MOT's Arghhhhhhhhhhhh

calleyw

My husbands car just failed the MOT on of all things a tyre and windscreen wiper.

Ok we will hunt around for the cheapest replacements and get it re-tested next week. The guy from the garage says "You do know that if you don't get it back with 24 hours for those things it is another Test Fee"

Pardon, having just paid out nearly £45 for the MOT and if we don't get back with 24 hours I have to pay £45 again. That is really taking the pee.

And according to one of the spare shops around here wiper blades don't come in pairs either.

It just gets worse for the motorists.

Yours

Calley

jozvaldo

I would check this as I have never heard of anything like this. As far as I am aware the norm os 2 weeks free test before you are re-charged. I would suggest just ringing a couple of other local mot stations to see how they play it?

calleyw

jozvaldo wrote:

I would check this as I have never heard of anything like this. As far as I am aware the norm os 2 weeks free test before you are re-charged. I would suggest just ringing a couple of other local mot stations to see how they play it?

Would make no difference it is on the back of the fail certificate (SBS30E/02/08)which is issued by the government (VOSA).

The bloke said because they now have to do it via a computer everything has tightened up. Because everything has a date and time stamp.

The 7/14 days grace was just MOT garages being nice. He said they did not have to do that. But they did.

So better beware. And that 24 hours and no re-test fee is only for things like tyres,windscreen wipers etc. Any thing major unless it does not leave the test centre will inccur another test fee.

My husband asked what would happen if you where last MOT on a saturday morning and the test centre does not re-open until monday 9am. Would you have to pay another fee. He could not answer that.

Yours

Calley

IvanOpinion

I am trying to think happy thoughts here .. happy thoughts ... peaceful and serene ... one of my cars has to do an MOT on Monday night so this weekend I am going to have to sort everything out .... happy thoughts .. positive vibes etc.

Ivan

bunking_off

£45 for an MOT? I only paid £29.99 a couple of months ago.

Fifer

Some garages (and many fast fit outfits such as Kwik Fit - spit) charge less in the hope that cars needing repair will come in for a cheap test and they'll get the business. Some even hope that cars not needing repair will come in and they'll convince the owners that they need repairing anyway. If you can trust a garage that charges less then go with it but I tend to put more faith in those who charge the full fee so may not be so tempted to find creative ways of parting you from your money. It's worked for me so far as I've gone to the main dealer for my last two MOTs and they charged the full fee but my car sailed through both times.

calleyw

bunking_off wrote:

£45 for an MOT? I only paid £29.99 a couple of months ago.

Standard Fee on the VOSA website is £44.15 which is what we paid.


Yours


Calley

bunking_off

Fifer wrote:

Some garages (and many fast fit outfits such as Kwik Fit - spit) charge less ....

calleyw wrote:

Standard Fee on the VOSA website is £44.15 which is what we paid.

Maybe it's just around here, but I don't know of any garage that charges full price - market economics I guess. Incidentally, wouldn't gloat, but my car did pass, so the theory that garages pricing at a discount will always find things wrong to make their money another way is somewhat unfair on them. Though I would agree that I wouldn't use Kwik Fit for anything.

YorkshireBoy

calleyw wrote:

My husbands car just failed the MOT on of all things a tyre and windscreen wiper........It just gets worse for the motorists.

At the risk of being shot down here, whilst I do sympathise with you on the "back in 24 hours" bit, can I just say...

1. I wouldn't drive a car with a defective tyre (you do check them once a week for damage and tread depth don't you?).

2. I wouldn't take a car for an MOT if the windscreen wipers didn't work properly, just like I wouldn't take it with an empty washer reservoir, defective brake light, or faulty horn.

...but obviously people do (friends of ours do it every year!).

This is how garages make their money. Don't forget the MSE motto (well OK then I made that bit up!) - don't get mad, get even. Fix the obvious faults before you go for the MOT.

Jay-Jay_4

All the garages near me (in Lancashire) charge an average of £25. Some do charge less but I've never known it be any more. I go to a fairly big reputable garage not a back street affair (although I have used these small garages and they've always been very honest)

fifer wrote:

It's worked for me so far as I've gone to the main dealer for my last two MOTs and they charged the full fee but my car sailed through both times.

Just because you pay more it doesn't mean that your car has more chance of passing.

scheming_gypsy

YorkshireBoy wrote:

At the risk of being shot down here, whilst I do sympathise with you on the "back in 24 hours" bit, can I just say...

1. I wouldn't drive a car with a defective tyre (you do check them once a week for damage and tread depth don't you?).

Check tyres once a week? having a laugh aren't you. i've got better things to do than fanny about looking at my tyres. I check them occasionally, but saying that i only do 10 miles a day so tread depth won't change that much.

2. I wouldn't take a car for an MOT if the windscreen wipers didn't work properly, just like I wouldn't take it with an empty washer reservoir, defective brake light, or faulty horn.

I would, if i'm paying them for doing an MOT they can do the checking for me.
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