M.0.T rant!!!

bclark

larmy16 wrote: »

What happens though if it fails? Do you then have to find a garage, get it repaired and unless you can get it in for the next day, have to pay for another full MOT?

If it fails you take it away to get it fixed and bring it back. I believe that you have something like 10 days, I don't think the 1 day deadline is true at all.

cyclonebri1

OP I bet you are miffed, all I can say is you've taken it to the wrong test centre, there are lots of genuine garages out there that aren't trying to rip a leg off you, unfortunately youv'e not found one

I expect a proper test for the fee, if it fails on something I've not spotted thats great, it's the time my cars visit a agrage and I don't mind £45 for a full safety check, and I don't want to miss anything. BUT I make it very clear that I do my own repairs and so far have had no trouble with attempted rip offs.
Neither have I had to pay any retest fees for the above reasons, (yes I have had a few fail as I take a family of about 5 cars per year on av),I get it back within 10 days, do it right, and use the garage that I trust. They test only what it failed on and do not charge, infact they don't carge untill it's past. Yes of course they know me, but all regular customers are treated the same, just how it should be:T :T :T

Find a good'un for next time:beer:

cyclonebri1

bclark wrote: »

If it fails you take it away to get it fixed and bring it back. I believe that you have something like 10 days, I don't think the 1 day deadline is true at all.

Just a rule applied by the test centre in question by my reckoning:mad: They have the option to charge nothing:T

larmy16

Just to end the story and thanks guys for all your input. I collected the car - they had repaired the lamp (full hour labour) and the MOT came to £124.39 or thereabouts.

Funny that they managed to repair it when the original one they wanted to order a complete new part!!! Oh well, will not be going back there. They did come highly recommended a few years ago. My fella reckons they saw me coming. Dipsy female with no mechanical knowledge of cars.:rolleyes:

photome

Why not name the garage

Wig

Give the garage a rating on garages4you.

What the heck could take a full hour to tighten up a screw on a headlamp? If I were you I would have been watching what they did to fix it, and if that was not possible I would have asked them what they did, that took an hour to do.

withabix

I remember the 'good old days' when I was a poor university student.

My knackered old Mk1 Fiesta (with lovely red vinyl seats :eek: ) got through its MOT test 3 years running WITHOUT the car going anywhere near the MOT test garage....:D

A pass was always £10 more than the standard fee for some reason...

anewman

withabix wrote: »

A pass was always £10 more than the standard fee for some reason...

Lucky you're still alive. The MOT is to test the safety of the car for yours and other's benefit. While some garages would like to think so, it's not a method of ripping you off to get them to do unneeded work.

Perhaps there should be a website called badgarages.com where people report garages that screw them over. Would probably have legal issues with being sued though, but it can't be any worse than a goodgarages.com where garages go posting praise for themselves.

larmy16

Wig wrote: »

Give the garage a rating on garages4you.

What the heck could take a full hour to tighten up a screw on a headlamp? If I were you I would have been watching what they did to fix it, and if that was not possible I would have asked them what they did, that took an hour to do.

Wig the girl on reception was going on about the labour and she even mentioned them taking the bumper off??? Wish you had been with me - I am hopeless in these situations. I just wanted to get the hell out of there with my MOT.

jeannieblue

Wig wrote: »

I don't understand. For one thing no rules have changed in the last few weeks AFAIK.

If you returned it within 10 days there should have been a partial retest fee (half price).

If you returned it after 10 days, a full retest is appropriate - Then you say they failed 1 headlamp on this full retest. Is that all?

You now have choices*
1. You can let them fix it within 10 days for a FREE retest
2. You can take it away and return it within 1 day for a FREE retest
3. You can return it within 10 days for HALF price retest

*But as you have now left it with them, you have restricted yourself to option 1 (assuming they have started working on it), if not both other options are still open to you.

At our garage - we can fix the car if the customer so wishes, but they can go elsewhere and get it fixed and come back within 10 working days and we will retest it free. We have no problem with that at all. We charge £38.00 for an MOT.

Note - 10 WORKING days - ie Sundays, Bank Holidays are not included in those 10 days.

I don't know about this 'one day thing' - its not something we practise and will question the guys at work about it tomorrow.