MOT - still need to be careful in Derby

[Hadders]

Just a word of warning to the unsuspecting

I took my 68 for MOT a few weeks back, relatively confident that it would pass. It failed last year, but only on steering damper and handbrake, so minor stuff, and it's since had a csp disc kit up front, all new suspension along with a few other bits and bobs.

Anyway, it failed , with a page and a half of issues, ranging from unbalanced brakes, knackered ball joints, rotted chassis, and more.

It's not a fair weather van, but it only really gets used from April - Oct, so it gets no salt, so whilst it's no show winner underneath, it's not getting significantly worse either.

Decided a second opinion was worthwhile, took it to a place in Litchfield, used by someone who will be well known to many of you on here, and it passed first time, with just an advisory on the handbrake.

I won't name the culprits, but if I say they're between Little Eaton and Kilburn, that'll narrow it down for the locals.

Just be careful, there are still some unscrupulous feckers out there eager for your cash

 

[67westy]

Shocking, were they expecting you to use them for the repairs? I always take my cars to a local garage I trust or a local place that only does MOT's so they aren't after the repair work

 

[Bobster]

Can you not report the garage as that's shocking !

 

[Tofufi]

Report them

 

[gvee]

Hmmm... I wouldn't be so quick as to report them, because you might actually get the garage that passed it in some hot water if they weren't being as strict as VOSA would have liked!

The failing garage might have been stung in the past, which is why they're being overly cautious. Either that or they hate the fact that it's not got a diagnostics port, so leaves them scratching their heads

Have you checked out the areas the first garage highlighted? Any chassis rot should be marked (usually with a yellow chalk/pen) so you can see for yourself whether they were being wholly unreasonable or not.

 

[Guest]

if you think that bad i was failed on a whole host of things at a government test centre. Here in N.I all tests are carried out by civil servant mechanics so are heavily regulated and in one or two main locations in each county. I had a list of failures as long as my arm, lights not working [that clearly were] handbrake which was actually within 2% tolerance which is better than most modern cars. oil leak etc.

When the guy got in i knew he was going to fail me, he was fumbling about and i showed him how the handbrake and gear change worked. I was only trying to help him and his reply was a cheeky "who's driving this vehicle?" i replied "if you talk to me like that again there will be an ambulance driving you our of here"

I reported him as soon as i got out the back entrance, called over his manager who apologised, went over the results and passed me on the spot.

 

[Hadders]

i'm fairly sure they were trying it on - I'd never used them before but noticed a few buses in their car park when I cycled past so thought I'd give them a go. Previously I've used a garage that just do mechanicals, this new place also do welding and have a spray shop, so draw your own conclusions.

if I say citrus valley you'll know who looked at it before it went to the second tester. He did some work on the bus last year, so knew it fairly well and was 'surprised' it had failed.

i did look underneath with the tester - i think he thought I knew even less than I do, saw a big engine, discs etc and thought it was payday. You're right, I should report them.

Just thought it was worth sharing that there are still one or two in it for the money despite the general cleaning up within the 'scene'

 

[SiDev]

I think the moral of this story is to be careful and use who you trust, if something seems dodgy, get a second opinion.
Last week a mate put his Jag XF into a local place in Whitstable that he's used before, they failed it on rear suspension and quoted nearly £1000 to put it right. Sounded odd to me, so I phoned a mate who owns a garage and she took it for an MOT at the test centre she uses and it passed, a couple of advisories but no mention of rear suspension. My mate couldn't believe it, just as well he mentioned it, that was a thousand-pound conversation. He went on to tell me that last year his wife had to have some suspension work done on her Focus for the MOT, looking back it seems they're just fucking thieves.

 

[MarkC68]

Theres only one garage between Kilburn & Little Eaton & theyre at Kilburn Toll bar nr the petrol station (careful use of near)..I used to live on Barley Close in Little Eaton!

Is Graham still going at the garage across from The New Inn?

 

[Moseley]

It hasn't been said yet, but when they failed your van, did you not ask them to show you all the things that were wrong with it?

I personally loiter around whilst they're testing, and they can show me anything as they find it. It seems a bit bizarre that you'd walk out of a place with a list of failure points as long as your arm, but without asking them to show you any of the problems...

 

[Hadders]

Mosley - sound advice, and what i would normally do, but it's all sectioned off so I just sat down in the reception - a bit daft with hindsight. He did show me the stuff, which looked ok to me, but to be honest, a lot of it seems to come down to interpretation of the rules, which I have no experience of, so whilst it seemed dodgy, I wasn't really able to argue. Ironically, they have a massive 'trusted traders', or whatever it's called, sign outside.

Regardless, the lesson is still clear - there are still some dodgy buggers out there who will happily do you over. Rarer these days I think but they're there.

Mark - if your use of near is what I think it is, you're spot on!! Not sure who graham is, I haven't noticed a garage across from the New Inn, although I dont go that way often