MOT's Arghhhhhhhhhhhh

IvanOpinion

!!!!!! ... my car failed with one tyre were the inside 20mm was baldy .. my own fault ... I only had a uick look at the outside edge of the tyre which was like brand new (well it had only done 10K miles). Apparently my tracking was all over the pace ... I bet you that was caused by all the flamin ramps I have to go over to get out of our street.

Anyhows, it is costing me another £17.50 for some untrained monkey to have a look and tell me that my brand new tyre is road legal. Now there is a government rip-off if ever there has been one ... and over here we don't have a choice who to go to ... it is a monopoly.

Ivan

piptiddlepip

Took my Fiesta for its test last week. After some deliberation, I decided not to take it to my regular garage, King Motors in Crawley, but took it to a government testing centre in Lancing, a few miles from my home. They found one thing wrong with it that was total rubbish ("white showing on indicator", what the hell does that mean?) and two other things - "excessively harsh rotation" on one of the rear wheels and an "excessively perished" hose somewhere.

I had fully expected the car to pass as it is in excellent condition so, seething with rage all the way up the A23, I took it to King Motors like I should have done in the first place. We both had a look at the indicator and it was obvious it was fine - no white to be seen. I left the car with Warren King for a second opinion. Came back, it had failed on one thing; rusty brake pipe.

He did a second MOT the following Monday, didn't charge me a bean for the second test, fifty quid for the brake pipe and a bit for fitting it, came to £98 all told.

The moral of the story is, if you find a garage you trust, stick with them. And don't go to Lancing because they couldn't find their own !!!!!! with both hands and a map. :mad:

Wig

IvanOpinion wrote:

!!!!!! ... my car failed with one tyre were the inside 20mm was baldy .. my own fault ... I only had a uick look at the outside edge of the tyre which was like brand new (well it had only done 10K miles). Apparently my tracking was all over the pace ... I bet you that was caused by all the flamin ramps I have to go over to get out of our street.

Anyhows, it is costing me another £17.50 for some untrained monkey to have a look and tell me that my brand new tyre is road legal. Now there is a government rip-off if ever there has been one ... and over here we don't have a choice who to go to ... it is a monopoly.

Ivan

Your failed tyre might have been failed incorrectly, you should look at the regulations, it has to be below limit across a certain percentage of the tyre face (maybe 80%) this allows for edge wearing. If you felt strongly enough the decision can be challenged at a government test station.

All this AFTER I told you "if you have a balding tyre, swap it with the spare and leave your spare at home" !!!! :rolleyes:

Wig

piptiddlepip wrote:

Took my Fiesta for its test last week. After some deliberation, I decided not to take it to my regular garage, King Motors in Crawley, but took it to a government testing centre in Lancing, a few miles from my home. They found one thing wrong with it that was total rubbish ("white showing on indicator", what the hell does that mean?) and two other things - "excessively harsh rotation" on one of the rear wheels and an "excessively perished" hose somewhere.

White showing, is usually bulbs covered in orange laquer, the laquer peels off after time. Check your bulbs to see if the orange is peeling off, it's better to check than to ignore it and think the tester was a wally.

You only proved that you can't win wherever you go, what has perished to one tester may be ok to the next, the first didn't do you for your brake pipe, the second one did.

As I told Ivan, if you want to challenge it and get the tester to eat their words, take it to the government testers to comment on the fails and then go back - does cost money though, but it can be worth it.

mrbadexample

Wig wrote:

Your failed tyre might have been failed incorrectly, you should look at the regulations, it has to be below limit across a certain percentage of the tyre face (maybe 80%) this allows for edge wearing. If you felt strongly enough the decision can be challenged at a government test station.

All this AFTER I told you "if you have a balding tyre, swap it with the spare and leave your spare at home" !!!! :rolleyes:

1.6mm across 3/4 of the width of the tyre. (80% good guess!). Tread pattern should be visible throughout the circumference of the tyre - you must be able to see all the original grooves.

IvanOpinion

Wig wrote:

Your failed tyre might have been failed incorrectly, you should look at the regulations, it has to be below limit across a certain percentage of the tyre face (maybe 80%) this allows for edge wearing. If you felt strongly enough the decision can be challenged at a government test station.

Apparently no matter how badly offset the wear is it must have at least 1mm of tread across the entire tyre - the very inside edge of mine was a slick - no doubt ... hands up ..guilty as charged .. put on the cuffs and lead me away.

All this AFTER I told you "if you have a balding tyre, swap it with the spare and leave your spare at home" !!!! :rolleyes:

I know but unfortunately my spare would not have passed MOT despite being brand new - it is only a temporary replacement (thats what you get for having fancy alloys). Strange thing is on the way to the test centre (about 100 yards before the gate) I watched two guys jacking a couple of cars up. They replaced the wheels on one sent it up for MOT (he was in the lane beside me) and then they were busy swapping them back ... seems an awful lot of hassle to me

Ivan

gravitytolls

Took both our cars to our usual mot centre in the hols.

When mine wen tin, it was stopping perfectly, and had never leaked brake fluid.

When I collected it, it had been condemned as it was leaking brake fluid through a split pipe.

My husband was sus, he checked underneath, and there were enormous hammer marks where the tester had been checking for rust/filler. It look svery much like he caught the pipe and caused the split. However, naturally we can't prove it, and they won't admit it.

Seems odd though, that it was fine for a full year, and within hours of visiting them, the fluid reservoir was empty.

Anyhoo, John took his as arranged, it failed on sticker in window and missing brake pedal rubber, despite these items both being identical tto the previous years test.

Spoke to a friend about it. She took her car there. It needed a new wheel - charged her £200 for a new alloy wheel, and didn't show/give her the old one. Her husband called and said he wanted it back, and they said it would make a good spare.

We don't use this previously trustworthy centre any more.

Does nayone know of any council run centres in Norfolk, cos we sure ain't going to them again?