fault cost post MOT

pony272

hi 
i took my car to a main dealer garage for an  mot and asked them to look for a fault for a knocking noise.it passed the mot and then  later a ball joint fell off resulting in a lot of damage. are the garage libel for not finding and repairing my reported fault? 

FlorayG

When you collected it, did you ask if they had investigated the noise? What did they say?
(A ball joint is not part of the MOT so there's no recourse there)

tedted

of course a ball joint is part of the mot and a major fail

FlorayG

tedted said:

of course a ball joint is part of the mot and a major fail

Is it? I've had them fall apart soon after MOT so I assumed they weren't
Perhaps that means MOT testers don't properly check them?

daveyjp

Ball joints are checked, but a ball joint may pass an MOT check then fall apart when going over a particularly savage speed bump or deep pothole.  

However the report of a knocking noise should have been a red flag to the tester and an investigation beyond a basic MOT check should have been done.

What did the garage say about the noise?

Mildly_Miffed

pony272 said:

hi 
i took my car to a main dealer garage for an  mot and asked them to look for a fault for a knocking noise.it passed the mot and then  later a ball joint fell off resulting in a lot of damage. are the garage libel for not finding and repairing my reported fault? 

What ball joint?

But, no, they are not liable...

born_again

pony272 said:

hi 
i took my car to a main dealer garage for an  mot and asked them to look for a fault for a knocking noise.it passed the mot and then  later a ball joint fell off resulting in a lot of damage. are the garage libel for not finding and repairing my reported fault? 

Define later in a timescale?

Baldytyke88

pony272 said:

hi 
i took my car to a main dealer garage for an  mot and asked them to look for a fault for a knocking noise.it passed the mot and then  later a ball joint fell off resulting in a lot of damage. are the garage libel for not finding and repairing my reported fault? 

The MOT test is meant to state that at the time of the test, the items tested are safe, not later.

Ball joints normally wear gradually, were there any advisories?

Arunmor

daveyjp said:

Ball joints are checked, but a ball joint may pass an MOT check then fall apart when going over a particularly savage speed bump or deep pothole.  

However the report of a knocking noise should have been a red flag to the tester and an investigation beyond a basic MOT check should have been done.

What did the garage say about the noise?

You assume who the OP told was also the MOT tester.

Mildly_Miffed

Arunmor said:

daveyjp said:

Ball joints are checked, but a ball joint may pass an MOT check then fall apart when going over a particularly savage speed bump or deep pothole.  

However the report of a knocking noise should have been a red flag to the tester and an investigation beyond a basic MOT check should have been done.

What did the garage say about the noise?

You assume who the OP told was also the MOT tester.

The tester should ignore everything but what he sees on the ramp in front of him.

I suspect the OP would have been outraged to have been handed an invoice for an hour's labour for investigating the noise.

paul_c123

pony272 said:

hi 
i took my car to a main dealer garage for an  mot and asked them to look for a fault for a knocking noise.it passed the mot and then  later a ball joint fell off resulting in a lot of damage. are the garage libel for not finding and repairing my reported fault? 

The driver remains liable for roadworthiness of a car. You can appeal an MoT test, however you will have issues successfully doing this now that the car is broken, because step #2 is to get it to an alternate MoT testing station who basically do another test again and the DVSA compare results.

I am intruiged how a ball joint can "fall off", I've had a few fail over the years but the way they are constructed tends to hold the components in place, even if the wheel is suspended. Did you hit a kerb or pothole and it failed, or did it fail in otherwise benign conditions?

And (critical to be able to appeal an MoT), how long ago was this?

But no, if you ask a garage to diagnose something and they fail to do this (and don't charge you for it), you don't really have any comeback.