Where to go/look for an MOT and a service?

Tinsley1

Hi guys, I'm a bit of a newbie and was wondering if anyone could advise me on where to look to get my car MOT'd and serviced?

Its due about early-mid Feb and is a 1200cc Seat Ibiza (2006 so older model), I'm hoping to pay less than £200 for them both if possible.

I looked at Kwik Fit just because I know its a chain but have heard iffy things in the past and lots of bad things when I asked around so will stay away from them for now I think..!

We moved here in August and as yet I've not had to go to a garage for anything. Some of my family use a garage who don't ever seem to answer the phone and I'm a bit sick of trying to get hold of them, and another does the rest of the families when he gets round to it but I don't want him to let me down and for my car to miss its MOT etc

I just have no idea where I should look, maybe a chain of garages etc? I would like to get the MOT and service done together.

Don't want to go to the manufacturer of my car, I got it from Peter Stockill who also sell Chrysler/Jeep in January and they quoted me £499 for a service alone :eek:

Is £200 a reasonable amount to expect to pay or a bit low?

Any help is appreciated, thanks

atrixblue.-MFR-.

personally i think that price is below what youd expect to pay, especially now VAT is a 20% parts will go up and so will garages prices accordingly for the cost of the parts and labour and vat.

search your local coucil run MOT station for the MOT they ofer best prices, as for servicing, buy the parts your self from a motor factors, then seek out a independant garage for fitting. but i still think your looking at £280-£320 MOT and parts and lobour and VAT.

Quinny_2

Can you not buy the parts and fit them yourself, thus saving any garage labour charges?

Granted it's not the ideal weather to be rolling around on the floor, but what you save could go towards any mot repairs should your car fail.

KonkyWonky

Avoid Kwik Fit and similair chains like the plague, they are way over priced and the staff are poor at best.

Your budget seems realistic to me, plenty places up my way offering a service and MOT in the region of £99-£149. At the end of the day most of the checks in the service are covered by the MOT anyway so they are effectively charging you for an oil and filter change.

adamc260

http://www.upmystreet.com/findmynearest/motoring/mot-testing-centres-listings-in-chelmsford.html

I just googled it and that brought up a ton of them

Quentin

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

search your local coucil run MOT station for the MOT they ofer best prices....

Not so, and poor advice.

The council run test centres are the most expensive for a test.

There are good reasons for using them though (but not to save any money on the test)

See the MSE guide on MOTs for more info.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot

Tinsley1

Thanks very much for all the replies, I can't really get parts if needed and fit them myself. I'm almost 19 and my first experience of cars was driving lessons at 17 so I don't really know anything at all about them

I will have a look at those links and someone else has recommended a couple of garages too, thanks

gardner1

Quentin wrote: »

Not so, and poor advice.

The council run test centres are the most expensive for a test.

There are good reasons for using them though (but not to save any money on the test)

See the MSE guide on MOTs for more info.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot

the 2 centres near me only charge £35 and free re test might be few pounds dearer than normal garage but at least you get a genuine honest mot

nmonline

Hi, what area are you in?

[Deleted User]

I've always been under the impression that these combined "MOT & Service" deals are a bit of a con.

I'd go and get the MOT done then go for a service at a later date.

KierNet

Few days old the thread, but http://www.goodgaragescheme.co.uk is worth a look at.