Mot

NH1985

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help me.

I have took my car to Evan Halshaw services yesterday for an MOT that was due on the day. They were happy to fit me in which was good. I was told itll be £54 and will be ready in couple of hours since they were very quiet that day. They doubled check the phone number they had for me since i bought my car from them 2 years ago. And the lady ticked it ok. I was a journey to go home for me so i decided to go for a bit of shopping and then walked about and hoping they would call me soon. Around 330 i decided to phone them as I didn't receive a call, the guy told me they have tried to phone me but my phone was engage the whole time which wasn't true, then he said my MOT has failed for the following reasons:
1. one my tyres was over the limit
2.another tyre was about to be over the limit
3.my oil filter needed to be change
And the he quoted me £385 for all that which was way too expensive. I then said itll be too expensive and I will come and collect the car the guy said: Unfortunately you cant do that because you car has failed the MOT. so i had no choice but to go with the repair.
I then said if it would be possible for a bit of discount as it was a lot to pay right before Christmas he said he will go and talk to his manager and will phone me back. I repeated my contact number to him again and he said thats whats he got. 45 min after no phone call so i called again he said he got me 10% of so in my head im now paying £346.50. I said thats fine i really need the car for work tomorrow can it be done for 5pm (it was around 4:30) he said yes the car is ready ?????????!!!!! i said so ill be there in 5 mins and he said thats fine. I went in and he start doing his calculation and told me it'll be £392?! so i said how is that you quoted me £385 10% less he said oh no it was £395 but then you need to add £54 (MOT price) on top of it and 10% is only on parts. I then asked what part has been used, he started mumbling and tried to show me on his computer, I gave up and asked him to just give me copy of it all. I had enough being in the cold for over 4 hours. I said can i check the number you have and he had the wrong number ??? after me checking it with them twice. I got home and decided to check my MOT history. and this is very interesting, the only thing they have failed me on was the tyre there is no mention of oil filter :mad::mad::mad:

I have now made a complaint, and waiting for them to get back to me.

So I know I have been robbed but i have few questions before I tackle these scumbags:

Would needing a new oil filter fail my MOT?
Was the guy right saying that I cant take my car to another garage because it failed MOT?
Is it not against the law to tell there are repairs needed to be done in order to pass a MOT but not to put it on the MOT history?

What advice would you give me please?
Thanks
NH

Scrapit

Oil filter is not part of the mot. They have pulled your plonker. The mot doesn't allow any removal of parts to check. Visual only.
A tire worn over the limit is a mot failure.
A tire near the limit is an advisory only. They have pulled your plonker.

NH1985

Exactly what I thought. Thank you

missile

I have took my car to Evan Halshaw services yesterday for an MOT that

was your first mistake

Goudy

missile wrote: »

was your first mistake

You second was taking it in for an MOT without making a few simple checks yourself before hand.

The_Rainmaker

Your third mistake was leaving it until the due date.

AdrianC

The "tyre worn over the limit" was also illegal - you're lucky that Mr MOT found it before Mr Plod. Do your basic checks more often. So whether you had any remaining test or not, it would have been just as illegal for you to drive the car away as it was to drive it there. The only difference is that you were no longer ignorant of that illegality.

If you take your car in for an MOT up to a month before the due date, the expiry date remains the same. It explains this on the certificate.

"Oil filter needs changing" could be a fail if it was the cause of a substantial enough oil leak, but it sounds as if you've misunderstood - it failed on one tyre, and on top of that he's telling you that it needs more maintenance.

Let me guess - you think an MOT is a once-a-year high-point of condition, and the same thing as a service?

Ganga

Paying £54 for an MOT was your fourth mistake!

Car_54

AdrianC wrote: »

The "tyre worn over the limit" was also illegal - you're lucky that Mr MOT found it before Mr Plod. Do your basic checks more often. So whether you had any remaining test or not, it would have been just as illegal for you to drive the car away as it was to drive it there. The only difference is that you were no longer ignorant of that illegality.

But ... is the MOT-wallah qualified to give legal advice?

born_again

Car_54 wrote: »

But ... is the MOT-wallah qualified to give legal advice?

Driving a vehicle that’s failed
You can take your vehicle away if:

your current MOT certificate is still valid
no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT
Otherwise, you’ll need to get it repaired before you can drive.
tyres - they must have the correct tread depth and be free of cuts and defects

Given OP MOT was on last day. You can guess...

Jumblebumble

born_again wrote: »

Driving a vehicle that’s failed
You can take your vehicle away if:

your current MOT certificate is still valid
no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT
Otherwise, you’ll need to get it repaired before you can drive.
tyres - they must have the correct tread depth and be free of cuts and defects

Given OP MOT was on last day. You can guess...

This may all be true but the garage have no right to try and enforce this beyond words of advice let alone go ahead with repairs without permission
The Police of course can enforce and should do so
I would start to be very noisy to the DVSA if anyone did this to me