Failes MOT question

bulktrans

Hi there,

I own a suzuki alto (8 years old) and it failed MOT (at a local garage) beacuse of the following -

corroded metal break pipes
front suspension needs a change
2 rear wheel bearning

I know it looks like a huge cost to get this fixed, but could someone please give me an approx idea of costs etc.

The garage will find the prices for me tomorrow.

Thanks,

jaydeeuk1

Front suspension needs a change....

Can you be clearer on that point? Rest of the work isn't that major imo.

mazza111

No I would agree, doesn't seem that major. Prices obviously vary from car to car though.

Fella's car just been through the MOT. 3 springs!!!! Bad enough, but can you believe £300 for a seatbelt?!?!?! Went into meltdown when I heard that price. Needless to say it was an expensive MOT this year

bulktrans

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Front suspension needs a change....

Can you be clearer on that point? Rest of the work isn't that major imo.

thanks for help, I will speak to them tomorrow morning and understand exactly what they mean (I was at work so couldn't talk much)

bulktrans

I spoke to the garage person this morning and he quoted £310+Vat; +£59(MOT fee) for the following -
rear break light (centre back on the back wind screen) - blub replacement
2 rear wheel bearing
4 break pipes
driver side front suspension arm (corroded)

not sure if this is a correct quote, how should I ensure that the parts are new/genuine and not second hand?

thnx in advance

MX5huggy

They won't consider fitting second hand parts, its not worth the hassle. Ask them to show you the new suspension arm when you pick it up (you will in all likey hood have to get on the floor to do this).

mazza111

Or get them to show u the parts they took off if you're like me with dodgy knees and can't get down that far :rotfl:

Doesn't seem too bad a quote as I would imagine the wheelbearings would be around £50-£60 by themselves. It's a while since I had my bearings done though, was on an old ford escort so just using that as a round figure.

Agree with the above poster about not using 2nd hand parts. It really isn't worth their while doing it.

Although for some cars, if a part is elusive or very expensive and you have a nice mechanic, he may fit a 2nd hand part that you have provided yourself.

Strider590

It pays to keep an eye on your car, spot problems BEFORE the MOT. This way your never in a "desperate" situation and they can't shaft you.

Also, always offset your VED (car tax) so that it doesn't fall at the same time as you MOT.

mazza111 wrote: »

No I would agree, doesn't seem that major. Prices obviously vary from car to car though.

Fella's car just been through the MOT. 3 springs!!!! Bad enough, but can you believe £300 for a seatbelt?!?!?! Went into meltdown when I heard that price. Needless to say it was an expensive MOT this year

Case in point, seatbelt could have been sourced in advance at a fraction of the cost. The more conscientious driver would have noticed a damaged seatbelt.
I had new springs/shocks all round on my car, I knew that 2 were broken the instant they gave way. The car just felt "wrong"..... Sourced 4 uprated Eibach springs for £160 and 4 Bilstein B4 high quality shocks for £180. Had I waited for my MOT i'd have been forking out more money for lower quality parts.

Car maintenance is important and the only person you can rely on is yourself.

mazza111

Well obviously we knew the springs were away, we actually thought 2 rather than 3. The 3rd was dodgy but not gone yet. As for the seatbelt. I'm afraid that's the price of them for that car :mad: Managed to source a 2nd hand one and our lovely mechanic fitted it for £75. Still thought £75 was a bit much for a 2nd hand seat belt, but better than £300 for a car we'll be trading in soon enough.


Had it booked in on the 22nd. Unfortunately, the clutch on my car went the same day, so had to postpone his until the 29th. The seatbelt stopped retracting the weekend mine was getting fixed :mad: So really, we could have got away with the seatbelt if it had gone in on the 22nd as planned. Been an expensive couple of weeks for cars here

As for the forking out more for lesser parts, I think that depends on the garage. The fella I go to shops around, the girls in the office are absolutely brilliant. £150 for the springs he needed. The dampers for the springs to buy from SAAB are £57 or there abouts, using the Vectra ones, £5.35 and £5.30 for the same parts.

Strider590

mazza111 wrote: »

As for the forking out more for lesser parts, I think that depends on the garage. The fella I go to shops around, the girls in the office are absolutely brilliant. £150 for the springs he needed. The dampers for the springs to buy from SAAB are £57 or there abouts, using the Vectra ones, £5.35 and £5.30 for the same parts.

SAAB, GM, Vauxhall.... All the same.
The Vectra sits on the GM Epsilon platform, as does the SAAB 9-3 and 9-5 (but the 2010 car uses the epsilon II). This means it's practically the same car.

I own a Vectra and the standard OEM springs are rubbish, expensive and last less than 40k miles. The problem is they're powder coated, this gets chipped and rust sets in, then works it's way up the spring until it snaps.... The Eibach springs I have, are coated in a hard enamel which is practically impervious to damage.

GM Rear shocks last 20k miles on the larger cars, 40k if your lucky.

So I bought aftermarket for less than the cost of GM parts, I have quality springs that should last a lifetime and shocks that combined with the springs, make the car feel like it rolled off a BMW/Merc/Audi production line.... The car is as it should have been before the pre-release cost cutting and it handles/feels better than it did when new.

I'm not being "funny" (though it may seem like it) and I apologise for how I may be coming across. I'm just pointing out what was once pointed out to me. A little investigative effort can land you with a far better product for far less money (applies to all and everything).

mazza111

I realise that, not with the seatbelt unfortunately

The Saab (or money pit as we call it) parts are expensive to get them direct from Saab, hence why he used to Vauxhall dampers. It had gone through a full service about 6 months before + he done all the checks he would have done for an MOT. Unfortunately everything went wrong in the week or 2 before the MOT was due. Murphy's law innit, so didn't really have time to get them before hand.

I still can't believe £300 for a seatbelt. The Saabs from the year before were all recalled for this.

I'll stick to my wee skoda that done 129k miles before the clutch went on it. And has only cost me that and a new battery in the past 2 years.

We're thinking of trading the Saab in for something else. Can you believe he was actually thinking of Saab again?!?!!?! (head off brick wall!!!!) So trying to talking him into a new Skoda instead, given the joy I've had with my wee old one