Car passed m.o.t - the receptionist told me the car is illegal to drive!

angelicmary85

Evening All,

I'm wondering if you could give me some opinions on my cars m.o.t?

Basically, I took it to the garage this afternoon and when I was signing it in, the receptionist asked me to sign the health check form when it was blank. I asked her why I had to sign it when it was blank and she told me it was my way of giving permission for them to carry out the m.o.t - I thought that was a bit strange, what do you guys think?

Anyway, I went back to collect it and was told it had passed. The receptionist said that they'd been lenient as technically it should have failed.

They said that it'd failed on the front tyres - the tread was uneven and was 1.3mm in one place, but 2mm in another place (I was going to get the tyres replaced a few months ago if any of you remember but I done the 20p test and they seemed fine)

They also said that the handbrake was faulty but they didn't want to investigate it incase they seen something they didn't want to see.

Then there was the brake shoe - they aid it was close to min legal requirement.

Finally, the seatbelt stalk - they said that it should have failed as it was faulty - How would I know if it was faulty? The belt sticks in fine and the release button works fine.

I took it to National and showed the man the m.o.t paper who fitted 2 new tyres and checked the handbrake (he tightened the handbrake cable for free!) and they said that there should be nothing wrong with the brake shoe as it's only done about 28,ooo miles but he would have a look

I'm just really looking for some opinions on whether the car should have failed as I don't really fancy driving about in an unsafe car!

P.s - Sorry to sound like an idiot but just as a side question - Is balancing the same thing as the tracking?

harveybobbles

I'd be having a word with VOSA about this one - passing a car when they said it should fail and admitting not wanting the work :-|

angelicmary85

harveybobbles wrote: »

I'd be having a word with VOSA about this one - passing a car when they said it should fail and admitting not wanting the work :-|

It is quite bad isn't it?

only_mee

Balance is not the same as tracking.
Balance is balancing the wheel so they don't vibrate your steering wheel at speed (simple terms )
Tracking is adjusted to make you car go straight and stop un-even tyre wear.

border_collie

Have you misunderstood and she was warning that those things will need doing soonish?

Tracking is not the same as balancing.

Tracking is to do with the position your wheel is in, on the road when driving and balancing is to do with the weight of the inner "side" compared to the outer "side" of each tyre/wheel.


Balancing is usually done at each tyre change.

GEEGEE8

He would have balanced the wheels when fitting the tyres.. well, he should have..

They passed my last MOT, even though the brake discs should have failed... lol - bit of a silly thing to say really.. I had them changed asap somewhere else..

angelicmary85

only_mee wrote: »

Balance is not the same as tracking.
Balance is balancing the wheel so they don't vibrate your steering wheel at speed (simple terms )
Tracking is adjusted to make you car go straight and stop un-even tyre wear.

Thank you! I'm just trying to work out what I should be getting seen to...I'll book it into the garage to have the tracking sorted!!

angelicmary85

border_collie wrote: »

Have you misunderstood and she was warning that those things will need doing soonish?

No I didn't misunderstand.

She took me off to a seperate area from the main desk to tell me that 'technically it should have been a fail but they'd been lenient' but it 'should have failed due to one of the tyres being below the minimum legal requirement'

ETA - It should have also failed because of the seatbelt stalk.

Rolandtheroadie

What MOT paper? Was it orange?

angelicmary85

No, it's just the bit of paper with the green/amber/red boxes on it - When we were talking about the brake shoe and handbrake I told him we'd just been for the m.o.t - I asked him if he wanted to see it and he said yes.

vickssinex

If your car has passed the MOT, it's passed. It sounds as if they are trying to scare you into paying for unnecessary work. I'd take it to another garage for a second opinion - it sounds as though this is what you have done anyway.
My last MOT was with a local garage (only £25, thought I'd save a bit of money) who told me the car had passed but the brakes desperately needed attention. I took it back to the garage where I normally have my car serviced and they said they were fine. I've had it serviced again since and there was no mention of problems with the brakes...
Won't be going for a cheap MOT again!