done after purchase.

 

[Rmaya]

Has the car been in NI? The MOT history from NI may not show up.
The 350 is a strong engine. Make sure that there is no sign of an oil leak - it will have the later oil cooler seals at 2015 but still worth checking as it is a ca £1k repair bill. There are multiple sensor related potential problems I would ask the seller if it has had any problems in the last year eg engine mgt light on / adblue sensor problems / other sensor issues? And are they fully resolved. Check whether the ATF has been changed - should have been changed once at that mileage but lots of owners don't want to pay. If it has not been changed then it would be advisable to get it done after purchase.

Yes the car is in NI, is there anything I need to do when I bring it over?

ATF needs changing on the next service he was upfront with that. The next one is in February/2021 so I was going to catch it then. I will have a good look in the engine bay to see if I can spot any leaks. Going to see it on Saturday.

 

[E55BOF]

NI MoT history does not show on the (mainland) UK DVLA site. Nothing special needed, no import paperwork, just drive it on to the ferry.

 

[Rmaya]

NI MoT history does not show on the (mainland) UK DVLA site. Nothing special needed, no import paperwork, just drive it on to the ferry.

Fair enough, will it start showing from the point I will have it done on mainland UK?

 

[E55BOF]

Yes, it will.

 

[samoht]

Note that there have been various MoT extensions in NI - first they had to suspend them because the vehicle lifts the government inspection centres were using had a safety defect and could collapse, then another set of extensions for Covid which are different to the extensions in GB.

Probably best to ask the seller to email you scans of all the MoT results they have so you can see them, that's what I had when I bought a car from NI.

 

[Rmaya]

He has them all and I've asked him to have them all to take them with me just in case. At the end of the day I don't think there is anything prohibiting me driving a NI vehicle in UK mainland provided that is covered by the MOT there. I would like to do the MOT along with the service on January 2021.

 

[samoht]

You're correct, you have nothing to worry about. I bought a car in Northern Ireland last September, which had just been MoT'd locally that month. I flew to Belfast, bought the car, drove to Larne, ferry to Cairnryan, drove home and have been driving it around as usual until August this year when I put it in for the MoT here as normal. All I did at purchase was arrange insurance and road tax in the usual way.

Key thing is that NI is all part of the same legal territory as the rest of the UK, so an MoT done there is valid here and vice-versa, legally it makes no difference.

 

[Rmaya]

Flying over to see it this Saturday, if it's as described I'm going to buy it. First SUV coming from a few S3 and a MINI JCW. I've seen a few and the build quality is really good and feels solid. I hope this being one of the last ML's it will have all issues ironed out.

 

[Rmaya]

Got the car very impressed with it and very happy with my purchase. thanks for all the help..