Best place to get an MOT done?

David Hearn ( snipped-for-privacy@NOswampieSPAM.org.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

That's certainly the general reputation for council depots.

If somewhere is an MOT centre, then they have to accept "Joe Public" wherever they can. Obviously, you aren't going to be at the front of the queue, but they must be willing to test you.

And the garage know that you'll have it fixed by them...?

Sounds like a heck of a coincidence to me.

I _always_ use an independent testing station; there are two near me as well as the Council.

Most of the independents have sidestepped this a little in the past. However since the advent of the computerised MOT, free retests are something of a rarity as the tester has to log in to the VOSA system and enter the details as a complete test - effectively it is a full retest. As the system is time-locked, they can't be doing any other tests at the same time. So the station I use now charges half-price for a retest.

IME it's less likely to be failed at an independent; they have no vested interest in creating work. If you check your car over before the test, there's not many things that are tested that a DIY mechanic can't spot, you should get a pass.

I own numerous cars, and I've only had one (78 Mini) fail in the last three years, and that on emissions which is one of the things it's difficult to check at home.

I can thoroughly recommend the independents.

Forget independants!!

KwikFit is *amazing*, every year I need loads of work done and they always do it at a bargain price, or so the manager says there...

nb: don't ever use kwiktfit

My local independant is a good friend of mine, we have had 4-5 cars a year go through them every year for decades. He is more lenient, so to speak, as he knows that if he advises something ive not spotted that it WILL get done by myself the next day. He never fails on simple things, he always tries to fix them first (bulbs, wipers etc) if he can, and he always tries to help with older cars and emissions problems. Top bloke, he gets all my word-of-mouth advertising to all of my friends and family and he does a brilliant and safe job without needing to do the repairs himself for extra cash.

I have always done a free retest as it's a good selling point, VOSA are going to change the rules and allow 10 working days for a lot of items soon.

Taken from

someone posted before: "Partial re-Tests expected commencement on 8th September

For some months VOSA have been working towards changing the re-Test rules for the MOT Test. For many years they have required a full re-Test (and full Test fee) if a vehicle failed the MOT Test on anything other than ?minor? items like wiper blades, lamps, tyres etc ? should the vehicle leave the Testing Station.

This is expected to change on 8th September, when new VOSA rules will allow Testing Stations to examine only those items which failed the MOT, along with any other associated items which may have been affected by the repair work.

Garages may only charge up to half the full fee for this new partial re-Test."

My MOT is due in Oct - so wonder if the council site will do partial retests.

D

Check it over yourself, Haynes do a good book that's well worth investing in and it's not hard to check most things.

If you find something that's clearly a failure then fix it or get it fixed, no point in wasting a test fee.

If you find marginal points then note them and take it to be MOT'd wherever you want.

If they fail the marginals then fair enough, if they fail on a list of unexpected things take it elsewhere and have another test, it may cost you but you will find out if the garage is bent, and many are!.

I had a Transit with two marginal points yet my village garage found TEN major faults that it would have charged me thousands to put right, I took it straight to a quick-fit type place and surprise surprise they only found the two marginals. I should have reported them but it was far easier just to tell my mates and let the word spread. Now I always go to the same place as I know they're honest, and that far outweighs the inconvenience of taking vehicles to the next town.

There are three types of garage/MOT station in this country, the honest ones, the bent ones that find work for themselves, and the bent ones that will pass any pile of rust with the right pursuasion, and it's about time the authorities did something about it.

Greg

The failures over the 5 years (from memory) have included:

Front lower wishbone bushes cracked and broken (twice - 24 months apart, only 12 month warranty but they admitted it was strange) Front exhaust box blowing (twice) Rear exhaust box blowing (twice - alternating with front box, so 24 moths apart) Rear number plate light (doh!)

I can't think of any other failures at the moment. The wishbones were the last straw which made me wonder whether they were making work for themselves. Whilst I know 306's have bush problems - I was surprised that they lasted only 24 months (and probably 24 months from when we bought the car).

Oh, and after they did the wishbones, a few days/week later the gearbox dumped its oil onto the driveway. Took it to a different garage (as I was fed up with them at that point and thought they'd try and charge me for the work, rather than admit it was related to what they'd done). They diagnosed it as a damaged oil seal on the drive shaft, likely down to the wishbone replacement the other garage did - they possibly allowed the hub to drop, displacing the drive shaft, and just shoved it back in, damaging the seal. Repair was about £50-£60 I think for new seal and new oil. Not been back to the original garage since - hence my preparation for MOT in October.

My other option was to go to this other garage for the MOT - but they do repairs etc - so I'm still wary about them.

Incidentally, both garages are independents which do MOT and repairs

D

That will at least relieve the queues at my (No appointment necessary) MOT station!

By "Independents" I meant MOT stations that ONLY do tests - hence they are independent from repair work.

Thanks for clarifying that - I meant to ask.

D

Would this be more or less likely to be impartial/fair? They don't do repairs and the council website says "We can test Class IV vehicles (Cars, small vans, taxis). The facility has a long-standing reputation for independence, as repairs cannot be carried out using the Council's workshops."

I found my local council ran MOT station to be fair and friendly. 30 quid for a test with a free retest, plus where else can you get an MOT at 7am?

FWIW, I know a few of the local "traders from home" brigade use it.

I get my MoTs done at my local Nationwide Autocentres (formerly Lex). They're not independents but I've never found them anything other than fair (this is Northampton and Milton Keynes branches BTW).

The main reason for going to them is

a) if you collect Tesco Clubcard points, you can spend the vouchers you get sent on vouchers for servicing or MoT at Nationwide at 4x face value. So

1000 quid of spend at Tesco gets you ten quid in clubcard vouchers which gets you 40 quid of Nationwide vouchers = nearly the cost of an MoT. There are other devious ways to collect extra Clubcard points but I can't be arsed to explain...

b) if you're a Civil Service Motoring Association (Google for CSMA) member - and membership is now free - then Nationwide do both a no-pass-no-fee deal

*and* and 1/3 off the cost of the test when it does pass. Membership criteria for CSMA is fairly relaxed - if your grandad once failed an interview for the Post Office or whatever then you could maybe get in. :-)

Try doing a little maintenance between MOT's

What was the name of he garage? I'm sure VOSA will be along any time now to check on all the illegal practices he is doing!

No, i dont mean lenient on things that would fail, especially not on safety grounds, but things that are borderline he wont just fail - he will give advisories (as they are meant to) instead of just failing as a lot of other local ones do. He also advises on other non-test items that he spots and is genuinely interested in the car and how its getting on, which is very helpful as i dont have chance to get my car up on ramps any other time. He even remembers our last cars and advises on common problems on prospective purchases.

Can you spot "cracked and broken lower wishbone bushes" without a ramp? I tried checking them myself after they failed and couldn't notice and wear/movement. When I queried it, they said "in the examiner's opinion..."

But yes, maintenance between MOTs is important - which is why I do that.

D

David Hearn ( snipped-for-privacy@NOswampieSPAM.org.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Yes.

As I said (but was snipped):

"I tried checking them myself after they failed and couldn't notice and wear/movement. When I queried it, they said "in the examiner's opinion...""

What's your advice then on how to check them on a 306? Just in case it fails on this again.

Thanks

D