MOT Cost Cutting discussion

playaz

Can anyone recommend a good reputable garage in Walsall (West Midlands) - my MOT is due soon and I don't like going to KwikFit as they generally rip you off regardless of the condition of the car.

mpbaz

Does anyone know the nearest test centre to Portsmouth other than the one in Hedge End near Southampton.

Wig

Halfords is doing 1/2 price MOT "online bookings only" at the moment, though there's no mention how much the retest will be.

And the T&C says
"The customer is liable to pay £27.42 plus any other extra costs needed to pass the test due to MOT failure"

Which is either written very badly or they do the work without your permission and expect you to pay regardless. I'm phoning them up tomorrow 0800 037 0800 to find out
about both issues, I'll update tomorrow night.

UPDATE: The T&C are written very badly. They do seek authorisation before doing repairs and there is no compulsion on repairs. IMHO, Repair work, being totally seperate from the MOT test, should not have been mentioned in the T&C.
The retest is half the fee that you pay for the test, in this case it will be £13.90 ish (if you remove the vehicle from the test station for repairs, otherwise it should be free as per the VOSA fees leaflet.)

The guy (from Halfords autocentre) I spoke to didn't appear to be very knowledgeable on the price of the MOT, he thought that the price varies according to the diary and availability...but he said that the internet booking would say how much it will be. I think he is wrong. The internet clearly says "half price MOT £27.40" it does not say "discount MOT up to half price". The bookings also clearly say the price is to be £27.40

You are also not guaranteed to get your booking, the internet does not know availability, so you cannot book for the tomorrow bookings the earliest you can book is the "day after tomorrow". Then you should get a call (tomorrow) from the service manager to let you know if they can fit you in the day of your booking.

Wig

HALFORDS HALF PRICE MOT WHEN BOOKED ONLINE

*Halfprice no longer available...... Keep checking, they have now increased the price to £35 MOTs

see post above for details

I'm bumping this becasue not enough people know about it. I just had my car MOTd -
2003 Corsa, 90,000 miles, passed first time £27 bargain!
My car was prepared for the MOT by myself to avoid it failing.
I fixed everything I could spot that needed fixing,

Pincher

Wig wrote: »

HALFORDS HALF PRICE MOT WHEN BOOKED ONLINE

*Halfprice no longer available...... Keep checking, they have now increased the price to £35 MOTs

see post above for details

I'm bumping this becasue not enough people know about it. I just had my car MOTd -
2003 Corsa, 90,000 miles, passed first time £27 bargain!
My car was prepared for the MOT by myself to avoid it failing.
I fixed everything I could spot that needed fixing,

Paid £27.42 on 15th September online. MOT happened today.
Passed with no hassle, no extras. There's a Citroen dealer nearby doing £30 MOT, so it's not vital I go for the Halfords deal.

The actual MOT certificate looks like some undergraduate knocked it up. None of the usual green background. The tester said I get the green one if I paid the full price. Didn't bother asking if he was joking. Confirmed the MOT using:

http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECSID-Internet-Status-Request.jsp

So all is well.

colino

Did he really say "I get the green one if I paid the full price."?

Pincher

colino wrote: »

Did he really say "I get the green one if I paid the full price."?

Could be a joke.

The certificate is printed in Landscape, as opposed to the green Portrait one I usually get. It does have a tiny VT20/TRE in the footnote. The footnote also says Page 1, but the other side is blank.
The normal green certificate has a backside with some standard blurb.

I think he probably has a single sided printer, and he can't be bothered to feed it through again to print the second side.

mikey72

Pincher wrote: »

Could be a joke.

The certificate is printed in Landscape, as opposed to the green Portrait one I usually get. It does have a tiny VT20/TRE in the footnote. The footnote also says Page 1, but the other side is blank.
The normal green certificate has a backside with some standard blurb.

I think he probably has a single sided printer, and he can't be bothered to feed it through again to print the second side.

It was a joke.
All the new ones are like this, all printed on plain paper now.

colino

I wonder how far he would have went with his "little joke", the new, plain certificates have been with us for a year now.

Pincher

colino wrote: »

I wonder how far he would have went with his "little joke", the new, plain certificates have been with us for a year now.

This is going to ruin my nice MOT certificate collection.