MOT Rip Off? Quoted £860! Please help

AdrianC

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

You're wrong, if you have no MOT and there are no dangerous faults like bald tyres you can drive the car to a prebooked appointment to a mechanic to get the car fixed.

No, he's absolutely right.

You've said "dangerous faults", he's said "unroadworthy". Same difference. An unroadworthy car is illegal, whether it has a ticket or not.

iBreakTheDawn

AdrianC wrote: »

Thank the tester very nicely for saving you from three points and a hundred quid, and make a mental note to do your basic checks more often.


I mean, seriously? You took it in for an MOT with two illegal tyres, a tail light out, both headlights pointing every which way, and no screenwash...?


Bottom arm bushes knackered. Wear and tear.


A bit of floor rot. How old's this Punto?


Exhaust blow, so the emissions are out.


Handbrake doesn't work, especially the offside wheel. (They picked the wrong fail - it won't be a single-line system, but the end result is the same). If this is a frequent issue, then get the rear brakes sorted properly.


It passed, but these are on your to-do list.


This isn't about you. You took a shed in for a test with illegal tyres, lights out and pointing all over the place, no screenwash, a blowing exhast, and a handbrake you knew didn't work... and are trying to make out this is some kind of discrimination? Nope.


You should. The MOT is not a once-a-year high-water-mark, it's a bare minimum.

You make a number of assumptions. I never proposed driving it past its MOT date. In fact the garage ASKED ME IF I WAS TAKING IT AWAY and I said no.

I've had the car since March.

The screenwash is FULL.

I told the garage before I booked it that I was aware the handbrake needed work and asked them to do it before the test. I had a headlight bulb changed weeks ago after one was dim. I became aware of the rear light not working the night before. The test was only booked on Friday due to my constantly changing retail work rota. If you've never worked in retail or a 0 hour contract then you have no idea.

The exhaust also isn't visibly or audibly "blowing".

The lights point forward clearly and work as I drive across multiple towns to get to work, live near a police station and have driven past numerous police cars at night as the only car on the road and have not once been stopped.

Your response is incredibly patronising.

AdrianC

iBreakTheDawn wrote: »

You make a number of assumptions.

No, I've gone only on what you've told us.

I've had the car since March.

Yes, you said. But what's that got to do with anything? You should be checking the basics - fluids, tyres, lights - weekly. It takes about two minutes.

The screenwash is FULL.

But does it work?

I told the garage before I booked it that I was aware the handbrake needed work

So the handbrake definitely doesn't work, and you've been driving it around for months like that?

and asked them to do it before the test.

You're currently finding out why garages test first - because you may not like the quote to get it to that basic standard.

I became aware of the rear light not working the night before.

When had you previously checked them?

The test was only booked on Friday due to my constantly changing retail work rota. If you've never worked in retail or a 0 hour contract then you have no idea.

You can book a test up to 30 days before the expiry of your current one, to maintain the same expiry date.

The exhaust also isn't "blowing".

The tester says it is. He's been underneath the car while the engine's running. The emissions result confirms it - the lambda, the oxygen levels in the exhaust, is out of range because of the leak.

The lights point forward clearly

The tester says they don't. He's looked at them with a beam tester - or, given that the fail is that both "obviously incorrect" (4.1.2c), rather than simply "not within limits" (4.1.2a), maybe he didn't even need that. If they were only a bit out, he could have adjusted them within the test.
https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/class3457/Section-4-Lamps-reflectors-and-electrical-equipment.html#section_4.1.2

If you think he's lying, then appeal the test result.
https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/problems-with-your-test-result

Your response is incredibly patronising.

<shrug> I'm only going on what you posted.

BTW, I notice you didn't mention the pair of illegal tyres.

iBreakTheDawn

AdrianC wrote: »

No, I've gone only on what you've told us.


Yes, you said. But what's that got to do with anything? You should be checking the basics - fluids, tyres, lights - weekly. It takes about two minutes.


But does it work?


So the handbrake definitely doesn't work, and you've been driving it around for months like that?


You're currently finding out why garages test first - because you may not like the quote to get it to that basic standard.


When had you previously checked them?


You can book a test up to 30 days before the expiry of your current one, to maintain the same expiry date.


The tester says it is. He's been underneath the car while the engine's running. The emissions result confirms it - the lambda, the oxygen levels in the exhaust, is out of range because of the leak.


The tester says they don't. He's looked at them with a beam tester - or, given that the fail is that both "obviously incorrect" (4.1.2c), rather than simply "not within limits" (4.1.2a), maybe he didn't even need that. If they were only a bit out, he could have adjusted them within the test.


If you think he's lying, then appeal the test result.

<shrug> I'm only going on what you posted.

BTW, I notice you didn't mention the pair of illegal tyres.

I did mention numerous times, I expected a fail. I also ASKED them to FIX THE HANDBRAKE but they told me they test first.

If you're so on-side of the garage, why would a reputable place not want to fix the issue ASAP?

I didn't expect £860 and it's considerably higher than any other service or MOT bill - I have them ALL from the previous owner.

Furthermore, you made a point about the tires costing £60 each - incorrect.

I wrote that the cost of 2 tires is no more than £60.

Maybe you should take some comprehension lessons at your local primary school before responding with such a superior and combative attitude.

m0bov

Car sounds like a death trap and should be scrapped.

AdrianC

iBreakTheDawn wrote: »

I did mention numerous times, I expected a fail. I also ASKED them to FIX THE HANDBRAKE but they told me they test first.

Yes, and I explained why. Because the test may find a big long list, and you'll not like the quote. Which is where we're at now.

If they said "Oh, we did the work you asked, so here's a £400 bill for the stuff you'd already spotted (handbrake/tyres/lights/screenwash), plus the test fee - and the test has flagged up that it needs another £450 spending...", you'd not be happy, would you? As it is, if you decide to cut your losses and scrap it, you only owe them the test fee. They can't do the test while they're doing the other work - it needs to be done standalone, and uses a different area of the garage to the work.

I didn't expect £860 and it's considerably higher than any other service or MOT bill - I have them ALL from the previous owner.

Perhaps you'd be so kind as to explain why that's relevant?

Furthermore, you made a point about the tires costing £60 each - incorrect.

No, I didn't. I pointed out that if Mr Plod found you driving with those illegal tyres, you'd be up for three points and a £100 fine, and suggested you thank the tester for pointing them out to you first.

BTW, £30 tyres are an absolute false economy. Please spend just a little more and buy decent ones.

Maybe you should take some comprehension lessons at your local primary school before responding with such a superior and combative attitude.

<raises eyebrow>

m0bov wrote: »

Car sounds like a death trap and should be scrapped.

Nothing that wrong with it - it only needs a little bit of maintenance and some ongoing TLC from an owner with some mechanical sympathy. Like any car.

almillar

Could they be exaggerating?

Is £860 a fair price to repair a car with that list?

No.

Yes.

alfie1950

What sort of tyres do you get fitted for £30 each ? Be realistic , they must either be part worn or 'ditch finders '
For someone who knows so little about cars you have a unrespectful arrogance toward some people who have given you good advice.
The MOT clearly says that there is sufficient water coming out ....so it doesn't matter how full the bottle is...there's a fault !
You seem to think that the lights are ok as long as there are pointing forwards.....they have to have the correct beam pattern so they don't blind oncoming motorists.!!!!!!.
You've been told there's an exhaust leak and who are you to disagree.
It has failed it's emmisions test and handbrake test...they both need attention
It sounds as if it needs welding ....they are not going to do it for free.
As you only bought it in March may be you should be contacting the seller for your money back...he's sold you a "skip".
May be you shouldn't have bought a Fiat ...many mechanics say it stands for
"Fix It Again Tomorrrow"

AdrianC

alfie1950 wrote: »

As you only bought it in March may be you should be contacting the seller for your money back...he's sold you a "skip".

A Mk2 Punto is somewhere between 9 and 20 yrs old (and didn't they get rebadged as "Punto Classic" when the Grande came out in 05/6ish?). With 100k on, and a long list of previous MOT history, I doubt it was much over £500, £750 at a push if it was a trade sale.

The OP hasn't said how old or whether it was a private or trade sale - but, even if it was a trade sale, there's somewhere in the region of zero comeback three months post-sale for something that old/cheap.

angrycrow

It is likely anyone looking at the handbrake would have spotted the rust in the wheel arch and stopped work until the extent of the mot fail was found. No point putting new parts and labour into a car the owner may chose to scrap, they were doing you a favour testing first.

You have still not told us the age but as the mk2 was produced for UK from 1999 to 2006 it is at least 13 years old and could be 20 years old.

Who buys a car of this age with only 3 months mot remaining and then waits to the last day to test it knowing it will fail.