Please advise me whether the garage is telling me the truth with regards my car ?

Kentuniversity

Took my car into a local garage today for a service & mot.

Got a phone call this afternoon to advise me a few advisory issues :

1. 2 Brake cables were slightly worse for ware.

2. A small chip in the windscreen.

3. Two tyres needed balancing and their geometrics set properly ( can't remember the exact words but was along those lines).

I was quoted a price of £43 for the two tyres needed balancing and their geometrics set properly, which I politely declined. For info, I got all of my tyres replaced within the last 12 months and paid for balancing; so my intention is to go back to the old tyre suppliers for them to do it for free (hopefully) again.

However, when I picked up my car from the garage, I have noticed that the invoice advises of the advisory stuff mentioned above but does not reference the two tyres needed balancing and their geometrics set properly.

Is this normal or has the garage been economical with the truth ? Also is £43 a fair price for his work ?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

waynedance

No problems I can see, possible tyres wearing uneven hence advising tracking. Did you ask the garage to explain before posting here.

You need to find another as it seems you do not trust them.

goosander

Tyre balance isn't checked as part of an MOT so I'm not sure how the garage would know that the tyre need balancing.

Either they are taking the !!!!, or you have misunderstood what they said was needing done. It may be that they have noticed uneven tyre wear & suggested the tracking needs adjusted.

thefishdude

i personally would say thet they were chancing it as they dont check tyre balancing as part of mot. the geometrics possibly i suppose if they noticed tyres wearing on one side. how ever that would notbe a failure either the tyre was legal or not legal.

waynedance

It was mot. and service read the ops post.

Joe_Horner

Sounds like a perfectly fair one and a decent mechanic to me.

Poor tyre balance can be obvious for a number of reasons on an MOT even though it's not checked:

If it's really bad it can show up as vibration on the rolling road during the brake test.

If it's been bad for a while it can show up in tyre wear patterns if you understand what you're looking at,

There could be an obviously missing wheel weight.

Even fairly mild imbalance will show up when checking the wheel bearings because the tyre will tend to settle with one point "low", or even turn backwards briefly after it stops spinning.

As for what shows on the receipt, assuming it was the MOT "receipt style certificate" then the only thing that most garages will enter as advisories are the things which are testable.

Worn handbrake cables and chipped windscreens are both testable, so they go on. Tyre balance and tracking aren't so they don't show up, but the mechanic points them out to you to hopefully save you a bit of tyre wear.

Strider590

If its was a cut price MOT, then they're just making up their losses...... It's cost them nearly the full MOT price just to do the job. So if you get a cut price MOT, it's going to fail for sure.

in_the_Cotswolds

Probably noticed the wheels needed balancing after a road test.

forgotmyname

They possibly noticed abnormal tyre wear, Are the tyres worn evenly across teh tread or slightly more worn one side than the other?

Worn evenly they are trying it on, If even slightly worn they are trying to save you money as you will scrap the new tyres a lot faster than normal wear if the tracking is out.

Geometry check should be all 4 wheels, Tracking usually just the front wheels.

tim9966

If you have fully comp insurance you can often get the chip repaired free of charge if it's only small.

red_eye

goosander wrote: »

Tyre balance isn't checked as part of an MOT so I'm not sure how the garage would know that the tyre need balancing.

Either they are taking the !!!!, or you have misunderstood what they said was needing done. It may be that they have noticed uneven tyre wear & suggested the tracking needs adjusted.

could of been spotted while on test drive