Is garage honest

Gti

MOT is due and there are a few things that need doing to the car before I put it in.

I've been recommended a garage to try but when I ask them to do a full service plus some repairs before putting it in for the MOT they say it's better to do the MOT first. Their reasoning is on the MOT everything is checked and it's better to fail it first to find problems then fix and service and do it again so it will pass.


Surely on a full service of a car everything is checked anyway that would come up on an MOT or do I have an optimistic view of what a full service is?
When I look in my service book it gives a checklist of things that should be changed/inspected on an interim/full service and it seems extensive?


My argument is that I feel an MOT failure is a sign that the owner may not have taken care of the car and it devalues it somewhat.

neilmcl

A full service is not going to service/fix everything that will be checked in a MOT. I tend to agree with the garage, do the MOT first and that will tell you exactly what requires repair to keep the car roadworthy otherwise you could be making repairs for things you don't need.

AndyMc.....

neilmcl wrote: »

A full service is not going to service/fix everything that will be checked in a MOT. I tend to agree with the garage, do the MOT first and that will tell you exactly what requires repair to keep the car roadworthy otherwise you could be making repairs for things you don't need.

What could they repair he doesn’t need?

Joe_Horner

The DVSA recommended order if a car goes for service and MOT is MOT then service.

If the car is reasonably maintained it doesn't really make much difference, but if the MOT throws up problems then you may end up paying for stuff to be done twice, or at least being booked into a workshop slot twice.

Some examples of thins that won't be checked fully on a normal service, which an MOT would pick up:

Brake performance (especially balance). Afaik no maker's service schedules call for a full rolliing road brake check. So you could have the brakes pass a service on visual check, only to have them stripped down again for repair when one turns out to be low on power.

Headlight alignment. Pretty sure no makers specify alignment checks, just that they turn on & off.

Suspension wear. Routine servicing generally doesn't include getting pry bars onto suspension joints & bushes.

Emissions may or may no be checked depending on the service due.


All of those things can be added to the service list if they're picked up on an MOT & involve (relatively) little extra work. If the MOT is done second then you pay for a service, pay for the test, then pay for it to effectively be booked in again for the repairs.

sevenhills

Gti wrote: »

My argument is that I feel an MOT failure is a sign that the owner may not have taken care of the car and it devalues it somewhat.

You could always ask for a pre-MOT, it would be the same ammount of work.

flashg67

I don't look at an MOT failure as a sign of poor maintenance. As said, there are many things that can fail an MOT that aren't checked on a service.

Unless the car is fairly new, then I'd agree - MOT first, then service

neilmcl

AndyMc..... wrote: »

What could they repair he doesn’t need?

Take your car to Halfords or Kwik-Fit and you'll likely find out

Noree

What Joe Horner said.

Ignore the suggestion for a pre-MOT. A waste of time and money. Something which people fool for and pay for something unnecessarily.

Gti

Thank you everyone. Put the car in for MOT then service as suggested.

I have noticed that the radiator coolant hasn't been filled up. Some sites suggest that should be done on a full service, anyone agree?

I also bought new tyres at the same time. I knew I wanted Uniroyal Rain expert 3's but I let the garage find out what size etc. I needed. The bloke at front desk offered a choice of H or V, I asked the difference and he said one is rated for higher speed then the other. I chose H on price but now I'm looking online it seems this could invalidate my insurance?I assumed I would only be offered tyres that were appropriate for my car.

The sticker in the glove box says 195/60/15 V. My cars top speed is apparently 119mph and H tyres are rated for 130mph. How much of an issue is this?

debtdebt

H tyres are still rated higher then your vehicle's top speed. I wouldn't worry about it.

Arklight

Different garages have different interpretations as to what a "full" service means. If I were you I would check what they will actually do. Often it boils down to a pollen filter and oil and engine filter change, a lot of tick box "checking" (almost all of which you can and should be doing yourself) and some grease applied to the door catches.

There was one garage I took my car to that actually gave me a full report of what they'd done with a written summary of the condition of the car and a warning that they couldn't get the nut off to check the gearbox oil as it had been sheared.

Every other garage since has just been, "Yer it's fine mate - £120 plus VAT please." No one ever mentioned the gearbox since so I doubt the others even looked.

I ended up just paying fort the oil service and doing the rest myself.