Repair needed - MOT 7 weeks away

Macc

Very dumb question coming up!

Got a fault developed last couple of days with car not accelerating properly. Can't get up hills, can't get any kind of speed up etc etc. Not fit to drive and needs taking to garage.

My MOT is due in about 7 weeks - late November - so does it make sense to sacrifice 7 weeks of MOT and have the MOT/service done when I take the car in for repair? Does anyone know roughly how much it would save on average doing it all in one "sitting" instead of repair now and MOT/service in late Nov?

Gonna be a struggle to pay for it all unbudgeted this month and would make life easier spilitting it into 2 but if it will be a big amount saved I will have to do it.

DELLBOY_2

Difficult without knowing car make model and is there any fault codes in the ecu

wgl2014

Most places have a set charge for an MOT (withstanding any repairs needed to get the car to pass).

weejangus

What make / model / age / mileage of car do you have?

Are there any warning lights / engine light on?

If not, when was the fuel filter last changed? It really could be a multitude of things - Spark plugs (glow plugs if diesel), injector fault, wiring to injector, etc. However, if it seems to rev quite freely when you're not moving but it struggles to accelerate on the road (especially if it's a Turbo Diesel), it could be a clogged fuel filter.

Personally, if it's not a simple fix like Fuel Filter, I'd take it for the MOT now-ish and at least then you'll know if there are any other bigger issues that are going to prevent it from passing. At least then you'll know what cost you're looking at to get another year out of it. Then you can make an informed decision whether to keep it or move it on (by that I mean either scrap or sell - informing the seller of any known issues).

Ebe_Scrooge

Macc wrote: »

Does anyone know roughly how much it would save on average doing it all in one "sitting" instead of repair now and MOT/service in late Nov?

Not a bean - assuming you're using an honest mechanic.

Put simply, the diagnosis and repair of the the problem will take x hours of labour and £y in parts ( this is variable, of course, depending on how long it takes and what work is required ). The cost of an MOT test is set by the government, and is fixed ( though some garages will do it for a cheaper price, in the hope of finding some repairs they can charge for ). A standard service ( whether full or interim ) is a known cost for the garage - again, known labour and parts costs, whatever they may be for your particular car.

Whether you get the repairs done alongside the service & MOT or separately should have no influence on the overall price.

A slight caveat - let's say, for the sake of argument, it's something simple like the air filter gunged up. This is something that would be changed as part of the service ( and could, potentially, cause the symptoms you describe ). So in that scenario, then yes there would be a slight benefit in getting it serviced and see if the problem disappears ( though again, if your mechanic is honest, and you asked him to fix the problem, and he only needed to change the air filter, he'd not change it again and charge you for it at the service a couple of weeks later ).

Depends on how much you trust your mechanic. If it were me, I'd say take it in now, ask him to investigate the problem, let you know what it's going to cost to put it right. If it's a reasonable amount, then tell him "Fine, go ahead and fix it, and whilst you're at it can you service it please". Then book the MOT for a couple of weeks or whatever before the existing one expires.

Service & MOT don't always go together - in fact, far from it. For someone who covers very high miles, a service could be due 2 or even 3 times a year, based on mileage. But fair enough, if you're doing low/average mileage then the "12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first" ( or whatever it is for your car ) rule of thumb may well make it convenient to have the service & MOT done together.

facade

If there are no warning lights on and it is a petrol engine, likely the catalyst has blocked up and is restricting the exhaust. Seen this a few times on vauxhalls.

Herzlos

HoW long are you planning on keeping the car? If you're selling within the next year just get it done now. If not get the repair done now and MOT when it's due.

Unless you're worried about having to scrap it after an mot failure, in which case get that done first.

System

Macc wrote: »

My MOT is due in about 7 weeks - late November - so does it make sense to sacrifice 7 weeks of MOT and have the MOT/service done when I take the car in for repair? Does anyone know roughly how much it would save on average doing it all in one "sitting" instead of repair now and MOT/service in late Nov?

Gonna be a struggle to pay for it all unbudgeted this month and would make life easier spilitting it into 2 but if it will be a big amount saved I will have to do it.

No it isn't worth sacrificing it and no you won't save any money doing the MOT with the repair but you may with the service. It actually could be the lack of a decent full service that is causing your fault. Many people assume a basic service covers everything, it doesn't. Most cars have a major service every second or third service which will include fuel filters not done in a basic and for a petrol engine, spark plugs again not done in a basic service. Both of those could be causing the issues you have.

forgotmyname

You wont save a penny by having it repaired and MOTd at the same time.

2 separate operations so both jobs will be independent.