I bought a Land Rover from a local garage 20 month ago, after eight months an MoT was due, which it failed for chassis rot.

I had it repaired which I thought meant the problem was corrected, however 12 months later the vehicle is condemned at the MOT as the whole chassis has rotted.

I have only used the vehicle on the road and nothing else. I found out that the previous garage owner had been putting it in and out of salt water to launch his boat.

Would he culpable to pay for the repair? I paid £5000 for the the vehicle in the first place.