MOT's Arghhhhhhhhhhhh

Wig

calleyw wrote:

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.


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

I said "balding" as in on its way to going bald, as in approaching or passed it's legal limit. I wouldn't go to an MOT with a tyre approaching illegal, anyone can see the twi's on the tyre and judge that the tread is still sufficiently above them or not. And now you know that you should look for tears on the wiper blades rubber. as well as how good they are at clearing the windows.

They have always checked the seat belts.

date & time: I am wondering if it is compulsory for a garage to charge a fee, in a free market, I doubt it is compulsory to charge a fee for the test, so I don't see why free retest within 14 days should ever dissappear.

Sadly yes, a lot of gargaes may stop MOT because the government/Europe are going to keep on making them buy ever more expensive equipment, the next example is a double rolling road costing about 10,000 pounds which they are thinking about making compulsory to test stations.

gravitytolls

I take my car in for MOT with faulty wipers, etc., cos I know it's so old, I'm gonna get a list of stuff to be done.

So before I do anything, I wait to ensure it's worth spending any money on.

Obviously I don't allow brakes, tyres, anything that's likely to kill us or anyone else to remain unattended to EVER.

Can't you pick wipers up in any cheapo shoppo for a pound or so?
Tyres can often be found in the breakers yard if you're in a hurry, or cash is tight. Though, with the cheap insurance on tyres in some places it's as well to get 'em new.

Mind you, you know as soon as you've insured your new tyre, one of your old one's is gonna get a puncture.

Car's eh? The bane of our lives. But if I had a donkey it's leg'd probably fall off.

Xbigman

Two years ago my Scirroco failed its MOT on one thing, the rear seat belts. The rear seats were folded down and the tester refused to put them up so he could test the seat belts. I had a full free retest, which even the depot manager said was stupid. But it seems the testers there had been caught by undercover ministry inspectors. They had a car in that had deliberate faults on it. Despite the fact they found every fault they found them in the incorrect order and got a warning. Result, p1ssy testers obeying every little rule and regulation.
Regards




X

mr_accountant

There are lots of issues on this thread; i will try to make a few key points.

Re the MOT test and retest 3 items should be considered

1) How much is the original MOT
2) Is the station reliable?
3) How much for the retest.

I would suggest £30 for the initial test and say £15 for a retest is around the correct mark. Whether the garage is reliable or not requires some information. However i would personally recommended using a council mot station (as someone has mentioned before) as they only do the mot thus have no incentive to fail a car on something stupid. I have found my local council station (Firstbus Leicester) to be most professional, i.e. good customer service and impartial, not like the grubby back street garages or rip off main dealer grease monkey staff (laughingly called technicians!!!) that hide behind glass panels and brand names.

Re to the original posters fail, (i.e. a wiper and a tyre) you should check basic things like this yourself, it is v. easy, you also said the tyre was wearing unevenly, well this should have alarm bells ringing as it points to some sort of alignment or suspension problem, which you should have corrected whether the MOT is due or not, for you safety.

Tyres should also be changed in pairs, so i would change both if you plan to keep the car for a while, and avoid cheap nasty remolds or cheap brands., because cheap tyres can kill, especially in poor weather conditions, the grip is terrible.

Also have a look at the following website which shows what is included in the MOT so you can check up (up to your skill level) and reduce the risk of paying the retest fee in the future:

http://www.motester.co.uk/ and click on the top left- PASS or FAIL, or print it off and check your car on all the basic stuff e.g. wipers and tyres.


On a more general note tyres should be checked on a regular basis for (un) even tread wear, tyre pressure and bulges, this will ensure safety, comfort and fuel efficiency.

cliffsgirl

I live in Northern Ireland and here we have goverment mot test centres, you pay £30 for the mot and if it fails you have to make a new appointment and pay another £18, and you have to wait weeks for an appointment

Wig

Mr accountant,

It's been 2 years since I phoned round for a test quote, but I would consider 25pound test and free re-test to be my starting point when looking for a good price. There's a lot of talk here about free re tests becoming a thing of the past, I am yet to know if this is true or not - because I haven't phoned round for quotes.

There is no reason a council tester would be any different from a garage tester, I have known council testers to fail cars for having a tiny little rubber grommit missing from the engine bay and also refused to check/pass seatbelts because the belts were tucked into the crevice along the rear of the back seat bench.

(NOTE everyone when you take a car for test, put all the belts locked into their catches).

There is nothing wrong with remoulds! they are now type approved and they are environmentaly friendly. I'm not going to go into that again but see a thread here on Vent about "Kwik fit my !!!!!!".

IvanOpinion

A couple of points related to MOTS.

1. An MOT should not provide any piece of mind about the ongoing safety of your car. It just means that at the point of time it was tested that it met some very basic criteria

2. If something major fails on a car at its first MOT could there be a claim against the manufacturer on the grounds that one would expect a part to last longer? Just interested!

ivan

bunking_off

IvanOpinion wrote:

2. If something major fails on a car at its first MOT could there be a claim against the manufacturer on the grounds that one would expect a part to last longer? Just interested!

Legally you'd probably be on dodgy ground as most failure items fall in the "wear & tear" category. However, I make a point of getting my first MOT done a few weeks early...that way on a typical 3 year warranty you're still within cover.

Wig

As above user said, you can do it early, up to 4 weeks early, You can do it 3 months early if you wanted to. but your MOT may not be valid (I dunno). Then you will be within warranty.

If anything fails on a car over 3 years old the manufacturer will always refuse to repair free of charge. Of course you have a claim against them, but you will probably find it quite difficult to win. That would not stop me from having a go, at claiming for the item to be repaired/replaced in a small claim. Engineers report as evidence. I'd rather let a judge decide than the car manufacturer.

bunking_off

Wig wrote:

If anything fails on a car over 3 years old the manufacturer will always refuse to repair free of charge. Of course you have a claim against them, but you will probably find it quite difficult to win.

Think you're probably a little pessimistic there...I've had MOT failures at 4 years old before now and the manufacturer's met me half way. Admittedly Jaguar so not exactly run of the mill...