MOT Failure - Coil Springs

Strider590

It's expensive because main dealers will only use genuine OEM parts.

Take coil springs on my Vectra for example, £350+ fitting at a dealership, but are powder coated and will probably fail again within 40k miles. Or £150 for aftermarket anodised springs which will never rust and should last the life of the car.

hewhoisnotintheknow

dealers are awful

ask neighbours friends work mates where they go for car repairs

djventsi

Thank you guys for your help.

Just want to let you know what happened in the end.

I've changed my front tires and decided to try another MOT station.
Absolutely ridiculous for me but the car passed without any issues.

I won't visit main dealer again.

Retrogamer

It's possible you still have a problem with your ball joint and the broken coil spring, but the new garage didn't notice them.

Or it's possible that there are no problems with either of them and the originally garage are having you on.

reddwarf2002

djventsi wrote: »

Thank you guys for your help.

Just want to let you know what happened in the end.

I've changed my front tires and decided to try another MOT station.
Absolutely ridiculous for me but the car passed without any issues.

I won't visit main dealer again.

Dealer prices may be extortionate but I've found a dealer to be more vigilant when doings checks as they are more experienced on their own cars and know what to look for.

I've had a coil spring break which wasn't detected by an MOT tester but was spotted by the VW dealer. When I took it to a garage to get it fixed, the mechanic looked at it and said 'are you sure, it looks fine to me?'. I told him that the VW dealer had told me about it. Since I already bought the part he went ahead and took off the 'broken' one. It was only when he took it off he was able to see that a small piece at the bottom had rusted and broken off.

captainawsome

The dealer will be aware of common issues, what to look for and where to look for them.

macman

Get your future MOT's done at a local authority deport (listed on the main MSE site). Since they don't do repairs, they've no vested interest in failing you.

BeenThroughItAll

macman wrote: »

Get your future MOT's done at a local authority deport (listed on the main MSE site). Since they don't do repairs, they've no vested interest in failing you.

True, but be prepared for them to make it really difficult for you to actually book your vehicle in - whilst they have no vested interest in screwing you over, most don't really have any interest in testing members of the public's vehicles.

colino

Not more of the LA tester nonsense. If you go there, ask the NT if he has ever been an apprentice/improver/mechanic/technician on any kind of car. Many haven't, they have worked on the council HGV fleet, or not ever been technically involved with vehicles, they went through the old approval route.
Do you really want the annual safety inspection on your car conducted by someone who could not possibly get a similar job in the private sector because their skill set and exposure to real car faults is so limited?
Find a local, recommended, friendly garage to either do the test or arrange it for you. The MOT isn't particularly onerous, but by the look of some of the wrecks on the road, there are still plenty of nod and a wink ones being sold.

zaax

Unless the car is under 3 year old go to an independent. Main dealers charge over £100 / hour, independents will stamp the book for you.