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MOTs

Started by: ena malcup (4151) 

What say you about proposal to make them only every two years?

I drive a quite old car. 80% of time it sails through MOT, leaving 20% of occasions when something is in need of attention.

Think I would opt for an annual inspection between MOTs, so think no savings in it for me.

Started: 11th May 2022 at 18:45

Posted by: lectriclegs (5712)

How much will people save?
A pound a week?

How many MOT inspectors will lose there jobs?

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 18:59

Posted by: First Mate (2324)

Those that don't look after their vehicles will most likely drive around in
unroadworthy cars, that's if they aren't doing it already.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 19:02

Posted by: Stardelta (11829)

Mileage and usage as well as age should be considered.

Which is more of a risk?

A lightly used 3 year old Fiesta with 20K on the clock or a hammered 2 year old Transit van with 80k on the clock?

.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 19:11

Posted by: First Mate (2324)

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said: “Though well intended, moving the yearly £55 spend on an MOT to every two years could make costs worse for drivers with higher repair bills, make our roads more dangerous and would put jobs in the garage industry at risk.”

Link

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 19:16

Posted by: admin (1623)

My car is an 04 Toyota Carola only done about 76,000 miles and from MOT to MOT only clocks up about 3,000miles My daughters keeps onto me to change it. But hey its gets me where I want to go and very rarely costs me anything, apart for the MOT and a service. The guy who does my MOT and servicing, said it runs like a sewing machine so I may go in to the garment trade?

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 19:43

Posted by: cheshirecat (1012) 

Our car is only 6 years old with less than 20k on the clock. Took it to kwik fit last month for mot and it failed on a wiper and a faulty bulb. I had the wipers replaced last year with brand new ones!
When I got there to pick it up they had already done the job and replaced the "alleged " faulty parts at an extra cost of over £33 which was almost as much as what the mot cost me! I never even saw the old parts which they took out! I'll not be going there again.
Are they allowed to carry out repairs without consulting the car owner and also without the car owners consent?

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:00

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

A short and quick reply to your question: No, they are not!

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:13

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

I took my mum's car to a garage for MOT and the garage did similar to your experience. When I went to collect it, they handed me the bill. Some things, such as the windscreen wipers and bulbs had been changed. Of course, the cost was much higher than buying these myself and doing the work, which is simple, myself.
Anyway, I told them that I wanted them to take them off and put the old ones back. Of course, they said that this wasn't possible because of blah blah blah. I told them that it wasn't my problem, because I had not given my word for them to do the work.
They must contact you about any issues / parts which they think should need replacing. You have the option, and this is: to do the work yourself or to agree to them doing the work at the price quoted.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:25

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

With regard to the statement Jack Cousen's made, do you honestly expect anything different.
Look carefully at the words. See how he specifically avoids facts and all costs. Psychological wording is useful and can mislead the reader. He carefully stated: 'could make costs worse for drivers with higher repair bills '.
Number one is the use of 'could', which says that there is a possibility. So, let's say this: If you spend £100 a week playing the Lottery, you could end up being a millionaire. But, it is also possible that you only end up losing £100 a week.
Also, he only states: higher repair bills. Does not mention the money saved on MOT costs.
Then there is the wonderful word: dangerous. How many accidents are caused by speeding, bad driving, tiredness, lack of concentration, distractions etc. It would be very interesting to hear how many accidents occurred due to a faulty bulb or a worn windscreen wiper.

His last words about jobs, I agree with.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:48

Posted by: tonker (27835) 

The rule is, they do the MoT test and you pay them for doing it. They don't contact you about anything.
Even if there's no water in the windscreen washer bottle, they don't fill it up, as easy as it would be to do so. The car fails it's MoT test.
Any other business regarding repairs etc., are separate matters.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:48

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

Tonker, Isn't that what I put forward?

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:50

Posted by: Stardelta (11829)

To play the devil’s advocate……

For £30ish busy people who lack time and the ability to carry out simple tasks, which is the majority would have said thanks and appreciated the garage saving them the……

Time and costs spent out and about finding and buying the parts
Time and effort spent fitting them
Time and costs taking the car back for a retest and waiting for it to be completed.

The only mistake the garage made was in assuming you were one of them.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:57

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

Of course, I was concerned with the work that the garage feels the need to be done.
A garage can carry out an inspection and give a pass or a fail. The garage is under no obligation to contact the owner.
But! I was replying to the question and stated that the garage is not allowed to carry out work just because they think it needs doing or, as to say, it is a nice little earner.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 20:57

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

Stardelta, That's possible. But, the question was about the garage doing what they did.
Regarding my bill, they wanted about £35 for changing one bulb and about the same for changing a pair of windscreen wipers.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:01

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

By the way, that was about fifteen years ago.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:03

Posted by: Stardelta (11829)

The garage can spend what they like, no law civil or criminal that states otherwise. You on the other hand can dispute their actions on the basis it was done without prior agreement verbal or otherwise and refuse to pay them.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:05

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

Addionally, I checked everything, including all the lights, and everything was fine.
So, were they trying to pull a fast one?
I'll leave that up to all of you.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:08

Posted by: cheshirecat (1012) 

Stardelta.
Never assume!
I'm not bothered about the £30 odd pounds the point Im making is they should have given me the option of doing it myself, which I wouldn't have done anyway! I would have let them do it. More importantly I had new wipers fitted 8 months previous.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:10

Posted by: Tommy Two Stroke (15202)

My garage, I am not going to say which one it is, but they doo the MOT, and then ring me up and say what it has failed on, that is if it fails, and they also read out the 'advisories', and at my last MOT, you could not wait whilst they did the MOT, because of the covid restrictions, so after they have told me what is wrong with the vehicle, at that point I can go along and collect the vehicle, and fix it myself, or arrange a repair, or as I did last time, ask them to do it, to which they said it would be a couple of days before they could do it, so I left it with them, and I knew what was up with it, and they did it right, it is like they say, if you find a good firm, or good tradesman (or woman) stick with them, and if they look after you, then you look after them

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:15

Posted by: ena malcup (4151) 

Always tell my MOT tester to fix and re-test any fails!
No need to check back with me first.
They rarely detect any fails.
They do show me any replaced parts.

They were highly recommended to me by a late friend who was in the trade. I have now been a regular customer for 20 years.

He also always gives me an appraisal of the car's general state: good because I rarely see it from beneath.

I also drive an old (04) car, low mileage (approx. 44k)
Tester always asks me to remember to give him first refusal if I decide to sell the car!

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:22

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

Let's get down to bare facts!
The garage does the MoT and passes or fails the vehicle.
The vehicle passes. So, Bob's your uncle.
Vehicle fails. You can tell them to do the work or you do the work yourself or whatever.

But! Other than your vehicle being perfect and passing every time. You know a garage where all the people are great at their job and 100% honest. So, you hand them your treasured little run around and tell them to sort it all out - and, they know that you aren't Mr Multimillionaire.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:32

Posted by: ena malcup (4151) 

TTS
"and if they look after you, then you look after them "

I like that philosophy

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:39

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

TTS, That's right! You trust them and you are happy with the price and the work they do, then everything is fine!

Therefore, what you need is to get people who are in the know to give you honest and reliable advice.

So! Let's do this.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 21:40

Posted by: Stardelta (11829)

I think garages who fail cars for every minor fault and who don’t automatically rectify low cost faults would soon get a negative reputation.

“Don’t take your car there, failed me on blown number plate bulb and CBA to put it right, had to do it myself, take it back next day and wait an hour”

The guy I use who I trust implicitly would probably say….I had to change the wipers and a bulb, call it £30. I am trying to do you a favour if you can’t see that or don’t trust me or don’t appreciate what I have done don’t bother paying me, your car is out there, here are the keys, shove em where the sun don’t shine and don’t even think of coming back here”

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 22:08
Last edited by Stardelta: 11th May 2022 at 22:23:19

Posted by: ena malcup (4151) 

It is a universal problem, is it not.

There are perfectly good, respectable, honest tradesfolk.

There are rip-off artists.

Unless a reliable source exists to steer you away from the latter, you take your chances.

And experience is a cruel teacher: you get the test first, the lesson follows.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 22:44
Last edited by ena malcup: 11th May 2022 at 22:45:16

Posted by: tonker (27835) 

As I, kind of, said above, if a car is 'logged on' for it's test and, during the test, the tester finds one indicator bulb out and, let's say, a number-plate bulb out, he must fail the car. He's not supposed to spend time fixing the bulbs, simple as it is, whilst the test is live. The car must fail.
The repair can be done by who-ever, and a re-test must be done.

If you take a car for a test and you say, "fix anything it fails on", it still has to fail if there's any faults found and you have to be issued with the fail notice with any faults listed.

If an MoT tester gets 'a visit' from the minisrty inspector and is found doing a repair while the car is logged on, he's in bother!
They wait outside the garage and they can pick up what's logged on inside. If they enter the garage and a logged on car isn't present, they'll be shut down.

Back to subject, a 40 year old car doesn't need an MoT as old cars are exempt. How daft is that, eh.?

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 22:51

Posted by: broady (inactive)

No MOT's here Tonker. Cars older than 10 years have to pass an inspection if there is a change of owner.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 22:55

Posted by: tonker (27835) 

I only have a car MoT'd when either it's tax is due or I'm selling it !

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 23:38

Posted by: Tommy Two Stroke (15202)

I forgot to mention, that before I tell or ask my garage to do the repair, I ask them what sort of price will it cost, what are we looking at, I don't pin them down on an exact price, and once when they were doing a repair, they found something else wrong with the car, they rang me up and told me, and asked me if I wanted them to fix it, I am always aware that like me, they have a living to earn, but all I ask is that they do the job right.

It can change though, I had an electrical problem with my vehicle, and I trusted the repair to a well known Auto Electrician firm in Wigan, they fixed it, and then a while later I had another unrelated problem with the vehicle, they fixed that, but I think on that occasion they nicked a switch out of my vehicle, they swapped it with a duff one, so I won't be going there again.

Replied: 11th May 2022 at 23:55

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

But! No car is guaranteed to be 100% perfect in any possible way as soon as it leaves the garage.
An MoT certificate does not guarantee that everything on the car is perfect and going to last one year. Therefore, if a bulb breaks or the windscreen wipers stop working on the way home you can't go back to the garage and complain, because they will just tell you that these were fine when they checked them.

It comes down to this:
- Is your car safe to drive, are you safe driving your car and is everyone else safe because your car has a certificate to say that it has passed its MoT?
Yes! If nothing happens / No! If something happens.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 00:06

Posted by: mollie m (7076) 

They should definitely be tested once a year. Having owned two cars that aged with me it was vital that I kept them roadworthy as I loved them both, and hated having to buy newer cars when the time came. The two in question reached the grand old age of 18 years each and I rarely had a problem with either of them.

I've always had my garage fix any problems that I have had as I'm not qualified to carry out repairs and my present car which I bought two years ago was tested last month, with a blown number plate bulb which I mentioned to them. I wasn't charged for a replacement and the car passed the MoT.

Something I've always done though is, despite the MoT, I have my garage do a winter check for me to make sure it's fit for cold weather - anti-freeze, etc.

When I say "my" garage, it's actually the garage that has been servicing our company vehicles for many years and they are 100% trustworthy. I wouldn't have any other.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 00:28

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

Mollie, Sounds like you are in good hands.
Hopefully, some people respect your words and don't try and come up with something to... I'm sure that you know what I am getting at.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 00:37

Posted by: PeterP (11223)

Many years ago I had a car which came with FREE MOT's for the life of the car. Took it in for its 1st MOT and it came out with a pass but they said there was a pin prick hole in the exhaust and the rubber gatters on the steering rack were starting to split. On the way home I called into the MOT station which I normally use and asked them to check these faults. They invited me to look under the car with them and did not find any faults. Never went back for the FREE MOT ever again but phoned them up about their conduct and threatened that I would report them. The garage closed down soon after .

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 02:22

Posted by: Billinge Biker (2383) 

some good info there folks. my MOT garage is closing next year... retirement etc.... can you please list these good garages for perusal... many thanks.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 08:51

Posted by: WN1 Standisher (578)

BB, I'd recommend the Mount Auto's, Whelley , Wigan. Been using them for years.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 09:18

Posted by: PeterP (11223)

Always used Ashton MOT garage 453 Wigan Road Bryn Our car due any time before 11th Aug but will go to main dealer has part of its lease on motability. We have ordered our next car but it will be the new year before delivery

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 10:52

Posted by: ena malcup (4151) 

Can't help. The one I use is good, but is tuther side of the country.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 13:49

Posted by: GOLDEN BEAR (6555) 

Does not bother me i change the car every 12 months ..........GB

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 14:13

Posted by: Tommy Two Stroke (15202)

Ena:

"Can't help. The one I use is good, but is tuther side of the country"

It must be a good garage, if you take your car to the other side of the country to use it

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 14:25

Posted by: ena malcup (4151) 

I also, reside, tuther side of the country with respect to Wigan.

Had always intended to return to greater Wigan area, but I am beginning to accept that it is not going to be.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 15:17

Posted by: ena malcup (4151) 

Having said that, however, I would like to second Billinge Biker's proposal.

Really good if users of WW share such info.

There are cowboys out there
There are also some really genuine helpful operators.

Replied: 12th May 2022 at 15:34

Posted by: mollie m (7076) 

ianp.:

So sorry not to have replied earlier. I don't come on here as often as I used to so I've only just seen your post, but yes, my car is in very good hands.

Oh, and I know exactly what you mean.

Replied: 15th May 2022 at 21:13

Posted by: ianp. (927) 

Mollie,
No problem. Like you, I don't post as often as I once did.
Also, I have occasionally taken time away from this forum, due to reasons which I am sure that you can relate to.
Additionally, I have been greatly considering leaving this forum or only rarely posting.
I strongly feel, the future of this forum and its members is in question and possibly in decline. Many members no longer post and many of these members are the ones we would gladly welcome back.
My best wishes for a healthy life and many happy driving hours.

Replied: 15th May 2022 at 22:45

Posted by: Billinge Biker (2383) 

Thanks WN1 and Peterp.... 2 to look at thanks.

Replied: 16th May 2022 at 11:38

 

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