Why are mot garages such idiots?

[B41LEY 0]

Just thought i would share my frustration with you all after a morning of messing about trying to get my car mot'd.

 

Took my car for its mot last saturday at the cost of £35 whuch isn't bad compared to some garages, it failed on lower suspension arms and ball joints and rear wheel bearings. All of which was fixed on tuesday using new parts at another local garage.

 

I took it back this morning for its free re-test and took along my receipt to prove the work had been done. The garage then checked the items it failed on and claimed the rear wheel bearings had more play in them than they originallly did! I showed them the receipt to prove they had been changed and even phoned the garage where the work had been done to get them to speak to the mot station but the mot examiner wasn't interested! It was a fail and that was my free re-test gone! I said just pass it, i'll nip round to the garage get the bearings tightened up and get them to phone you to prove it but no that was breaking the rules!

 

So i ended up taking it back to my garage, getting the bearings tightened which took all of 5 mins, just to take it back to the mot station to then go through the whole mot again at the cost of £35! And when i say whole mot i mean lights emmisions everything even though it was only a week ago when it was first mot'd. Absolute joke!

 

Whatever happened to mot stations being slightly lenient and using their discretion? Ian

 

I can undersatnd that mot inspector was only doing his job and following the rules but its just so

[Toad 0]

I can undersatnd that mot inspector was only doing his job and following the rules

 

Isn't that the point? It's not him being an idiot, he's doing his job. I'd be more upset that the rear wheel bearings weren't correctly set in the first place, and you're lucky that the inspector picked them up....

[tyler 0]

if the bearings was not set right why not go back to garage who fitted them for the mot cost? and the fact you took it to another garage to get the work done might get there back lol. i reckon there let you of lightly when i helped with mots in a garage if anyone came in with minor problems we fixed as we went until 1 day when a kid drove in for a mot and was bragging how his car have never failed and how brilliant it was we knew we had to fail it so we did the whole test very harshly and the car was mint until we saw a air freshner on the interior mirror and failed it for that lol :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Wullie 1]

if the bearings was not set right why not go back to garage who fitted them for the mot cost? and the fact you took it to another garage to get the work done might get there back lol. i reckon there let you of lightly when i helped with mots in a garage if anyone came in with minor problems we fixed as we went until 1 day when a kid drove in for a mot and was bragging how his car have never failed and how brilliant it was we knew we had to fail it so we did the whole test very harshly and the car was mint until we saw a air freshner on the interior mirror and failed it for that lol :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

And you're bragging about failing a car for an air freshener. What does that say. The MOT is trying to fail someone for any reason cos you don't like him or what! At least the garage I get my MOT's done is honest. If its not up to scratch fail it and say why or pass it if it;s OK.

[Jonny777 0]

Seriously, failing someone for an Air Freshener?

 

Riiiight.

[tyler 0]

its abstructing the view from the windscreen if you read the mot test notes it says something like your not allowed to fix the owners vehicle while doing a mot so its a legit failiure.

[corozin 0]

its abstructing the view from the windscreen if you read the mot test notes it says something like your not allowed to fix the owners vehicle while doing a mot so its a legit failiure.

Yeah but you could have still let it pass. I think that was a vindictive thing to do quite frankly.

[tyler 0]

the moral is there if you go in bigging yourself up and talking down to people there aint going to help you out. we only ever failed cars if there needed failing 99% of the time the work was carried out for free on minor jobs even replacing wipers ect wasnt a charged job

[swiftkid 1]

I think there isn't really a moral to your story tyler, the guy has obviously looked after his car and rightly so is confident. People like that are annoying but theres no point ripping someone off for such stupid reasons.

 

I hate MOT testers and have a very legit reason, i had 3 MOT tests, each one with different failures on and more importantly with things that i knew were there the first time round but didn't realise it was a failure. I was perfectly calm with the guy and said i am more than happy to go and fix the things that need doing but i think your a cockeral for not spotting it the first time and then charging me because you are crap at your job (obviously in a more pleasant way). he then tried to argue his way out by saying that when i changed my wheel bearing i must have bent the tie rod (which was a failure) to which i replied that i knew it was bent because when i got my tracking done i was told this and got it tracked up anyway so it drove alright. I also had a tie rod at home to change but that wasn't the point.

[B41LEY 0]

Perhaps branding all mot testers idiots was a bit harsh, in my defence i was under the influence of rather a lot of alcohol when i wrote this last night.

 

I was merely trying to get over my frustration, i really do believe the mot inspector was being a complete "jobsworth" yesterday morning! A loose rear wheel bearing isn't that important, its a 5 minute job to tighten it up! There was nothing stopping him using his discretion to pass it then check with the other garage that i had got them tightened or even watching me tighten them up myself in the car park if they had lent me the tools.

 

I bet if the mot inspector was doing his mates car or a friend of the garages car it would be guaranteed a pass!

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Might not seem that important but if your wheel came off 500 yards down the road and you came a cropper (totally unrealistic I know) then they'd no doubt be liable as an MOT Station.

 

I'd give them a pat on the back for noticing it to be honest, means you got what you paid for with the bearings instead of a half-arsed job :)

[Wullie 1]

its abstructing the view from the windscreen if you read the mot test notes it says something like your not allowed to fix the owners vehicle while doing a mot so its a legit failiure.

But in your first post you say you "when i helped with mots in a garage if anyone came in with minor problems we fixed as we went" or does the above only apply to airfresheners.

One of the biggest complaints about MOT's is inconsistancy, sometimes this is just down to human error but your initial post is nothing short of victimisation.

Could you let me know the name of the garage? I have relatives in Sherborne and I would like to let them know to steer well clear of it.

Wonders. If a bird shits on the windscreen as its moved from the car park to the test bay would that be an automatic failure cos you can't wipe it clean?

[RaddoMan 0]

you should of just got it fixed at the mot place

[swiftkid 1]

you should of just got it fixed at the mot place

 

haha, thats even more of a laugh! i got a refusal for both brake lines front to back a cv boot and a fuel filter, a mate of mine worked at the garage (right car) so asked how much they would charge for doing the work knowing my mate would do a good job and because i really couldn't be bothered driving my car home sorting it out then having to take more time off work to take it back. They were going to charge near £300 i think plus parts, they had something like 6 hours to do the brake lines!!!

[millerman 0]

i think the point being missed is the fact that you paid for repairs to you car that were done to a poor standard costing you £35 for a failed free retest

i would be more anoyed that i had payed for work to be done poorly than worrying about not passing an mot for free at least they found that your garage had done the work poorly tighting a rear wheel bearing correctly is not rocket science now is it

[Yandards 0]

i think the point being missed is the fact that you paid for repairs to you car that were done to a poor standard costing you £35 for a failed free retest

i would be more anoyed that i had payed for work to be done poorly than worrying about not passing an mot for free at least they found that your garage had done the work poorly tighting a rear wheel bearing correctly is not rocket science now is it

 

Indeed.

 

Unfortunately the work carried out by the other garage that was substandard is the reason the car failed the MOT, that has resulted in the restest fee.

 

I would be going the garage who did the bearing work and demand they pay the retest fee or you will be off to trading standards.

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

What i find funny about this is that its the all MOT stations do not have to give free retests.its there discretion and not part of VOSA's guide lines and they could have charged you again,but they did not,also when it comes to rear wheel bearings on early VW's they are supposed to have a small amount of play for the bearing to take up the slack once warmed up,this info should be printed off on the VT40 and is common.

 

I'm a Tester by trade and i miss items every now and again,im human, as are all other NT's,some tester do think they are "GOD" when it comes to testing tho.

 

Just to note,you really need to get your car tested and repaired at the same station as they will not fail there own work,going from garage to garage to find cheaper deals has cost you more at the end of the day..

[B41LEY 0]

Thanks everyone for their points of view on this, i can see that the mot inspector was just doing his job even if it was to the letter of the law and that my anger should be with the garage who didn't fit the bearings correctly. Its all a bit irelevant now as my head gasket has blown leaving me with a lot bigger bill than a mot cost!

[Skyway 0]

Bugger.......failed again!

[ziderapple 0]

I'd give them a pat on the crotch for noticing it to be honest, means you got what you paid for with the bearings instead of a half-arsed job :)

 

Sorry. :lol:

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

8)

[Kempy 0]

there is no way my garage would of done that 3 times in full. too busy :lol: :cuckoo:

[Guest]

My Corrado was mot`d at my usual mot centre this year, it failed on a split cv gaitor that even i hadnt noticed despite going over the car and changing the wheels more often than the radio station or a cd! got the boot from vw and did the job in an hour with the help of a mates air tools :)

 

my second car went to the same garage, but was tested by a new tester, who on first impression did seem a bit of a tool (later verified), and sure enough he comes back with a big grin *failed* all pleased with himself, as he found a split steering rack gaiter on a 20 year old golf and also gave an advisory for both front cv gaitors "cracking"???

 

fair enough the steering gaitor was twisted and split, done by the garage who tracked it after a suspension change no doubt, as they didnt release the clips on the gaiters before turning the track rods i suppose? but i have no proof as i did not check it before hand, its in the memory bank though, someone will get caught out if there happens to be a next time

 

anyway i did that job too, after a big fight with a 20 year old track rod, bolts, ball joint, and a heat shield, and working with the same amount of room a shrew normally has for a home to get my ample fist in and get the boot in place and the air pipe on the boot in place and clamped correctly! i checked the cv`s before i ordered the steering gaitors and i could see absolutely nothing wrong with them apart from normal looking rubber thats been under a car a few miles :shrug:

 

I took it back to the same mot centre a few days later and it passed on the free re test, the other mot tester who noramlly does it commented there was nothing wrong with the front outer cv boots, well not what he wouldnt normally expect them to look like on a car thats been driven!!!! and said the new bloke must of been trying to give it large to show he spots things, even if they were fine in this case

 

so is the human factor opinion and judgement really that different? or is it that some testers just try to fail cars as they take a dislike to the car or person? make a point in trying to find fault with what on the face of it is a very well looked after car? as its just causing the owner an inconvienience and they see it as money potentially in the till with a repair?

 

if they failed my ar for an air freshner dangling in the windscreen i would just see that as vindictive, unessesary and worthy of a kick in the stones