Legal Advice Required Re: MOT's! (Dodgy!!!)

[Darren156]

Guys,

I dropped my car in to get its MOT earlier this week at a garage in Bristol, and need some advice.

Basically, I dropped the car off on the Tuesday, was told that it would cost about £150, then yesterday I got a call late morning saying it would cost about £200, then got another call saying it would cost about £250. I agreed as I am selling the car anyway and need an MOT. (It's a Fiat Punto)

Anyway, I picked the car up and drove it home telling them they would get a cheque for the work next week. Once I got home I decided to check to see if the brake light that I know wasn't working had miraculously started working again; Nope, still out. Also there was ZERO screen wash in the car either. Aren't these MOT fails???? To add insult to injury the invoice is now at £270 inc VAT!!!

On top of that, the MOT slip says the car PASSED at 8:23AM, is it legal to pass a car that isn't MOT satisfactory??? How come these blokes have done work on the car AFTER it passed the MOT? It also says yes regarding an advisory slip, which I haven't been given.

I'm guessing the MOT tester hasn't even seen my car and that the garage where I take it is just getting the slips printed out and then taking it upon themselves to do whatever work they want and whatever they think they can get away with.

Has anybody had a problem like this in the past? What should I do?

As it is I now have to get the brake light sorted myself even though some bloke wants £270 of my cash for getting it through an MOT, where as far as I can tell it's STILL not in an MOT passable condition due to the severe lack of screenwash (As in there isn't any!) and the fact a brake light's out.

The work done was a new exhaust, adjust rear brakes, and fit new front brake pipes, and bleed brakes, how the hell does all that come to £270? I feel I'm being taken for a mug here.

I didn't want to take it to this garage in the first place but sadly my exhaust DID fall off on his site so I left it with him. He text me saying he had rigged the exhaust back up and that all was well and that he would be sticking it through test Friday. Friday comes and the exhaust fails so I need a new one, AFTER it passed an MOT?

What can I do???

Suggestions and advice really appreciated!!!!

[Geoff.F]

MOT, Parts and 3 hours work equals at least £270.
Always get a definite price and only allow extra work to be done with it specified and a quote otherwise it all adds up too quickly.
My Clio failed the MOT last week due to movement of the steering wheel. At home I found the cause to be the steering column lower UJ fitting. An exchange column was to be £280 plus £170 to fit + VAT. Time for the car to have a one way trip up Harbury Lane to the Scrappie.
On removing the column it was evident that two pins thru the shaft and UJ were sheared. Under the drill and 2 roll pins from the tool box. Total cost about 10p and a few cans of OSH ( plus a few aches in joints not exercised for many years).
Geoff F.

[Darren156]

Yes, but how can the MOT pass its test at 8:23AM and I'm told at 10AM that it failed???

[Green Squirrel]

Darren are you sure that the time stated is when it passed the test or the time when the failure notice was issued? If the garage then carried out the repairs in time they could get back to the MOT centre in time to get it retested and so qualify for the reduced fee.

[Darren156]

There isn't a fauilure sheet, all I have is a pass sheet with 8.30AM as the time of passing, and the emissions pass sheet with a 7.20AM time of passing. It also states I was issued an advisory sheet, but I haven't gotten one.

[Mark L]

Anyway, I picked the car up and drove it home telling them they would get a cheque for the work next week. Once I got home I decided to check to see if the brake light that I know wasn't working had miraculously started working again; Nope, still out. Also there was ZERO screen wash in the car either. Aren't these MOT fails??

Suggestions and advice really appreciated!!!!

Brake light bulbs can fail at any time, they may well have changed it and it's gone again indicating a wiring type fault.

It's not the job of the MOT tester to check or top up your screen wash bottle, only check the actual washers themselves work. there may have just been enough screen wash left when the car was tested - hence it passed.

[Rob Bell]

All the above is certainly possible - and sound reasonable. Indeed this is how things could have played out. But it seems odd that the date and time don't tally with what you've been told, and I certainly can't blame you of being suspicious.

I don't know, but one option may be to contact your local Office of Fair Trading to see whether there have been complaints raised against the garage in question in the past - but I am not sure that you'll have much recourse at this time, and you've got the fresh MoT... I guess your question is whether the ticket is worth the paper it's printed on?

[vain]

If you have doubts about the MOT then you should first consult the station that did it for an explanation and a breakdown of the cost. If you are still not happy tell them you are going to log a complaint with the ministry.
Last year my sister bought a car from a garage that sold it with a FULL MOT which was done an hour before she picked it up, the exhaust was like a cullinder and there was a disturbing clunking coming from the front end. She brought it round and i found the brake caliper lower pin was missing so it was flopping around. When i asked her why she had accepted it in the first place she said that it was noted on the test drive and the garage had assured her that if it was serious it would be picked up on the MOT.
I contacted the garage for her and they were quite short with me and didnt want to know about the faults but when i mentioned informing the ministry about them they agreed to collect it and put it right straight away.

[Mike1]

You can now check online to see the MOT history of the car. If it really failed a test it will be logged.

[Flying Pig]

Yes, check the Mot history online at the VOSA site, the car has to be logged on with them before the test is started and if a fail was issued it will be recorded. as you are unhappy register a complaint about this testing station and they will be investigated. brake lights are known to be problems (i had one that went out during the test, having just replaced the bulb and was found to be a loose holder) The washers only need to work, there is no requirement to fill the bottle. i know it is easy to be wise after the event but you should ALLWAYS get a firm price for the work befor agreeing to anything, it would have been cheaper to have someone else price it and pay for a retest. they must also give you the failure sheet < advisory sheet and emissions records too.