MOT - Shouldn't have passed

Oneday77

As this is the motoring thread I reckoned this was best to post here, if not please say.

I had my car MOT'd and serviced at a Kwik Fit today. Before any says I knew what to expect, it was convenient for me and I still had a month of MOT left.

When I dropped the car off I said, if it fails call me before doing the service so I can decide what to do. It's only a 6 year old 52k Focus so wasn't expecting anything bad. Much to my suprise it had no big problems. However it failed on the hand brake efficiency, it would then pass when the service was done as they would adjust it :rotfl:. I thought ok so it's passed, change my brake fluid and aircon gas for the special offer of £50 for the both with a service.

Back ground over now the problems.
Why do I think it shouldn't pass an MOT. Well correct me if I am wrong but don't Steering racks need a gaiter connected at both ends and not torn in the middle. My OS gaiter is wrecked, not theri fault, I spotted this while checking if my service had been done.

I tested my hand brake last night with the car pointing downhill and in 1st lifting the clutch to almost stall point. Guess what the handbrake was fine. It was at full tightness with 8 clicks of the ratchet. After checking tonight still 8 clicks, adjusted no way. So a guise to carry on with the service so not to lose a sale.

The bleed nipples on all 4 calipers are undisturbed. To my best knowledge they have to be to drain, fill and bleed the brakes to put new fluid in.

NSF brake pipe through wing looks rusty and wet. So possibly leaking, not sure yet.

Oil and Diesel all over the engine and OS inner CV joint. Oil and Diesel rot rubber I thought.

One of the bolts holding the under tray to the inner wing is missing. I know it was disturbed, you can see where there a scrapes and fresh metal where it was.

If I complain will my MOT become Null & Void? I will get the steering rack repaired as I understand trhe saftey purpose of it.

ROY47

Complain, complain , they can't void the mot , only retest it and fail it

you've been had

but turn the tables on them ,point out the defects and proof of non work done

Hammyman

If you complain to Kwik-Fit, no. If you complain to VOSA it will be retested and may fail however YOU MUST NOT DO ANY REPAIRS between the test and the time VOSA inspect it.

Regarding the steering rack gaitor. You knew it was duff before you took it in and didn't bother fixing it then so I am perplexed to why it has now suddenly become an urgent item which could kill you. Could that be because you want to maximise negatives? A split gaitor will lead to excessive wear in the rack over a period of time but you'll not die for the sake of a few more weeks until the VOSA inspection.

Your comment on the handbrake confuses me. Did you check it prior to the service then check it after and it was the same? Are you complaining because they didn't adjust something that was fine? It is perfectly possible for it to fail on efficiency on one wheel and then pass with the same number of clicks once freed. The number of clicks means absolutely nothing at all.

Stigy

Oneday77 wrote: »

The bleed nipples on all 4 calipers are undisturbed. To my best knowledge they have to be to drain, fill and bleed the brakes to put new fluid in.

It depends how they bled the system out. If it was done properly, then yes, they'd had had to have cracked off the bleed nipples to bleed the system. However, they might just have sucked all the old fluid from the resevoir and refilled it with fresh brake fluid. This would obviously be nice and clean and you'd be none the wiser. A Kwik Fit special?

Gloomendoom

I think the OP noticed the steering rack gaiter after the MoT when he was checking what had been done during the service.

The brake nipple thing may have no relevance unless they were supposed to change it. It doesn't need doing at every service, although it won't do any harm.

ROY47

Gloomendoom wrote: »

The brake nipple thing may have no relevance

wrong !!

to change the brake fluid they must be undone to change the fluid correctly!!

Oneday77

Thanks for the replys all.

I only noticed th gaiter was ripped tonight when checking that teh filters had been changed.

Yes I asked for new brake fluid. They do it for £25 as part of a service, as they do for the Aircon recharge. The bleed nipples have no new tool marks. I noticed one cover is missing and there are no signs of the dirt being disturbed. I do assume they would use a form of Vacuum to pull the fluid through and avoid air bubbles.

The hand brake when I tested it last night performed well and it seemed to brake evenly with no sign of pulling to one side. I only mentioned the clicks as they apparently stripped the brakes down as part of the service and adjusted the handbrake. If they had adjusted it the pull would shorten. I have had a car where one side of the handbrake was snapped/very weak the car had a noticeable pull on one side where it worked and the other didn't.

I am not complaining that the handbrake isn't broken. More so they only said it was a problem to make sure I went with the service to 'Fix' it as regular maintenance. When I said to the guy when dropping off, "If the car fails the MOT please phine me before doing the service". He looked at me like I just ate his dog i.e. I would potentialy not allow them to do any profitable work.

sassy_one

Complain to VOSA.

Don't contact them direct and 'alert' them to your understanding.

Contact VOSA and report this matter to them, they will investigate.

There details can be found on Google

Gloomendoom

ROY47 wrote: »

wrong !!

to change the brake fluid they must be undone to change the fluid correctly!!

Doh! I didn't read the original post properly. :doh:
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gordikin

Oneday77 what exactly is your complaint?

sassy_one

gordikin wrote: »

Oneday77 what exactly is your complaint?

The fact he wasn't ripped off and his car is 'unsafe' and shouldn't have passed.

A little like the small bump you had last week and the other driver claiming 'oh my neck hurts' :rotfl: