Opinions please on Halfords for MOT tests.

skivenov

arcon5 wrote: »

MOT costs are not a set price, there is simply a MAXIMUM price chargeable for MOTs. And garages can make a lot of money on MOTs alone, if they didn't you wouldn't have companies like MOT Max (weonlymot) who charge £45, £9.85 below the maximum allowed.

I'm a big fan of MOTMAX, no pass = no fee

"We want your car to pass as much as you do"

forgotmyname

Good idea that. No pass no fee...

Im starting an MOT centre. Im just going to tell you its failed and the price i want for it to pass.
But i wont tell you what it failed on.

Sounds like a plan.

londonTiger

skivenov wrote: »

I'm a big fan of MOTMAX, no pass = no fee

"We want your car to pass as much as you do"

lol..............

londonTiger

people saying theres no money in mot are plain wrong if they market it will like motmax and can systemise the process well to go through cars quickly its possible to turn over cars quickly.

scragend

I learned my lesson over "free MOTs" a couple of years ago.

I had some tyres fitted at a local garage - not some back street outfit, they were "Bosch approved" and all that kind of thing. I bought the tyres from Blackcircles and picked this garage to fit them because it was convenient.

Anyway, while in there I thought it looked like a decent setup, and they had an offer for a free MOT when you have a full service. The service was due shortly so I booked it in.

They failed it with a failure list as long as your arm, and they were all petty points such as number plate light not bright enough, wipers not clearing the screen effectively (which was nonsense) - basically subjective things that are in the opinion of the tester. The best one was when he told me that the headlights were out of alignment, but he had fixed it for me so it hadn't failed on that. The car had been through 8 MOTs by this point - had the headlights miraculously changed alignment in the previous 12 months?

They wanted to give me a quote for the repairs. I asked them if I still got a free retest if I had the "repairs" done elsewhere (answer was yes), so I took it home, changed the wiper blades, wiped the inside of the number plate light lens and took it back. It then passed. In hindsight I should have asked for a quote just so I could have had a laugh.

That's still the only failure my car has ever had (it's now over 13 years old). I wouldn't have minded if something major had been wrong, but it was just petty. Never been back there since and never will.

I've never heard of "weonlyMOT" before - sounds interesting, shame they are not near me.

worried_jim

scragend wrote: »

I've never heard of "weonlyMOT" before - sounds interesting, shame they are not near me.

Have you tried-

http://justmots-px.rtrk.co.uk/

I always use them now and they are very good and fair.

scragend

worried_jim wrote: »

Have you tried-

http://justmots-px.rtrk.co.uk/

I always use them now and they are very good and fair.

Just had a look:-

The following locations are the nearest to you. Please click on one for further details

Crayford
184.7 miles away

But thanks anyway!

Strider590

arcon5 wrote: »

MOT costs are not a set price, there is simply a MAXIMUM price chargeable for MOTs. And garages can make a lot of money on MOTs alone, if they didn't you wouldn't have companies like MOT Max (weonlymot) who charge £45, £9.85 below the maximum allowed.

You miss the point.....
If I run a garage and it costs me £40 to do an MOT, I'm going to put some profit on that, maybe charge £45.
If I then reduce the cost to half price, I'm not doing that out if kindness, I'm going to fail your car for stupid things like bulbs until I've made up for my losses......

Every garage has a cost associated with running an MOT, a set cost for that garage. So drivers beware of special offers!!