What An MOT Experience Today...

Not at all, adjusters on both sides appeared to be working fine and shoes were already adjusted up.

John

Didn't recall much chamfering on the linings when I had the drums off.

John

Hello all,

Here is a link to a photograph of the engine bay, for infomation.

Well maintained by the previous two owners and as I said earlier had a bit of money spent by myself prior to the MOT. I think you can also see where I had gone round ensuing no electrical wiring was going to chaff on other items. I had found one piece of wiring insulation worn through. I am starting to think this MOT tester thought there was something suspicious about a car of this age having had so much money spent on it and obvious precautionary work (i.e. wiring clipped out of harms way, general lubrication, etc) having been carried out. Maybe he thought the car was from Trading Standards or something :-)

John

He might have been happy for this to happen, but I can assure you The Health & Safety Executive would not have been so pleased.

John

Not much does please H & S, does it?

Steve

You seem to have a problem understanding something very basic here. Let me spell it out for you. The limit for CO in the test is 0.300. The figure recorded for you car was 0.481- yes? The margin your vehicle failed by is 0.181, which, expressed as a percentage of the limit figure of 0.300 is 60%. Therefore, in plain English, the amount of CO in your car's exhaust exceeded the test limit by 60%!!!! This is a big time fail. Do you understand? If you don't believe me, do the maths yourself:

0.3 x 0.6 = (go on, have a guess)

Regards, Jim.

Jim Walsh ( snipped-for-privacy@sheffield.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Let's put it into perspective.

I've just got a ticket on my 120k mile 2.0 turbo Cit XM. It's never had a cat on it. It's never had new injectors. It's never had any internal engine work.

Idle - CO = max 0.30%, pass - 0.01%

Fast idle - CO = max 0.20%, pass - 0.10% HC = max 200ppm, pass - 5ppm

Hello all,

Myself and MOT tester had discussion today. Seems he believes the car was booked in for repairs (and retest). This is not what was planned with him at all, simply a retest was all that was required and booked. He refused today to carry out a retest in its own right without doing repair work. This is the conformation I needed to to prove to myself he had in mind making money out of this 10 year old car. It ended up with me taking the car away from the garage, I will not allow this guy to line his pockets at my expence. The matter is currently in the hands of the local Trading Standards dept.

John

he can't refuse to do a re-test, you sure he couldn't do it because he was busy or did he flatly refuse to do it ? you would have been better getting in touch with your local VOSA office and asking for guidance.

Hello,

He was well aware the vehicle was booked in for a retest and well aware when it was agreed to be retested at the testing station. It was obvious from his comments this morning, he had no intention of retesting the vehicle.

John

John ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Perhaps he doesn't much like your "I know better than you" attitude, and just doesn't want you for a customer?

I don't think that any MOT tester *has* to take all customers - I think they're free to pick and choose.

Adrain,

Whatever the tester does and does not like, is his choice of course, thankfully I have the law on my side and it is my choice as to whether I choose to protect myself using the law.... I can tell you, have made my choice too... The tester's pick 'n' mix attitude left me with no option.

John

John ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Indeed. And he's chosen to refuse your business.

Don't be so ludicrous. Which bit of "the law" do you think *forces* him to retests your car?

As I see it, it's simple.

Your car failed the test on items outside the short "free retest" list prescribed by VOSA. You took the car away from his premises. It therefore requires a full test for which he has every right to charge you the full test fee. In other words, a new test. He has every right to turn your business away.

So why not go through the MOT appeal process? Why run to TS, instead of appealing to VOSA?

Ah, wait - you can't. Because you've worked on the car since the fail.

Sorry, but looking through your posts, I don't think it's the tester with the attitude problem. My sympathies lie with him.

Wait and see Adrian. I am not prepared to disclose at this stage what other action I have taken (and am considering taking) since the first MOT test and I think it would be silly of me to do so. One thing is sure Adrian, whether you like it or not, I won't stand being ripped off. I am £44.00 light and a vehicle with no test certificate.

John

John ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

That, you intransigent pillock, is BECAUSE YOUR CAR FAILED THE MOT

Why did it fail? BECAUSE IT WAS NOT IN GOOD ENOUGH CONDITION TO PASS. It *hugely* failed the emissions test. It was nearly 0.5% against a max of

0.3%. Not even a near-miss. (For reference, my own ten year old car with three times the mileage of yours waltzed through the MOT just today with 0.1%.)

Don't agree with that? Then follow the VOSA appeal procedures. What do the appeal procedures say? They say "Do not work on the car until we've inspected it".

"_What if I disagree with a test result?_

Discuss it with the MOT test station if possible. Do not let anyone carry out repairs to the vehicle.

_If you think your car has been incorrectly failed:_

Complete an appeal form VT17 available from any MOT testing station or ring our enquiry line 0845 600 5977. You must complain within 14 days of the test and a full test fee is payable. We will then offer an appointment within 5 working days to recheck your vehicle. If your appeal is successful some or all of the test fee will be refunded to you."

This really isn't very difficult. Anything else is just pissing in the wind, wasting your time and that of everybody else involved.

Methinks he'll be paying another £44 to VOSA for them to tell him exactly what the MOT tester did...his car is a polluting pile of s**te.

And at the end of that, he'll have yet another test fee to pay, making it a total of three. Would've been cheaper to let the bloke fix it..

People like John always end up costing themselves far more money and wasted time than they need to.

I can imagine the conversation he had with his missus when he got home after the test.

"Marge...it failed! How dare he fail it. There's nothing wrong with it. Bunch of rip off merchants the lot of them. I'll show him the error of his ways. He's not heard the last of me." - as she holds her head in her hands thinking "Oh my God, not again..."

I reckon John is either:

Senior Management Company Director or, owner of a business

..and not used to people saying no.

John wrote on Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:14:04 GMT:

Indeed. You'd just get the piss ripped out of you even more.

Well, that's because your vehicle failed its MOT.

The message from "David Taylor" contains these words:

You know - there was a time when this sort of conversation would have taken place down the pub - the best place for a good whinge.