MOT Failure

[mymorph]

do garages have a quota on failing a cars MOT?

mine went in for a service & mot plus a few repairs (broken front spring)
i told them the springs needed replacing at the onset

i called to see if the car was ready and was told it would have tobe retested as it had failed the MOt for a broken spring which they had replaced! it subsequently passed later that day

just wondering if they are trying to reach or target or just stupid

 

[Gooner_Mike]

Just being stupid. My bet is they tested the car and forgot about you mentioning the spring....

 

[andycupra]

few reasons why they may have done this:

Firstly they could do the MOT first as then they could profit or accomodate any work that may have come up as a result as this would give them time to get any required parts etc.

Secondly they would look silly if they did a service then it failed the MOT afterwards... (although lets face it, a service doesnt actually include alot).

Thirdly, logistics..
Lets say they have an MOT bay, and a few service bays. They have a fairly full day and can only service or MOT so many cars at a time. It could be two cars are being serviced and the other is sitting there doing nothing. The MOT bay could be overly busy later on, or perhaps people may call in wanting an MOT. So it would make sense to be MOT first thing so that there isnt a rush later on as they can only process so many per hour..

Fourth: the MOT check could pretty much bdouble up as the inspection part of the service, then if nothing is found they simply do the lubrication filter changes and voila all done in record time.

Fifth, perhaps the MOT bay is not busy first thing, they may find people turn up for MOTs later on and so doing yours when bay is empty frees up capacity later for urgent MOTs.

and finally, lets face it, many members of the public dont know about cars, it is possible that it could have been something else, so actually they are being thorough confirming its the spring before doing the work. Imagine they had changed the spring and then called to say it was actually something else.


So, on the face of it they have been silly, but actually perhaps not. - Dont forget the retest is just for the affected part. They would likely just take a look under the arch and see its been changed. a few seconds.

 

[mymorph]

ive got no issues with the garage, i expect its to do with the workload management. i could just overhear them talking whilst on hold, about it needing tobe retested so it wasnt going to be ready for pick till later.. just seems abit odd.

 

[RUM4MO]

I'd hope that most main dealers would carry out the retest FOC so it would make most sense to do the work in this order as they would have the chance to pick up any other "emergant" work and contact you for the go ahead before moving the car into a repair bay.

 

[adam kelly]

when i do a service and mot il do the service first check it all in the air and stuff then after that road test it get it hot then mot it.its quicker that way as dont need to jack it up again when motin so more time to skiv lol

 

[Rory101]

The reason this happens is that garages are requred to MOT test cars as they are presented in order that the MOT people can build up statistics about the condition of cars on the road.

I got our Ibiza MOT'd in our village garage after a bad experience last year at a SEAT dealer. He said the car was fine but I was surprised when he gave me a Fail notice with the Pass. It had failed on headlamps being too low. But he tweaked them up (no charge) retested and passed it. He explained the "as presented" thing to me.

It's logical if you think about it - if the car came in and had all its necessry work done then no car would ever fail.

Franchised dealerships of all makes tend to use the MOT as a way of generating work - so testing it first suits them as it leaves time to complete any work shown up in the MOT.

 

[vroomtshh]

So, on the face of it they have been silly, but actually perhaps not. - Dont forget the retest is just for the affected part. They would likely just take a look under the arch and see its been changed. a few seconds.

The new MOT regs state that the full car must be retested

 

[andycupra]

The new MOT regs state that the full car must be retested

really.... well if thats true then nowhere i know is doing it correctly.

Also, why is there a partial retest fee? and many places dont charge at all within 7 days?

 

[vroomtshh]

really.... well if thats true then nowhere i know is doing it correctly.

Also, why is there a partial retest fee? and many places dont charge at all within 7 days?

Very possible.

Partial retest fee?

There are regs for what they can and cannot charge. From memory - £50 max cost of mot
free retest if car is left at the garage and work carried out for mot
free retest if car is returned within 10 working days - minor faults only
£25 retest if car is rteturned within 10 working days - major faults

Google for the MOT regs and it'll make it all clear

 

[Slimy]

The new MOT regs state that the full car must be retested

I don't believe that's correct. If it's taken off site, then yes it all should be retested (but usually doesn't). But if it gets repaired, then the retest only needs to take into account the failure.

The instructions are usually on the back of the fail sheet, explaining what needs to be done. It also explains what is chargeable. Some garages do forego the retest fee (full or partial) just for good customer service.

Whenever I've had cars in for work and an MOT (back when MOT certificates were hand written), they've done a 'fake' MOT first to find out if there is any additional work to be done. Then do the work, then just fill in the paperwork to pass the MOT. However, now the MOT test is all electronic, they may have to log the 'fake' one in order to charge time to it, then retest it afterwards.

 

[vroomtshh]

I don't believe that's correct. If it's taken off site, then yes it all should be retested (but usually doesn't). But if it gets repaired, then the retest only needs to take into account the failure.

The instructions are usually on the back of the fail sheet, explaining what needs to be done. It also explains what is chargeable. Some garages do forego the retest fee (full or partial) just for good customer service.

Whenever I've had cars in for work and an MOT (back when MOT certificates were hand written), they've done a 'fake' MOT first to find out if there is any additional work to be done. Then do the work, then just fill in the paperwork to pass the MOT. However, now the MOT test is all electronic, they may have to log the 'fake' one in order to charge time to it, then retest it afterwards.

I'm not 100% sure of all the regulations now so what you say may be right. Like you say it tells you on the sheet.

A lot of the changes are because its electronic now, and the car has to be logged in for a set amount of time depending on the failure

 

[DEAN0]

Very possible.

Partial retest fee?

There are regs for what they can and cannot charge. From memory - £50 max cost of mot
free retest if car is left at the garage and work carried out for mot
free retest if car is returned within 10 working days - minor faults only
£25 retest if car is rteturned within 10 working days - major faults

Google for the MOT regs and it'll make it all clear

Just wondering what the legal standing is on this returning the car to the MOT station.

If you take a car for an MOT and it fails - the car has no MOT and can not be driven on the road.
Even if you still have time on your old MOT - the latest test (and fail) overides the previous certificate because it provides new evidence of unroadworthiness.

 

[vroomtshh]

Just wondering what the legal standing is on this returning the car to the MOT station.

If you take a car for an MOT and it fails - the car has no MOT and can not be driven on the road.
Even if you still have time on your old MOT - the latest test (and fail) overides the previous certificate because it provides new evidence of unroadworthiness.

If your old MOT is still in date, then its still in date. It will show up as having failed when the police do a PNC check and you;d need to show your certificate

Whether you get charged, would depend on what it failed for. An MOT doesn;t prove roadworthiness or otherwise, so if you failed for two bald tyres for example, the car would be illegal to drive (even before it had failed the MOT)

 

[DEAN0]

If your old MOT is still in date, then its still in date. It will show up as having failed when the police do a PNC check and you;d need to show your certificate

Whether you get charged, would depend on what it failed for. An MOT doesn;t prove roadworthiness or otherwise, so if you failed for two bald tyres for example, the car would be illegal to drive (even before it had failed the MOT)

Makes sense.

I only asked cos the wife of a work colleague was told she couldn't take her car away from a failed MOT to get it fixed. The reason given was that the fail cancelled the current MOT so the car did not have an MOT on it and therefore could not be used on the road.

They didn't know and "took the risk" anyhow ( failed for split cv boot )

The law used to be - "you may drive a vehicle to the nearest MOT station without tax or MOT for the purposes of having an MOT test - the test must be pre-booked"

 

[vroomtshh]

The law used to be - "you may drive a vehicle to the nearest MOT station without tax or MOT for the purposes of having an MOT test - the test must be pre-booked"

That law is still the same. I was talking about if you failed while your current cert was in date.

If you fail an MOT, and your old MOT has expired, then its illegal to drive on the road.

No MOT isn't an endorsable offence though. Its a £30 fine (possibly £60 now)

 

[Slimy]

Don't forget, the MOT shows roadworthiness of the vehicle for the half an hour or so that it is being tested. It is quite possible to drive away with a brand spanking new MOT certificate and be stopped within five minutes and fined due to an unroadworthy car!

Here's one for the debate though. I know about being able to drive a car without an MOT to a pre-booked MOT test. But it is a common thought that even if it fails, it can still be driven home. Is that actually true?

 

[rbmike]

your best bet is to search the net and find a council run mot station where they test busses taxi police cars, they dont do repairs at these places so they dont fail your car for no reason to get themselves extra work, google it, there will be one some where near you im sure

 

[red_october]

VOSA will let you drive an HGV or PCV away from their test centre if it has failed an MOT test, but if it is for a serious defect like an air leak from a braking system or something like a steering fault then they will put conditions on you like stating that you must be suspend towed or taken on a low loader.