Cheap MOT, false economy?

Ahleckz

Ahleckz

Ahleckz

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Joined
7 Nov 2009
Posts
19,857
Location
Glasgow
So I've managed to keep a car long enough that it needs an mot. There are a few places, namely KwikFit and Arnold Clark offering 30 quid mots. I was of the impression that the garage pays around 50 quid to do them. So, is it pointless taking it to one of the cheap places as they are bound to find something dodgy? Or, are they all crooks?

Thoughts, views, opinions?


For context, the car is an 03 plate mx5 so I'm expecting a few things to be needed.
 
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If you know there's nothing wrong with the car then they're fine.

I don't think I've paid more than £30 for an mot in the past 5 years, other than failing on something stupid (on my part) like a wheel nut missing there have been no issues.

An mot is (should be) an mot
 
Avoid kwik fit, I used them for about 3 years (only for mot as it's cheap) with out issue, but had a right doo with them last time.
Basically they said I needed some work done, got the work done elsewhere and they failed it again on retest.. Took the car back to the garage that did the work and they retested mot'd it for free saying there was nothing wrong with it.

The story is more complex than that, but ,Avoid like the plague!
 
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IIRC £55 is the limit they are allowed to charge, but some places charge less than this with the intention to "drum up trade" (read "fail on things other places would give an advisory for").

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/mot-test-fees

If you're really concerned about them failing on things that are passable so they can charge you more to fix them, then maybe try one of the test centres that don't actually do any repairs themselves (if you have one nearby).
 
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If you are worried, take it to a council mot centre.



Glasgow
MOT Inspection Centre, 73 Hawthorn Street.
Tel: 01412 87 3326/3328

Google threw that one up for Glasgow.
 
My local Ford dealer does them for £35 and I've been using them for the last few years, no stupid advisories or fails either. Only mugs pay full price.
 
I always go for the cheapest possible MOT and I have never had a problem in over 10 years.

Why pay £55 for an MOT unless your car is under manufacturer warranty and you want to use the main dealer as a result?
 
I never take them to these big chain places. Everytime I (used to) they would rip me off


I take it to my school friends dads garage which is a locally run garage, charge £50, and is worth it
 
DJMK4 said:
I take it to my school friends dads garage which is a locally run garage, charge £50, and is worth it
Click to expand...

How is paying so much money for an MOT 'worth it'?

It's an MOT. You drive in. They check the car. You get a certificate. It is madness to pay any more for this thoroughly basic service than you have to. I usually pay £25 a go.
 
I have paid the maximum legally allowed for my last 2 MOTs. The reason - the garage picks the car up for me, tests it, washes it and returns it all while I'm at work. The test is the same regardless of cost, but saving my time is worthwhile.
 
[TW]Fox;27083382 said:
How is paying so much money for an MOT 'worth it'?

It's an MOT. You drive in. They check the car. You get a certificate. It is madness to pay any more for this thoroughly basic service than you have to. I usually pay £25 a go.
Click to expand...

Not seen any places round here that charge £25, and I take it to him because he is the only garage I go to, and to be honest I make the money back anyway when he undercharges be for things like repairs, some of the servicing for the stamp.

£50 is his going rate for most MOT's, like a lot of garages are.

I paid a couple of chain run places before and they take the mick with these £30 MOT's, failing on stuff which when checked by other people, and a couple of garages) as I wanted to find out if I was going mad, said shouldnt have failed on. Im not the only person I know that experiences this sometimes

Whats an extra £25 for peace of mind that you know your not going to get ripped off?
 
DJMK4 said:
Not seen any places round here that charge £25
Click to expand...

http://cardiffmotcentre.co.uk/ £25

http://www.halfordsautocentres.com/...7S9tO43RZq0EAgwSsJhpCLbXPvvIYWTDH_BoCwvrw_wcB £29.95

etc

Every city has plenty of places that offer MOT's at less than the maximum. Think about it - why pick a place that charges the maximum they can possibly charge?

By being so worried about being 'ripped off' all you are doing is ensuring you *are* ripped off by paying more than you need to for an MOT.

Even some of the franchised main dealers dont charge £55 for an MOT.
 
Like I said, I pick this one through personal preference, I know his reliable, have been using him for 10 years, known his business for 20 years and through the work he has done through family, help rebuilding my dads old classic cars when he had them.

I tend to save money on anything else they do for me (repairs) charge me a lower labour rate, and even get some quick things done for nothing. I source my own parts for repairs getting them at trade price with a discount, a lot of garages sometimes wont let you do that.

So I dont mind paying the extra £25. Last 3 MOT's have all gone through no problems with only some minor advisories, as I said when I have taken them to places like KwikFit, and I think the other one was ATS, they failed and when checked by a few people shouldnt have really failed on them.


Personal experience and preference, nothing else
 
So I took it to KwikFit, as they could get me in today and my mot runs out later this week. It failed on this:

Offside rear lower (sill holed within 30cm of lower seat belt anchorage point) seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded. [5.2.6].

Guy seems to think it's a straight forward welding job, assume it'll be pretty cheap and straight forward for any welders shop?

Oh, and I didn't realise I had a bulb gone so it failed there too, but that's a simple fix. Taught me to look at my lights in future though!
 
Would be interesting to see a pic of the damage.

Checking lights I thought was the minimum one would do before an MOT :p
 
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