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Save on MOT Bills

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  • This is a brilliant thread/tip - you never really know whether you are getting ripped off by garages.

    In trying to find the Council VTS for York (or even Leeds) - no joy yet - I came across the following government sites which have quite alot of info but no actual listing of testing stations - the search continues. http://www.via.gov.uk/mot/index.htm or http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/

    Would agree with Jack_Potts that Japanese cars are v reliable - we've got an old Toyota and a Nissan! Have also recently found that the newer the car is, the more electrics/computers it has, which seem to equal more problems, and recalls!

    Georgina
    "No matter how little money and how few possesions you own, having a dog makes you rich." - Louis Sabin
  • System
    System Posts: 178,348 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    For information Derbyshire County Council carry out MOT Tests at the following locations:-

    County Transport
    Ripley Road
    Ambergate
    Derbyshire
    DE56 2ER
    Tel: 01773 85667

    County Transport
    Brimington Road North
    Whittington Moor
    Chesterfield
    Derbyshire
    S41 9BE
    Tel: 01246 450705

    County Transport
    Halstead Garage
    Dove Holes
    Buxton
    Derbyshire
    SK17 8BJ
    Tel: 01298 813141
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • Major
    Major Posts: 33 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    I posted a query 5 days ago about Testing Centres in Reading, Berkshire and does anyone know of any? No answers as yet, but I am pleased to see others are getting help for other parts of the country. Give me a break and some help, I am still having difficulty in finding any.
    I am a complete novice at this and feel everyone is ignoring me.

    :'(
    What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,348 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I'd like to paraphrase and develop a point that was made earlier. Let's not lose sight of the fact that what is sought first and foremost is a roadworthy car that meets the standard. If this does not hold true, the certificate that has been bought is expensive however cheap the cost.

    I do not know that local authority vehcle testing stations are any better in terms of quality than any other. Further, it might be thought that there is less scope for determining their quality than testing stations which have a repair and maintenance facility attached.

    Perhaps find a garage you trust and let them fulfill all your requirements including MOT testing. A good place to start might be using the following link:

    http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/directories/?blk=DirGoodGarages
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • Galstonian
    Galstonian Posts: 1,292 Forumite
    Ideally we would all like to go to a garage we know and trust, honestjohn helps to find them but, public bodies that operate test centres are under an obligation to perform the tests to the same standards are any commercial garage. Unfortunately many commercial garages use the MOT test to enable them to perform expensive repairs which are not required. Personally I'd not feel comfortable letting the local council check my car bcause "public servant" is not the first description that springs to mind when thinking about council staff (an appalling generalisation I know but I'd say it is justified). However, another suggestion was using the ambulance service and I will probably look into that.

    Major: have you contacted the council and/or ambulance service in that area? These duties may be contracted out to a commercial firm, it may not be available where you are.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,348 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Theres a testing station between York and Leeds just outside Thorpe Arch trading estate near Wetherby.
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • System
    System Posts: 178,348 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    You can go and get your car tested upto 30 days before your current MOT expires, if it fails you then have 14 days in which to get the fault repaired, you can then go back to the MOT station for the test no charge 2nd time. If you leave it after 14 days you will be charged for 2nd test.

    If it passes they will then give you a certificate post dated to your current Mot date if you supply the old one at the time of the test. Which means you are still legally driving with a current MOT in the 30 day period.

    Moneysaver
    The 14 day rule used to be the case but the law recently changed and now you get 24 hours to get repairs done at a different garage and return for the re-test or you have to pay the test fee again.

    This new rule in reality make things extremely difficult to avoid re-test fees :'(
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  • System
    System Posts: 178,348 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Excuse my ignorance, but what is WYMAS? ???
    My wife works for the NHS, and her car is due for an MOT shortly. I normally pay £25 at a local garage.

    kevmaxthom - WYMAS stands fo West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service. Hope this helps.

    GMAS (Greater Manchester Ambulance Service) also offer this service from their Walmsley Rd, Bury Station. Ambulances do tend to take priority however and as such spaces for MoT's are limited. :)
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • WeirdoMagnet
    WeirdoMagnet Posts: 1,015 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Theres a testing station between York and Leeds just outside Thorpe Arch trading estate near Wetherby.

    Thanks, I had given up looking.

    Georgina
    "No matter how little money and how few possesions you own, having a dog makes you rich." - Louis Sabin
  • I do not know that local authority vehcle testing stations are any better in terms of quality than any other.  Further, it might be thought that there is less scope for determining their quality than testing stations which have a repair and maintenance facility attached.

    Essex County Council garage does do repair and maintenance, just not for the general public. It's to be hoped that they're competent, it's not just council cars that are maintained there, but everything else, from gritting lorries to ambulances to fire engines. (Police do their own.) Furthermore, when Essex Trading Standards use a "stooge" car to check out ropey traders with, this is also prepared at the council garage.
    It's not a question of who's competent, but who's honest.
    Another point on the subject of ends rather than means, if anyone is worried about having an accident whilst driving home after a fail, they should bear in mind that the car is no more dangerous than it was half an hour earlier, before the test. If the objective is to avoid an accident, rather than the blame for one, then ones interest is best served by having the car tested more frequently than once a year, rather than worrying about maintaining the continuity of valid certificates.
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