Mot failure - advice

sigma

sigma

sigma

Caporegime
Joined
13 Nov 2006
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29,026
So I went for a cheap MOT test - £30. Figured it'd be alright as the car has only ever had 1 advisory of note (battery clamp wasn't in place) so you can imagine my surprise when they told me it had failed :eek:

I was even more surprised when they told me it failed due to the cat! They said they don't think it's a cat as it doesn't have a stamp or marking on it and were surprised when I told them that it's a sports cat.

Emissions are spot on.

So they said either I can fit the OEM cat or they can take off one side of the sports cat (at cost) and they can have a look. I figuered I'd fit the old cat myself and take it back but for some reason I can't find bolts that fit (M10 is slightly too big, M8 is a way too small). But now I'm thinking that if the car has passed emissions and the rest of the car is fine, the exhaust isn't crazy loud as it would be if there was a straight pipe in there, then surely the onus is on the garage to prove that there isn't a cat in place? Why should I have to pay more because they can't work it out?

Just wondering how best to proceed with this? I'm hunting for some bolts but wondering if it's worth have another conversation with them - guessing they won't budge though.
 
If it's just a case of spendign a couple of quid on new bolts or finding some that'll hold it for a day then just do that tbh, they're never going to go back on a fail.

Either that or book it in somewhere else, but it'll only cost you more.

Only alternative I can think of is take the sports cat itself down to them and tell them to check - dunno how you'd get over "this is absolutely the same item on the car" though
 
Well screwfix nor b&q have the right size, I'm just getting hold of a garage who should hopefully be able to sort me out with some bolts.

If I can prove it's a sports cat (after getting it MOT'd elsewhere) I'd want a refund ideally, as the car is legal! Highly doubt I'd get it though :(
 
Never going to happen - they failed it on the best information "available" to them and their subject matter expert(s) at the time (even if it's rubbish).

One day garages will receive a completely fresh outlook, either through legislation or the runaway success of a business that treats its customers as they expect to be treated and manages to negotiate the required terms with its suppliers for returning parts etc (though to be fair this already pretty much exists). Unfortunately that day isn't today!
 
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Load of bull tbh, if it passed emissions fine then why didn't they use that info to make their decision? I do have a straight through, which literally is straight through so I said I would take that with me to show them what one looks like but they weren't really interested.

Guess they're cheap for a reason.
 
Way it is unfortunately. It's crap, but it's life.

Not that it'll help but my local £30 Mot place are brilliant with silly things that may otherwise be a fail. Just the way it is I guess
 
sigma said:
Load of bull tbh, if it passed emissions fine then why didn't they use that info to make their decision?
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What's the age of the car? After a certain manufacture date CAT's have to be of an "approved" typed and marked clearly as such.

Sound like the garage are just following the VOSA rules. It's not their fault you've got a non-compliant car.
 
2000 although production stopped in 1999. They didn't explicitly state anything about it being approved but I guess you may be correct.
 
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Ah, that age is fine then.

So, they're basically saying you don't have a CAT fitted, you're saying you do and they're saying "prove it"? Sounds like a rock and a hard place.

Interestingly, my Cosworth has gone through the last few MOTs with both original CAT's fitted but with the insides knocked out after they failed. So it passes MOT as it looks like it has a pair of CATs on and the emissions are fine. Whereas you DO have a CAT fitted but it looks like you don't. Go figure.

Do you have a recpt for the sports cat?
 
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The mot tester has to give benefit of the doubt as the onus is on them to prove it's not what it should be not you to prove it is

Their not allowed to remove it either

Their at it angling for work tell them to jog on might be worth mentioning a complaint to vosa about their decision

Take it elsewhere that aren't scam artists
 
233 said:
the onus is on them to prove it's not what it should be not you to prove it is
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Is this stated anywhere?

No receipt sadly :(

I'm going to call VOSA tomorrow and also the customer careline for this chain and see what they have to say.
 
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sigma said:
Is this stated anywhere?

No receipt sadly :(

I'm going to call VOSA tomorrow and also the customer careline for this chain and see what they have to say.
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It isn't your place to prove it has a cat it's theirs to prove that it doesn't

The fact it passes emissions should be a pretty good indicator the emissions control hardware is present. Carat are trying it on here
 
Spoke to VOSA then phoned the company HQ and they've agreed to put it down as an advisory and will 're-test' it later today.

Result :) was solved pretty quickly, the area manager got involved and also spoke to VOSA and the testers.
 
For every person like yourself who questions this there are ten who just payup

And this is why I won't ever go for cheap mot's again. They aren't cheap as a favour to us!
 
"andy" said:
For every person like yourself who questions this there are ten who just payup

And this is why I won't ever go for cheap mot's again. They aren't cheap as a favour to us!
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exactly, an extra few quid for them to be none a-n-a-l is worth it

I have a sports cat and they said it wasn't doing to well at first but then kept moving the probe around and trying, in the end he just said ye what ever its a pass lol.
 
I bought the cat 2nd hand so don't have a link sadly, not even sure what make it is.

I took the car back after work and they have now passed it but not put it as an advisory as per what the area manager said....

Also, they took the exhaust apart to have a look, I heard them saying "it's definitely a cat". The manager said that the reason why they were being fussy is because the tester has only been testing for 2 months and is paranoid about getting picked up.

It was a bit of a farce but, in all fairness, the area manager and care-line staff were really good, called me twice, asked the right questions and explained everything to me. I can't complain about that and I did thank them for their speedy response.

Not only were they cheap but I was able to book in on a Fri for early Monday, all online. Pretty good experience from that perspective and I figured I'd give them a go as my sister had her car done by them previously and they were OK. I think the main lesson to be learnt here is not to leave it late until getting the test done. It runs out tomorrow but I was 99.99% confident it would pass as it's in pretty tidy condition.
 
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