Gone baby gone Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Needing an MOT in the next few weeks I did a quick google and found that the maximum price allowed by the Department of Transport is £54. Remembering that I paid £45 last year, I was surprised to discover that Kwikfit are doing MOT tests for £30! Booked it there, but not long afterwards discovered that Halfords are doing them for £27! Is this the result of fewer cars on the road, or the big D? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalancedBear Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 They do it to get you through the door so they can then try and sell you new tyres, exhausts etc. What better way of getting you in than doing something for you that you legally need to have done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtomsilver Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Agreed; find yourself a local council test centre (that don't do repairs), a quick gooogle found a good money saving link that listed three in my area. [stolen]Many local councils have their own MOT testing stations for their own vehicles, such as buses or ambulances. By law these test centres (though not taxi or Crown stations) must be open to the general public. As they generally only carry out tests and don't do repairs (always check), there's no incentive for mechanics to find faults that don't exist. [/stolen] Edited February 7, 2013 by longtomsilver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RufflesTheGuineaPig Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Especially as people tend to leave the MOT until the last minute, giving them little or no time to shop around. The amount of cars on the road over 5 years old is high. The percentage of cars over 5 years old that need some work doing is VERY high. Most common are tyres, emissions (cat), bulbs and wipers. All of these are easy to change. Often you'll get an advisory on brake wear and will be encouraged to replace the discs/pads. The rule I work on is this: If my car needs bits replacing as a result of the MOT, then bits get replaced. No questions asked. The MOT only covers basic safety stuff, plus emissions. I don't like sitting upside-down in hedgerows, and if you emissions are bad your fuel economy will be worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavierpj Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Steer well clear of 'Big Names' doing supposed discounts... Booked in last year due to my trusty local being full - but of course they found faults with everything they happened to specialise in... needless to say I let the MOT lapse and booked in at the trusty and those faults in their opinion were passable but gave an advisory in another area of actual importance that was missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone baby gone Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 It will be a loss leader so that they can find 'something wrong' and rip you off to fix it. Oh you old cynic! Exact same Kwikfit was charging £45 last year when they did it. So a reduction of 33% in 12 months... They did find a faulty bulb (headlight) but didn't charge me as they took the bulb from my spare bulb kit (German car). It was only serviced 4 months ago so I'll be pretty unlikely to buy anything from them except tyres (which it doesn't need). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Gordon Pugh Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Council testing station for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Sacks Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Needing an MOT in the next few weeks I did a quick google and found that the maximum price allowed by the Department of Transport is £54. Remembering that I paid £45 last year, I was surprised to discover that Kwikfit are doing MOT tests for £30! Booked it there, but not long afterwards discovered that Halfords are doing them for £27! Is this the result of fewer cars on the road, or the big D? Speaking as an ex mot tester - IMO 80% of mot testers are morons with no idea what they're doing or how to interpret the mot book. I was the mot quality controller at a main dealer and working with the lads doing tests was painful. For a lot of testers the job about as much responsibility and "power" as they'll ever have in their working lives. They get carried away and start making up their own criteria, I shit you not. Garages often put their crap mechanics on the mot bay because they're too useless to diagnose faults on modern cars. I have bought cars for pennies on the pound with mot failure sheets that are a practical joke, got the car retested by a professional, intelligent technician, and it passed. Diagnosing and repairing cars correctly is a very demanding and difficult job. The problem in this country is that the majority of people don't know this. Hence, garages run by shit kickers with no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Democorruptcy Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 A Kwik Fit MOT for £30 What could possibly go wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pl1 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Agreed; find yourself a local council test centre (that don't do repairs), a quick gooogle found a good money saving link that listed three in my area. [stolen]Many local councils have their own MOT testing stations for their own vehicles, such as buses or ambulances. By law these test centres (though not taxi or Crown stations) must be open to the general public. As they generally only carry out tests and don't do repairs (always check), there's no incentive for mechanics to find faults that don't exist. [/stolen] But... they probably won't be anywhere near where you work so you'll have the inconvenience of getting there during the week. Wha's that? Council site open on Saturday? Gimme a break! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RufflesTheGuineaPig Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 needless to say I let the MOT lapse and booked in at the trusty I assume it was parked unused off-road on private property during that period? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gf3 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) I remember a story once where a mechanic would spray your shock absorber with WD40 when it was up on the ramps. And then get you to look at the leaking shock and try and sell you a new set. Edited February 7, 2013 by gf3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snafu Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Dom: what do you cost to hire? For a car inspection? Name a price! And general location Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone baby gone Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 A Kwik Fit MOT for £30 What could possibly go wrong? I'll let you know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wurzel Of Highbridge Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Over all of the NCT (National Car Test) centers are government run and do not do repairs. Private garages cannot do MOT's. It seems to works me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Sacks Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Dom: what do you cost to hire? For a car inspection? Name a price! And general location Sorry, those days are behind me now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I've not had much problems with Formula 1 garages - they're pretty quick and trust worthy as a chain garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eight Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Agreed; find yourself a local council test centre (that don't do repairs), a quick gooogle found a good money saving link that listed three in my area. [stolen]Many local councils have their own MOT testing stations for their own vehicles, such as buses or ambulances. By law these test centres (though not taxi or Crown stations) must be open to the general public. As they generally only carry out tests and don't do repairs (always check), there's no incentive for mechanics to find faults that don't exist. [/stolen] I've seen this advice on here before. But how do you stand if the thing fails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Sacks Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I've seen this advice on here before. But how do you stand if the thing fails? Fix it and take it back for a retest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueRat Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I remember a story once where a mechanic would spray your shock absorber with WD40 when it was up on the ramps. And then get you to look at the leaking shock and try and sell you a new set. I fell for that one about 12 years ago at a "Charlie Brown's". New front shocks and a tyre to pass the MOT it went in for. The bill was over 500 quid and they put a ding in every door at the same height. I didn't get anywhere with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
or in excess of Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Agreed; find yourself a local council test centre (that don't do repairs), a quick gooogle found a good money saving link that listed three in my area. [stolen]Many local councils have their own MOT testing stations for their own vehicles, such as buses or ambulances. By law these test centres (though not taxi or Crown stations) must be open to the general public. As they generally only carry out tests and don't do repairs (always check), there's no incentive for mechanics to find faults that don't exist. [/stolen] Don`t think you will get off lightly with a Council MOT Test Centre, They may not do repairs, but they will go through the car with a fine tooth comb. Things like miniscule cracks in numberplate, dashboard lamps not working etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Don`t think you will get off lightly with a Council MOT Test Centre, They may not do repairs, but they will go through the car with a fine tooth comb. Things like miniscule cracks in numberplate, dashboard lamps not working etc You can easily encounter the drama queen/aspergers MOT tester at a private garage as well though. Though I appreciate these types are more likely to gravitate towards the public sector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflation Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) I've not had much problems with Formula 1 garages - they're pretty quick and trust worthy as a chain garage. One branch near me sold me 2 the tyres that I asked for and then proceeded to try and badger me into having the tracking done for £30 + VAT. It's not only cheaper elsewhere, but they also insulted my intelligence by showing me on the screen as he typed that he was 'reducing' the price from the normal charge of £49. Won't be going there again. Similarly, although it was a few years ago, a branch of Kwikfit told my friend he needed brand new calipers on his Rover due to a slight fluid leak. I took the car home and got a seal kit and changed them for him. Total cost under £50, they wanted £350 + . Best garage repairs are carried out, in my experience, by recommendation, and therefore reputation. A bit like a good tradesman (plumber, brickie etc.), word of mouth has always worked well for me. Edited February 7, 2013 by deflation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Necessities Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Took mine to a local place (recommended by a couple of friends) a few months ago. Tested whilst I waited, no faults (never happened before), no advisories (which I've always had in the past with other garages), clean bill of health (on a 2001 car), went to pay my £34.99 and the receptionist said "Oh we have an offer on this month, it's only £24.99!!!!" I thought I was dreaming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) For the last 4 years I've taken my car to the local council test station. £35 with free retest. Its saved me a fortune. If anything fails I phone around all ther local garages for the cheapest quote to do whatever work is required, get it done and rebook. I find Fridays are the best day to go as the testers are in a better mood and more likely to just advise on the 'indicator bulb not orange' enough thing! The last time I took it to a private garage that does MOTs they failed it on headlight aim which was fine before (how does it suddenly adjust itself out? - they must have either moved it or they were lying) They wanted £20 to adjust two screws to do that! They also failed it on windscreen wipers, said they would have to fit new ones at £20 each to issue the pass cert! Garages rip you off big time, it as extremely rare to find a trustworthy one Edited February 7, 2013 by Spoony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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