MOT's Arghhhhhhhhhhhh

YorkshireBoy

scheming_gypsy wrote:

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.

You've missed my point a little - maybe I should have put a ";)" after the question. Surely, nobody drives, let alone takes a car for an MOT, with a bald/damaged tyre do they (granted, sidewall damage on the inside would be hard to spot)?

scheming_gypsy wrote:

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

I'm not talking about them doing the checking - they do that as part of the fee. Invariably, they'll charge to fit the iffy parts, and you won't always get the choice of whether they do or not. They'll fit you a couple of bulbs and top your water up (so they can test your washers) and say that "it was only a quick job guvnor, just an extra £30, and we didn't want to keep you waiting when you came back".

Surely that's not very MSE is it?

Wig

My 2p

MOT tests round here south wales, cheapest is 19.99 but it is a one day retest.

Always ask before you book or travel there, what the free retest period is. On this occasion you (OP) learned your lesson the easy way, you only had to change a wiper and a tyre. Easily done and something this simple the MOT test station could probably do it for you at near enough the same price as any other so you should have asked them how much and then said "OK do it" if it wasn't too much - depending on what sort of tyre you wanted.

Fifer, If you went to the main dealer....was your car 4 & 5 years old then? respectively because if so, it is likely to pass an MOT anyway. You do waste money if you pay the full price, because there is always a cheaper place and they are not all crooks. Eventually your car will fail a test unless you sell it. and work done will be more expensive at a stealers. I suppose you have your car serviced by them too :rolleyes:

Not checking a car for basics before a test is possibly going to waste your time having to return for a retest or your money because you can get the parts cheaper yourself than having the garage change them for you.

OP again, (and everyone else), if you have a balding tyre and your spare is good swap them before the test, then either present the spare so it's best side is facing the tester, or remove the spare and have the test done with no spare - it is only a test item if it is there.

FrankieM

My car goes in for its MOT on friday so its been interesting hearing about the new rules. Though I take my car to my mechanic, he checks it over , fixes anything that needs doing and then takes it to the local garage for the MOT.
I don't know how mse that is but it works for me and hes a top bloke!

As for checking tyres....if a light doesn't flash on my dash I really don't give it a thought!!! :eek:

Wig

Also, I don't think any "rules" have changed, I stand to be corrected, but it is still up to the garage if they want to offer a free re test, in 7 days or 14 days. I can't see why computers should make any difference.

calleyw

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?).

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.

I would have never have guessed that I should had a look myself.

OMG what hell do you think I am or do you think you are. I maybe a woman but I ain't stupid. We did a visual check of all lights before went. we checked the tyres as best we could. But with out a ramp and a gauge they where just under the legal limit. How would I have been able to tell that if I checked one place and the wear was slightly uneven you can bet it was would at the bottom that was in contact with the floor.

We checked the wipers by using them to make sure they cleaned the screen properly. And to me they looked ok. But it seems that there a bit of rubber peeling off that back and that is not allowed. Even checked the seat belts to make sure they are not frayed.

But even if it was all ok for us. There still is the fix with in 24 hours thing. So you can't take the car away to get other quotes. And people need to be aware of that.

Also when did you last get an MOT test on your car. As they are tighten up. Trying to get unroad worthy cars off the road. I hardly call a windscreen wiper with a bit of rubber peeling off the back an unroad worthy car. Granted a tyre with less than min tread is slightly more worrying.

I was not moaning per se about the cost or that the it failed but that we only had 24 hours to get it fixed and back to be re-tested.

Yours

Calley

Fifer

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.

I don't think anyone here has put that theory forward. I certainly didn't, I said 'some garages'...

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

Jeez, nor did I suggest that. All I suggested was that some unscrupulous operators tempt the unwary in with low prices to rip them off. It happens.

scheming_gypsy

calleyw wrote:

But even if it was all ok for us. There still is the fix with in 24 hours thing. So you can't take the car away to get other quotes. And people need to be aware of that.

you don't really need to get quotes in your case though. Back street tyre place for the tyre and Halfords for the wipers.

calleyw

Wig wrote:

My 2p

Always ask before you book or travel there, what the free retest period is. On this occasion you (OP) learned your lesson the easy way, you only had to change a wiper and a tyre. Easily done and something this simple the MOT test station could probably do it for you at near enough the same price as any other so you should have asked them how much and then said "OK do it" if it wasn't too much - depending on what sort of tyre you wanted.

The place we had the MOT done did do the tyre after telling us some where else that would be cheaper. But after checking them out they where not. So used the test centre.

We asked why they did not tell us they could do it. And they said we can't be seen to be activtely touting for business.

So to me they are being honest. The 24 hours thing can be fiddled. As no-one will know if you have been charged another fee. And the tyre was not bald but just below the legal min level.

But as everthing has date and time stamp you can be sure that the 7/14 day leeway will be removed at some stage as you can't fiddled the date and time stamp. Also all MOT stations have to be computerised by the end of september. So I assume that most places will be charging the max fee. Because they are getting no help from the government to become computerised.

So I personally can see a lot of garages will stop doing MOT's


Yours


Calley

calleyw

scheming_gypsy wrote:

you don't really need to get quotes in your case though. Back street tyre place for the tyre and Halfords for the wipers.

We I did as they wanted over £5 for a new wiper blade. Around the corner got one for £3.92. Might only be a £1 and something but we at the moment things are tight so we need to watch every penny.

And they are not an tyre centre so I was expecting some silly price like£40/50 for a tyre but they turned out to be cheaper by a a couple of pounds then a proper tyre centre.

But for others who might need a lot of work to be done you would need to get quotes. And if the garage is following the rules to the letter you will have to pay another test fee.

Yours

Calley

beaker141

I recall reading on herea while ago, either on the chat forum or in an article, that a lot of areas have a council run MOT testing station that only does testing, hence has no incentive to fabricate faults because they dont do repairs.

24 hours is the standard, I too got stung by that at my last mot and had to take a couple of hours off work the next morning to do a bit of diy fixing to save a few pounds, the garage wanted £40 in labour to fit a small piece of plastic to a headlight, the part only cost 40p but I admit did take me a good hour to get fitted.