Nationwide autocentre mot deal

do they charge for a retest? and how long do you have if so? From an economic perspective charging so little is losing them money, so they will need to get it back some other way :)

I see you point MrC :) .. it will probly work out cheaper in the long run of it going to my local garage who I trust and have done my MOT for about 9 years now.. and they are nice enough not to fail on on anything silly and just give me a heads up and fix it and add it to the bill. Although I did a check of lights, wipers, horn seat belts etc beforehand. I always get nervous come MOT time, I think its an anxiety thing.

I am always amazed at how normally rational people can get jumpy about MoTs!. 99 per cent of my customers get me to take their cars for MoT, usually combined with a service. The place I use knows me well (obviously) They charge all retail customers 53 quid, I get my tests a bit cheaper than that, but there are many places I could go that advertise as cheaper, but I would probably get annoyed at unnecesary or unreasonable failures elsewhere. I know if my guy gives me a failure it is for a genuine reason and I fully trust his judgement (although mine is harsher than his and I often replace parts he has passed on the MoT, simply because genuine MoT standards are not that harsh in some areas) So stick with what you know unless you get a good reason to change.

My company car maintenance is contracted to them - not impressed by the service, as they miss things I've made a request for them to fix....

However, I've had my old Alfa 75 tested there, the only thing they pulled me on was Kraut-style pressed steel plates - then passed it when I gaffa taped the battered old UK plates over the top of them....

They even helped me sort out a dodgy earth on the rear light clusters in order to issue a pass.

Where I live (Northwich, Cheshire) there are at least three local places fighting for MOT business and reducing their prices accordingly. Two charge £29.99 and the third a straight £30.00.

I have paid £29.99 for my last three MOTs at the local Peugeot dealers and my car passed without problem on each occasion - so they are clearly not 'inventing' failures simply to gain on repairs.

- halfway down the page: "Get an MOT from the experts now only £29.99."

30 years ago the equivalent of VoSa would not issue a new MoT licence unless it could be shown that there was a shortage of MoT stations in the area, now they just seem to hand the licence out like confetti, happily many of the new startups close quite quickly.

Probably because they are charging full price when the competition are not!

You make that sound like "full price" is a ripoff?

£54.85. Minimum of 45min to do it properly - hence the 45min slots on the test computer. £72/hr.

Compare that to your friendly local VW dealer's labour rate. Then think about amortising the cost of a fully equipped MOT bay.

And why do you think that the cut-price MOT places think it worthwhile offering discounted charges? Because they know that a proportion of all MOTs will result in work for their staff in replacing wheel bearings, track-rod ends, brake pads and discs, etc. etc. Most drivers who fail an MOT will, I suggest, have the necessary rectification work carried out at the same place they have the MOT. It pays these places to attract motorists via discount offers. If it didn't - they wouldn't do it!

You _do_ know that VOSA can yank a station's licence just as quickly for failing cars that should pass as vice-versa, don't you?

and because they are losing money on the actual MoT, there is a tendency, especially if things are quiet to fail things that are not really a fail. I cite a guy I know that worked at Quik-Fit, he was told that one way of showing that shocks were faulty was to give them a quick spray of WD40, then demonstrate the oily stuff that was 'leaking' to the customer. Another guy I knew always failed cars on rear shocks, then would clean and spray black the originals (sometimes not even removing them) I once had a vehicle fail an mot for an exhaust leak which was actually a built in, from the maker, water drain hole. Another place I knew always failed cars on steering racks. The number of garages that fail Polos and KAs for front suspension top mounts is amazing, when they are just as designed. etc. etc.

I'm not sure of the relevance of that comment - unless you can demonstrate that the 3 places in Northwich offering £30 MOTs are unnecessarily failing cars. As I pointed out - the last three MOTs on my 75 were carried out at Birtwisles at £29.99 a time and it passed every time. (Which was not in doubt because I do my own servicing and repairs...)

Well, I can only speak from my personal experience and my car past its last three £29.99 MOTs with flying colours.

Good, I am pleased that your experience has been good, from my own experience of the trade I would always be deeply suspicious of anywhere advertising cheap MoTs. The guy I use runs a garage with 4 employees, 3 of them can carry out Mots and the mot bay is in use all day every day, he does not advertise and does not discount the MoT or his work. All purely satisfied customers returning and recommending. Within 2 miles there is an MoT place that does cheaper mots, yet he sits on his backside most of the day!

You're the one suggesting that discount MOT places are using loss-leader pricing to generate "unnecessary rectification work", not me.

I've not done any such thing. I am pointing out that a proportion of all MOTs will result in genuine failures necessitating repairs. If you don't get the MOT business in through the door - then you don't get the repair business either!

My bad - I mis-read "necessary" as "unnecessary".

No milk in the office, and I can't be arsed to walk to the shop for any, so a severe tea shortage.

LOL! I'll forgive you.

I use one garage and I have used the same one for 20+ years paying the full price - no complaints from me, but I've never tried or even found a local cut price one (not counting Halfords). I would not take my own car to Halfords, following having experienced them do an MOT on my company motor....

I took it in knowing and pointing out to them that a brake lamp needed replacement, they failed it on 'drooping headlight filaments' - which the lease company approved the replacement of which they did, yet they passed it with the dud brake lamp.

It was not until I was well down the road that I noticed the lamp had not been replaced and they basically gave me the run around over on the phone, which they never resolved. I have never heard of filaments drooping, so I suspect that to have been there way of earning their bonus - the lease company would just accept it as needing to be done, not knowing any better.