Biennial MOT tests

[JonRGV250]

Coil spring snapped at the top and the bottom, and when the van was jacked up, it just fell out!
It also failed on tyres, lights, brakes and corrosion.
The brake hoses were so deteriorated it's almost unbelievable that they hadn't burst.
The inner wings were in such a state you could fit your fist through the holes that had rusted through, but there was no advisories on any of the 4 years previous MOT tests, so it's safe to say that it had serveral dodgy MOT's done.
The spring..

Imagine going over a speed hump and that fell out.
The poor guy had bought it a year ago just after it was last MOT'd, and it's fair to say he wasn't jumping for joy.

 

[theone8181]

Coil spring snapped at the top and the bottom, and when the van was jacked up, it just fell out!
It also failed on tyres, lights, brakes and corrosion.
The brake hoses were so deteriorated it's almost unbelievable that they hadn't burst.
The inner wings were in such a state you could fit your fist through the holes that had rusted through, but there was no advisories on any of the 4 years previous MOT tests, so it's safe to say that it had serveral dodgy MOT's done.
The spring..

Imagine going over a speed hump and that fell out.
The poor guy had bought it a year ago just after it was last MOT'd, and it's fair to say he wasn't jumping for joy.

As daft as it sounds it's why I prefer the design of coilovers, in my mind even a snapped spring is reasonably secured.

 

[Stu999]

@JonRGV250 - how often do you put your own car on the ramps to check for this sort of thing? It's sort of hard for your average punter to pick these types of issue up.

 

[JonRGV250]

@JonRGV250 - how often do you put your own car on the ramps to check for this sort of thing?

Every couple or months or so, but being a tester/tech for god knows how may years I know when somethings not as it should be just through seeing/hearing/feeling it from so many customers cars.

It's sort of hard for your average punter to pick these types of issue up.

Agreed, but sadly so many people just ignore any knocking noises or wayward handling etc on their cars and I guess just hope it goes away, that or they turn the radio up a bit.
It always amuses me when I fail a car for suspension issues and ask the customer if they'd heard a loud knocking noise and they say "yes, it's been happening for months".
At this point I have to bite my lip and try and be polite.

 

[JonRGV250]

I’ve posted some pretty crazy pics of corrosion etc that’s been hidden by duct tape, but this is on another level..

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1754436735520358450

 

[JonRGV250]

Some people just shouldn't repair, or attempt to repair their own cars.
This BMW had just had new brake pads fitted, and unsurprisingly I failed it for what hopefully should be fairly obvious..

I did ask the guy who the hell had been let loose on his braking system, and he admitted that he'd replaced the pads, but when I showed him the above pic, he said it was like that before and that he'd not removed the caliper to replace the pads.
I guessed he'd used magic to fit them then.


The next delight was a Kuga that was booked in for 2pm and the customer called to say he'd be late as he was having two front tyres replaced.
So, on to the MOT, and it failed* on the NSR tyre that was so devoid of tread that it'd worn down to the cords on the inner edge..

I asked him if the tyre place had checked the other tyres and he showed me this..

It clearly shows the NSR tyre as having 5mm and being legal, and I think it's fairly obvious that the tyre hasn't had 5mm on it for quite a while now even ignoring the fact that it's about to blow out.
If I hadn't MOT'd it, the customer would have thought that his rear tyres were on 5mm and legal would have happily carried on driving it for another few thousand miles.
*it also failed on 2 broken coil springs and insecure headlamps.
He'd apparently had both headlight bulbs replaced by Halfords who instead of removing the lamps correctly, had just ripped them out and in doing so had broken the lower brackets off so there was no way of the lamps being secure.

So, well done Formula one autocentres, and well done Halfords.

It's terrifying that these places have such a low standard when it comes to employing supposed qualified staff.

 

[tonys]

Some people just shouldn't repair, or attempt to repair their own cars.
This BMW had just had new brake pads fitted, and unsurprisingly I failed it for what hopefully should be fairly obvious..

I did ask the guy who the hell had been let loose on his braking system, and he admitted that he'd replaced the pads, but when I showed him the above pic, he said it was like that before and that he'd not removed the caliper to replace the pads.
I guessed he'd used magic to fit them then.


The next delight was a Kuga that was booked in for 2pm and the customer called to say he'd be late as he was having two front tyres replaced.
So, on to the MOT, and it failed* on the NSR tyre that was so devoid of tread that it'd worn down to the cords on the inner edge..

I asked him if the tyre place had checked the other tyres and he showed me this..

It clearly shows the NSR tyre as having 5mm and being legal, and I think it's fairly obvious that the tyre hasn't had 5mm on it for quite a while now even ignoring the fact that it's about to blow out.
If I hadn't MOT'd it, the customer would have thought that his rear tyres were on 5mm and legal would have happily carried on driving it for another few thousand miles.
*it also failed on 2 broken coil springs and insecure headlamps.
He'd apparently had both headlight bulbs replaced by Halfords who instead of removing the lamps correctly, had just ripped them out and in doing so had broken the lower brackets off so there was no way of the lamps being secure.

So, well done Formula one autocentres, and well done Halfords.

It's terrifying that these places have such a low standard when it comes to employing supposed qualified staff.

This clearly shows why we need to have better controls in place to keep this type of work at bay

 

[Stu999]

So, on to the MOT, and it failed* on the NSR tyre that was so devoid of tread that it'd worn down to the cords on the inner edge..

I asked him if the tyre place had checked the other tyres and he showed me this..

It clearly shows the NSR tyre as having 5mm and being legal, and I think it's fairly obvious that the tyre hasn't had 5mm on it for quite a while now even ignoring the fact that it's about to blow out.

Obviously the tyre is knackered but what was the tread depth in the central 3/4ths of the tyre? They must have measured the central part.

Edit - it’s hard to tell from the pic, excluding the worn through inner edge.

 

[ShiWarrior]

why does it look like the wheel is coming apart in two ?

 

[JonRGV250]

Obviously the tyre is knackered but what was the tread depth in the central 3/4ths of the tyre? They must have measured the central part.

Edit - it’s hard to tell from the pic, excluding the worn through inner edge.

4mm at best, but the report says "all depths are measured at the lowest point" or not as the case may be.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Incredible!

 

[Kenai]

Did the tyre chap mention if he will be complaining about being given a report that inaccurate? That's crap

 

[JonRGV250]

This clearly shows why we need to have better controls in place to keep this type of work at bay

Indeed, yes.
There's a massive shortage of motor trade staff, and it seems some companies will employ any old clowns to keep costs down.
Pre Covid, the wages were terrible, and given the time people had off and a had chance to look elsewhere, many left the trade and didn't return (and I'm talking very very skilled people).
During Covid I worked at a Mercedes dealership, and 7 out of 11 techs left!
Now employers are offering £10-15K over pre covid wages to get decent staff, but they've all gone and taken their skills with them.
No one is coming into the trade, and from what I've seen from work placement students etc, they seem to think it's all fine and dandy until they get their hands dirty or have to put any effort in and then they just give up, because effort.
I'd wager theres more talent in the OCUK motors section than there is in almost any garage anywhere in the UK these days.

 

[tonys]

Indeed, yes.
There's a massive shortage of motor trade staff, and it seems some companies will employ any old clowns to keep costs down.
Pre Covid, the wages were terrible, and given the time people had off and a had chance to look elsewhere, many left the trade and didn't return (and I'm talking very very skilled people).
During Covid I worked at a Mercedes dealership, and 7 out of 11 techs left!
Now employers are offering £10-15K over pre covid wages to get decent staff, but they've all gone and taken their skills with them.
No one is coming into the trade, and from what I've seen from work placement students etc, they seem to think it's all fine and dandy until they get their hands dirty or have to put any effort in and then they just give up, because effort.
I'd wager theres more talent in the OCUK motors section than there is in almost any garage anywhere in the UK.

Can't say about the employment status but I can say about experience. Always had my tyres done at Selecta. On a Mondeo, I would be scubbing tyres like nobody's business. Two lots of two tryes in about 18 months. Both times tracked by Selcta employees. Come round to the last time the bloke said this wasn't right and went back to the beginning and tracked back to front. Two years later hardly any wear and perfectly even

 

[JonRGV250]

Did the tyre chap mention if he will be complaining about being given a report that inaccurate? That's crap

I did suggest he did, if nothing else to get a partial refund on the tyres, but he didn't want the hassle.
And thats how these companies get away with it

 

[tonys]

I did suggest he did, if nothing else to get a partial refund on the tyres, but he didn't want the hassle.
And thats how these companies get away with it

Can't you report that type of problem to relevant department?

 

[Rroff]

Indeed, yes.
There's a massive shortage of motor trade staff, and it seems some companies will employ any old clowns to keep costs down.
Pre Covid, the wages were terrible, and given the time people had off and a had chance to look elsewhere, many left the trade and didn't return (and I'm talking very very skilled people).
During Covid I worked at a Mercedes dealership, and 7 out of 11 techs left!
Now employers are offering £10-15K over pre covid wages to get decent staff, but they've all gone and taken their skills with them.
No one is coming into the trade, and from what I've seen from work placement students etc, they seem to think it's all fine and dandy until they get their hands dirty or have to put any effort in and then they just give up, because effort.
I'd wager theres more talent in the OCUK motors section than there is in almost any garage anywhere in the UK these days.

We had a young lad working with us while training as a tech/mechanic, left for a full time job in the trade once qualified and it was quite a bit less money than he was getting paid to do customer service and a bit of hauling pallets for us, but it was what he wanted to do as a career. Good lad not afraid to get his hands dirty but leant a bit towards slap it in and job done mentality. (I'm guessing with experience he'll probably be able to work up to more money though).

 

[lordrobs]

Some people just shouldn't repair, or attempt to repair their own cars.
This BMW had just had new brake pads fitted, and unsurprisingly I failed it for what hopefully should be fairly obvious..

I did ask the guy who the hell had been let loose on his braking system, and he admitted that he'd replaced the pads, but when I showed him the above pic, he said it was like that before and that he'd not removed the caliper to replace the pads.
I guessed he'd used magic to fit them then.


The next delight was a Kuga that was booked in for 2pm and the customer called to say he'd be late as he was having two front tyres replaced.
So, on to the MOT, and it failed* on the NSR tyre that was so devoid of tread that it'd worn down to the cords on the inner edge..

I asked him if the tyre place had checked the other tyres and he showed me this..

It clearly shows the NSR tyre as having 5mm and being legal, and I think it's fairly obvious that the tyre hasn't had 5mm on it for quite a while now even ignoring the fact that it's about to blow out.
If I hadn't MOT'd it, the customer would have thought that his rear tyres were on 5mm and legal would have happily carried on driving it for another few thousand miles.
*it also failed on 2 broken coil springs and insecure headlamps.
He'd apparently had both headlight bulbs replaced by Halfords who instead of removing the lamps correctly, had just ripped them out and in doing so had broken the lower brackets off so there was no way of the lamps being secure.

So, well done Formula one autocentres, and well done Halfords.

It's terrifying that these places have such a low standard when it comes to employing supposed qualified staff.

That is shocking. Getting tyres fitted is one of the few opportunities to pick up on stuff like that because your average Joe isn't checking the inner shoulders of their tyres.

I HATE getting tyres fitted, thankfully it doesn't happen too often. Last time I used Formula One it was clear they'd placed my alloys face down on the concrete floor. Also took over an hour to do two tyres.

For balance though...

STS - guaranteed "your tracking needs doing" with every tyre.

Halfords - we've had to send your wheels over to the other branch because we haven't got the 'thing' to mount them to our balancing machine. "Er... What". It's because of the stud pattern. "Oh, you mean my 'rare' 4 x 100 fitment?". Yeah, that's the one. Cue over 2 hours for 4 tyres

Local - looked like the guy operating the air gun had a severe case of the shakes. Also COVERED the wheels in the sealant junk.

National - actually did a good job in a reasonable time!

 

[Armageus]

Some people just shouldn't repair, or attempt to repair their own cars.
This BMW had just had new brake pads fitted, and unsurprisingly I failed it for what hopefully should be fairly obvious..

I'll bite as not having done my own brakes before it's not obvious to me, unless it's the twist in the brake pipe?

 

[JonRGV250]

Yup.
When he’s taken the caliper off, he’s for some reason twisted the hose before refitting it.
It’s way way too tight, and I’ve seen it before where the hose is so tight it actually applies the brake when on lock.