Beware cheap MOT deals?

stevevvv

I have just gone to my local F1 autocentre 1/2 price MOT and combined service discount, I also had two new tyres I knew the tracking was out as slight uneven wear on front.
However, I was told the car has failed on headlight alignment I would not mind but the car has only done 3000 miles since its last mot at the same garage and has been SORN for 9 months kept in a heated garage.
The sceptic in me is they get you there on cheap deals and then make up the shortfall with " we recommend that you get this seen to" oh £50 for tracking and headlight alignment rip off.
If you google headlight alignment mot there seems to be a big increase in mot failures for this issue alongside an increase in 1/2 price mots? Erm think I will buy a 1960 banger then I avoid the mot and car tax!

Quentin

If you disagree with the test fail, it tells you how to deal with this on the fail notice. (But paying full price is no guarantee of a pass!)

BJV

I understand the reasons you are fed up but it would be more than the MOT's stations jobs worth to make a false MOT failure. No one wants the wait of the Ministry on them.

Headlights can go out of alignment over time. I would think that instead of trying to make their money up out of MOT's the unethical would try it on the service.

AlexisV

Headline alignment is easily knocked off kilter. Any decent garage will just tweak it for free and give you a fail paper and then a pass sheet though.

[Deleted User]

My sister took her car to Kwik Fit last week for an MOT. They gave her an advisory for pitted brake discs and low pads.

The discs and pads where changed only 2 years ago and less than 10K miles since. They were even trying to get her to get them done that day too.

yabbadoo

Just bought a 2 year-old car (my second) from J R FORD in Shefford, Beds (a Ford main dealer, a family business of many years standing, also in Royston, Herts)

Part of their new-ish "loyalty deal" to customers is 50% discount on MOT's for life.

PLUS I've got same 50% MOT discount on the first car bought from them 8 years ago, now owned by my daughter.

Worth a call for a good price MOT ... As a long-standing customer I can vouch for their honesty and reliability.

On the subject of "dodgy" MOT's and the consequences.

A local one-man MOT and repair garage passed a "borderline" vehicle, a few years ago. Unbeknown to him, it was an MOT quality test. They revoked his MOT licence for over a year, costing him a fortune in lost business, and he had to retake his MOT exam before being re-licensed.

And, the base cost of MOT's is not "just" the £10 or so labour - it's also the very costly capital investment, installation and maintenance of all the equipment, plus training and licence (that's a lot of MOT's before making any profit).

AlSelley

This is a one of the oldest scams in the book and how allot of these MOT centres work

Trading Standards get complaints all the time about this type of thing

Your best bet is to go to a MOT centre and then if there is any problems take the car to another garage and tell them to fix the problems, if there are any. You can drive to a MOT garage if your car has failed elsewhere.

yabbadoo

[QUOTE..... Erm think I will buy a 1960 banger then I avoid the mot and car tax![/QUOTE]

As at TODAY's date, an MOT is STILL required for "classic" cars (officially defined as manufactured before 1960) AND display a Road Tax disc if used/parked on public roads/highways, even though the tax payable is nil.

HOWEVER - ( see this link for full detail )
http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/classic-cars-to-be-made-exempt-from-mot-test_43787

It reports that as of Nov 2012, "classic" vehicles will be exempt from MOT testing.

Assuming one could find a road-worthy 53-year-old "banger", at a reasonable price, the saving on MOT would be eclipsed by running costs (they weren't fuel-efficient) and routine spares/maintenance is likely to be costly. You can't win, my friend!.

Quentin

AlSelley wrote: »

You can drive to a MOT garage if your car has failed elsewhere.

Only if it is roadworthy. If not it would need towing/transporting.

mikey72

I've never had a car fail on headlights. Whether if I've set them up on the garage door, or a dark road the night before, or if they've been on the car for eight years and I've never touched them.

Wig

Would anyone like to give a DIY explanation of how to check your own headlight alignment? All I know so far is

• Be on flat level ground
• park infront of a wall
• do one light at a time blocking the light from the other or turning it off.