Mot tests

Keith

Kenny_Powers wrote: »

Independent garages/MOT centres etc are just a bunch of cowboy grease monkeys charging premium prices for screwing a nut.

There are very few places i despise more than garages.

Martin Lewis obviously realises just how much Joe Public gets royally shafted by these rip off merchants and has advised people to go to council MOT stations.

Martin is wrong on this, in his great idea:-

a. Everyone goes to a Council MOT station.
b. The CMS follows the rule book and fails the car for misaligned headlights.
c. The car is then taken to a garage and is repaired say for their minimum charge of 30 mins labour.
d. The car is returned for a retest where a fee is payable as the car left the test center.

In the better world:-

a. Motorist turns up at his trusted garage, says hello to the tester he knows.
b. Car is tested
c. Small fault is found as above a misaligned headlight, tester adjusts headlight
d. Car leaves with full MOT.

goldspanners

Kenny_Powers wrote: »

Independent garages/MOT centres etc are just a bunch of cowboy grease monkeys charging premium prices for screwing a nut.

There are very few places i despise more than garages.

Martin Lewis obviously realises just how much Joe Public gets royally shafted by these rip off merchants and has advised people to go to council MOT stations.

the only folk i know who hate visitng garages are folk who know very little about thier car and are terrified thier going to get screwed because they don't know what they would be argueing about if they tried to contest anything they were told.

arm yourself with a bit of knowledge about your particular car, take an interest in it,understand the common things that will fail and know why they fail then you won't feel so bad, or you could research your next car a bit more than just liking the colour to find one thats cheap and easy to fix with a good reliable history behind it.

i think martin advising folk to use council MOT stations is a fair piece of advise but there are other options that offer similar reasurrances. take your car somewhere that does MOT's but won't repair your car so have nothing to gain from it. i take my car to my grease monkey of choice who uses a bus garage to do his MOT's i leave the car there over night and return the next day with a new MOT certificate and maybe a few advisories that i sort myself. the bus garage has no interest in repairing the car so won't try to screw me,or infact any car belonging to "joe public".

gordikin

emmell wrote: »

No I'm not MOT qualified but I'm not stupid either I do happen to know one end of a car from another and I was in the motor trade for 30 years of my 53.
ML.

Pleased you can recognise both ends of a car...that doesn't mean you know the bits in between MOT wise though... does it?

cyclonebri1

emmell wrote: »

No I'm not MOT qualified but I'm not stupid either I do happen to know one end of a car from another and I was in the motor trade for 30 years of my 53.
ML.

I'm with emmell on this one, I wouldn't dream of taking a car to a garage where I could not actually stand and watch and interact with the mechanic. Probably not best in H&S terms but if there is anything wrong below he will invite you down the pit to explain, and I have never had him do a single thing other than the 6 or so family cars I send to him.

I will replace the odd bulb free of charge, obviusly not fancy headlight ones, but will adjust headlights FOC, :T:T:T:T

My daughter on the other hand took a Renault back to the main agent as she had "free mot's for life" They failed it on several points one was valid, but the other was the inner trackrod end. I bought one got under the car and guess what, inner TRE perfect, outer failed, plonkers:rolleyes:

Premier_2

Keith wrote: »

Martin is wrong on this, in his great idea:-

a. Everyone goes to a Council MOT station.
b. The CMS follows the rule book and fails the car for misaligned headlights.
c. The car is then taken to a garage and is repaired say for their minimum charge of 30 mins labour.
d. The car is returned for a retest where a fee is payable as the car left the test center.

In the better world:-

a. Motorist turns up at his trusted garage, says hello to the tester he knows.
b. Car is tested
c. Small fault is found as above a misaligned headlight, tester adjusts headlight
d. Car leaves with full MOT.

Meanwhile, in the real world:-

a. Motorist, who typically has little idea about how a car works, turns up at a quick-fit type service location that also does MOTs
b. Car fails due to leaking struts, blowing exhaust, worn tyres and possibly dodgy brakes (but only if that location services brakes)
c. Motorist is quoted a fortune but thinks what other option is there so pays horrendous bill
d. Car leaves with full MOT ... and motorist leaves with empty pocket.

emmell

gordikin wrote: »

Pleased you can recognise both ends of a car...that doesn't mean you know the bits in between MOT wise though... does it?

What qualifies you to tell me I know nothing about cars! You know nothing about me other than the fact I have been in the motor trade for 30 years.
ML.

goldspanners

Kenny_Powers wrote: »

It's not so much being terrified about getting screwed, anyone who charges £50 per hour for tinkering with your car is screwing you.

In years gone by i had a Vectra and would do all the work myself, unless it needed a ramp i could pretty much sort it. Now i have an A4, i look under the bonnet and i wouldn't dare touch it. Therein lies the problem, i take the car to a garage, instantly the mechanic sees £££ and they try and do me.

Look at Kwik Fit for example, i was in there getting an oil change about a year ago, a guy went in for his tracking doing - Next thing the guy is telling him he needs new tyres etc.... When i had the Vectra i had some bushes fitted - Mechanic tells me i need a new anti roll bar and some springs. In fact because i refused them he even refused to guarantee the work! 3 weeks later car sails through MOT not a single problem.

:cool:

Well the simplest asnwer is for you to do the work yourself on your current car aswell. ah thats right you can't because you need to buy the special tools,diagnostic equiptment,etc...and the fact you havent a clue what your looking at,you need someone who has spent time and money being trained.

maybe try oxfam garages next time.

your point about kwik fit is entirely true,it gets brought up here weekly. but they arent an independant, they're a national chain fast fit centre, who only do simple easy jobs like tyres and exhausts.

cyclonebri1

Keith wrote: »

Martin is wrong on this, in his great idea:-

a. Everyone goes to a Council MOT station.
b. The CMS follows the rule book and fails the car for misaligned headlights.
c. The car is then taken to a garage and is repaired say for their minimum charge of 30 mins labour.
d. The car is returned for a retest where a fee is payable as the car left the test center.

In the better world:-

a. Motorist turns up at his trusted garage, says hello to the tester he knows.
b. Car is tested
c. Small fault is found as above a misaligned headlight, tester adjusts headlight
d. Car leaves with full MOT.

And that is exactly how it should be and is if you go to the proper, as in honest/genuine garage:T:T:T:T