Your worst ever car repair

pinkmouse

This isn't one of mine but my mother took her car to a local garage to have a new bonnet fitted under insurance. When she got it back, it was a completely different bonnet to the one that was supposed to be there - there was a 3 inch gap all around, the front grill was totally different and it was resprayed... very badly!

She kicked off merry hell and when they weren't getting exactly why she wasn't happy, she started telling everyone in the shop not to leave their cars there for bodywork etc until she was huckled outside to try and shut her up (which didn't work - nobody has ever managed to successfully shut her up :D) and I honestly though they were going to phone the police!

She kicked up stink with the insurance company though telling them they'd be mad to pay for the way it was and luckily they saw her point so the garage had to fix it. It still wasn't done properly though cus a few months later, the paint started to peel off and gold paint was underneath (it was obvious they'd taken a grill off another car, repainted it the pale blue the car was and shoved it on)

She wrote a letter of complaint to the manager of the garage but it was ignored cus the guy she was dealing with was the body shop manager. Actually come to think abotu it, she's still waiting for a reply - that was abotu 6 years ago :D

Thankfully the garage is no longer there - but I have a feeling they have a branch elsewhere in the region. I wouldn't buy a car from them - heaven knows what shockers they've covered up. It was supposed to be a reputable garage too cus they were the franchise holder for Vauxhall.

andrew-the-cat

Lum wrote: »

Do repairs you've done yourself count?

Old banger £100 Volvo 460 failed it's MOT on a rear seatbelt, couldn't get a replacement at an acceptable price, so just removed the rear seatbelts, and the rear seats and took it back for a re-test. Passed.

I did the same, failed due to spare tyre being below the limit, so removed it when I took it back for the re-test and passed.

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Does that mean you can MOT a car with a dead engine or gearbox then? - would be handy that way as one of ours is dead but needs to go on the road so the vandals will stop attacking it every few months.

Dead engine - no. It needs to run for the emissions/smoke density test.

Dead gearbox - yes. You do not need to have a working gearbox for the test, in fact I know someone who had a car MOT'd without a gearbox. Took it to the garage on a trailer, pushed it into the testing bay. Passed.

mikey72

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

I did the same, failed due to spare tyre being below the limit, so removed it when I took it back for the re-test and passed.



Dead engine - no. It needs to run for the emissions/smoke density test.

Dead gearbox - yes. You do not need to have a working gearbox for the test, in fact I know someone who had a car MOT'd without a gearbox. Took it to the garage on a trailer, pushed it into the testing bay. Passed.

You need a friendly tester, you'll never get it out of the brake rollers by yourself.

andrew-the-cat

mikey72 wrote: »

You need a friendly tester, you'll never get it out of the brake rollers by yourself.

Of course, most places would laugh if you turned up wanting to put a car without a gearbox through an MOT. My point was more that it COULD be done, not that most places would tell you to F off if you did it.

cyclonebri1

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

Of course, most places would laugh if you turned up wanting to put a car without a gearbox through an MOT. My point was more that it COULD be done, not that most places would tell you to F off if you did it.

No they wouldn't, they'd be a tad more polite, merry xmas by the way

raineshoe

Ford repaired the brakes on a Ford Probe and put them on the wrong way round. Needless to say stopped by a cop car on the motorway with smoke coming from the tyres.....

Jakg

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

I did the same, failed due to spare tyre being below the limit, so removed it when I took it back for the re-test and passed.

Are you sure?

I don't think the spare tyre is part of the MOT (a common misconception, though)

knightstyle

Parents had seat belts fitted to rear seats on a Triumph Herald. All fine till someone heavier than a child sat in the back and then the long fixing bolts wore a groove in the prop shaft and made a horrible noise.

petrolhead69

Jakg wrote: »

Are you sure?

I don't think the spare tyre is part of the MOT (a common misconception, though)

If one is fitted and accessible it has to be legal. if its not in the car its not testable.

tedted

the spare does not have to legal to pass the mot just a pass and advise