Biennial MOT tests
- Thread starter JonRGV250
- Start date
Sounds like the car hadn’t been through the workshop for its used car check before you looked at it.
All dealers have manufacturers standards they have to adhere to ie, if the tyres have less than 3-4mm or are cracked etc, then they have to replace them.
The more prestige dealers have to fit OE or similar quality tyres, but the rest will fit what they can get the cheapest.
It took it sat on the ramp for 2 hours (sump plug out) then 2 engine flush to get the crap out of the engine, and it didn’t even come in for that problem.
It came in because the clutch was so worn it’d barely go into gear.
It came in because the clutch was so worn it’d barely go into gear.
Yup.
There was a time when people would attend to the MOT advisories, but now they just get left until they fail next year.
Also as pastymuncher said, if the car is running fine then people see no reason to service it.
The amount of cars I fail for having engine, stability control, ABS lights etc on is insane.
People just ignore them and continue driving.
There was a time when people would attend to the MOT advisories, but now they just get left until they fail next year.
Also as pastymuncher said, if the car is running fine then people see no reason to service it.
The amount of cars I fail for having engine, stability control, ABS lights etc on is insane.
People just ignore them and continue driving.
What oil was left in there had just “broken down” for want of a better word and lost all the additives that were in it, which after 40k miles isn’t surprising.
For example, the last time I was working at a Merc main dealer we charged £170 an hour and the recovery rate (profit) was usually around £85, so there’s a lot to come out of the hourly rate (it was similar when I was at Lexus).
Independents do seem to be charging quite a bit more than they used to these days, which I guess is down to staff wages/parts costs which have jumped up a lot since Covid, that and half of them haven’t a clue what they’re doing when pricing a job.
I saw a quote from Kwik-fit the other day which nearly £400 for pads and discs, which we did for just over £200!
Absolutely, it’s a big reason why we rarely fit customer supplied parts now.
Some of the crap I’ve seen over the years is absolutely terrible quality, that said, so is a lot of the parts from ECP.
To be fair if you’ve been a mechanical engineer then it’s possibly not a bad idea to do it yourself, but for some home mechanics it’s worth paying a bit extra for the warranty and peace of mind.
Plenty of parts are the exact same as you'd get from a dealer and are made in the same factory.
The only difference is the manufacturer logo will be ground off as they can't sell those to anyone but the dealer network, I see it all the time.
That said, there is some awful quality stuff out there.
Badly fitted headlamp bulbs are a constant failure for incorrect beam pattern where people (or Halfords, mainly Halfords) just somehow ram them in there causing all kinds of damage to the holder. lamp or retaining clip.
I usually just refit them in situ or pop the lamp out to do it if it means the car will pass, however..
This customer managed to not only destroy the retaining clip, wiring and melt the lamp internals, but then rammed some tin foil in there to hold the bulb in place..
It didn't pass, and a new head lamp was required.
This turned out ok in the end.
The grandparents insisted on buying her her first car and obviously bought a lemon, but we did a report on it and they got the majority of their money back, despite it being several months since they purchased it.
The father (who's Porsche we look after) then bought her a 14 plate Aygo, which hopefully should be a bit better.
The young girls mother dropped in some choccy's and a card, which was nice..
Not every garage is out to rip people off.
I usually just refit them in situ or pop the lamp out to do it if it means the car will pass, however..
This customer managed to not only destroy the retaining clip, wiring and melt the lamp internals, but then rammed some tin foil in there to hold the bulb in place..
It didn't pass, and a new head lamp was required.
Not the sort of condition one wants their front subframe to be in, considering what's bolted on to it..
The car was owned by a young girl who came in with her grandparents and had just recently passed her test.
I stopped the MOT at this point (no point in charging the MOT fee and continuing) due to how serious it was and the costs involved and explained the problem to them, only to be met with floods (and I mean a tsunami) of tears from the owner
We priced it up with parts from our suppliers, and it's unsurprisingly an uneconomical repair.
I can't comment on the owners private life, but after speaking to the grandparents. that car is her life and she'd found her independence owning it.
I've had a nose around and found the subframe a lot cheaper, and will speak to my boss (long time friend) and see if there's anything we can do to get it through the MOT a lot lot cheaper for her.
I usually couldn't give a rats ass about failing a car, but that one hurt a bit as she was so upset.
This turned out ok in the end.
The grandparents insisted on buying her her first car and obviously bought a lemon, but we did a report on it and they got the majority of their money back, despite it being several months since they purchased it.
The father (who's Porsche we look after) then bought her a 14 plate Aygo, which hopefully should be a bit better.
The young girls mother dropped in some choccy's and a card, which was nice..
Not every garage is out to rip people off.
2016 Hyundai i40
It was the front subframe, so a little more labour intensive, but certainly not overly difficult.
A bit of silliness from today.
The best thing to do if you've got a 12 inch part of your sill completely missing through corrosion is to try and hide it behind the plastic sill cover using Tiger seal (or whatnot), but do remember to put the said sealant where it'll actually adhere to the sill and not where the 12 inch hole is..
It came in with the sill cover hanging down.
These people walk amongst us
The best thing to do if you've got a 12 inch part of your sill completely missing through corrosion is to try and hide it behind the plastic sill cover using Tiger seal (or whatnot), but do remember to put the said sealant where it'll actually adhere to the sill and not where the 12 inch hole is..
It came in with the sill cover hanging down.
These people walk amongst us
Had a bit of grief from a customer yesterday for me removing his dash-cam during the test so I could pass it.
His argument was that it should only fail if it's directly in his view (it was under the rear view mirror), so it was directly in his view, and he still wasn't happy.
I then asked that if he had damage to his windscreen the size of his dash-cam did he think that would be a failure, which he replied "yes".
Cue silence before the penny dropped.
Today (another car)..
Only slightly obstructing the view of the road.
So daft.
I didn't remove it because the car failed on numerous other stuff, one of which is in the picture.
His argument was that it should only fail if it's directly in his view (it was under the rear view mirror), so it was directly in his view, and he still wasn't happy.
I then asked that if he had damage to his windscreen the size of his dash-cam did he think that would be a failure, which he replied "yes".
Cue silence before the penny dropped.
Today (another car)..
Only slightly obstructing the view of the road.
So daft.
I didn't remove it because the car failed on numerous other stuff, one of which is in the picture.
It's not them I worry about, it's the innocent people they'll crash in to.
Correct, insta fail.
God only knows why so many people just ignore the dash warning lights, when it should be quite obvious that they're there and on for a reason.
Just because they're all lit up and looking pretty isn't a good thing
