Bury St Edmunds ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL, Olding Road, Off Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3TA 01284 757458
Chelmsford Chelmsford City Council MOT Testing, Drovers Way, Chelmsford CM2 5PH 01245 615800
Lowestoft Waveney District Council MOT Testing Centre, Rotterdam Road, Lowestoft NR32 2EF 01502 565626
Luton Fleet Transport, Central Depot, Kingsway, Luton LU4 8AU 01582 546839
Norwich Norfolk County Services MOT Testing, 280 Fifers Lane, Norwich NR6 6EQ 01603 894346
South West England:
Bodmin Central Group Centre, Castle Canyke Road, Bodmin PL31 1DZ 01872 327 827
Dorchester Fleet Services, Charminster Depot, 1 Wanchard Lane, Charminster, Dorchester, DT2 5RP 01305 228104
Redruth Cornwall Transport Organisation Engineering, Western Group Centre, Radnor Road, Scorrier, Redruth TR16 5EH 01872 327252
Southern and South East England:
Andover Test Valley Borough Council, Portway Depot, Macadam Way, Andover SP10 3XW 01264 368000
Guildford Woking Road Depot, Woking Road, Guildford GU1 1QE 01483 445091
Milton Keynes Synergy Park, Chesney Wold, Bleak Hall, Milton Keynes, MK6 1LY 01908 252845
Hedge End Eastleigh Borough Council, Hedge End Depot, Botley Road, Hedge End SO30 2RA 023 8068 8389
Redhill Reigate and Banstead Borough Council MOT Centre, Horley Road, Redhill RH1 6PN 01737 276650/13
Southampton City Depot, First Avenue, Millbrook, Southampton SO15 0LJ 023 8083 4363
London:
Croydon Factory Lane, Croydon CR0 3RL 020 8255 2758
East Ham Newham Council MOT Centre, Central Depot, Jenkins Lane IG11 0AD 020 8472 0343
Epping Forest Langston Road, Debden IG10 3UE 020 8532 0357
Hounslow Bridge Rd Depot, Pears Rd, Hounslow TW3 1SQ 020 8583 5430
King's Cross York Way Depot, Freight Lane, York Way, London N1C 4BE 020 7974 3447
Poplar Blackwall Transport Complex, 1 Silvocea Way, London E14 0JJ 020 7364 1069
Thamesmead Greenwich Council Fleet Management, Birchmere Depot, Eastern Way, London SE28 8BF 020 8921 4561
Wandsworth 1 Dormay Street, Frogmore Complex, London SW18 1EY 020 8871 6761
Top comments
bbbazman
8 Jan 1732#1
Nice to see this again. Voted hot, as usual.
True about the honesty part, although I'm really looking for the opposite, that way I might get a pass. :man:
ether707
8 Jan 1721#10
I don't get it .Whats the deal?
jordon1
8 Jan 179#13
Depends how you look at it.
They wont repair your vehicle, so wont go out for their way to fail it like some bad garages do. However, most charge the full VOSA test fee of £54.65 at the moment. Alot of places will also have limited availability due to taxi testing/licensing checks and their own fleet vehicles taking up alot of the day so getting a suitable appointment.
Find a good local garage, build up a repor with them. I am on first name terms with my local garage (i only use them 3 or 4 times a year for tests as i do all my own mechanical work), charge £45 which isn't cheap either (some garages within 10miles of me do tests for £30), but i can trust them to do an honest fair test and they are on my door step. They even know how to correctly test my kit cars, whereas other garages failed it on emissions (doesnt need an emissions test) etc.
ezzer72
8 Jan 176#29
That's uber expensive :wink:
Latest comments (212)
rok263
17 Jun 17#212
I take mine and my wife car to my local council MOT centre, both of the cars we have owned for many years. Previously I had a string of what I can only term suspicious failures at MOT garages that also did vehicle repairs. Since having the MOTs carried out at a local council MOT centre. I have had one failure in 5 years, a blown bulb in a side light. I replaced the bulb and 1/2 hr later the car was passed the MOT with no additional charge. So a 1 in 10 failure rate, when previously I was seeing a 5 in 10 failure rate, on what were then newer cars. So for me the numbers speak for themselves, my now older cars are passing MOT's without the need for any repairs, or very minor repairs. I have no doubt in my mind I have saved myself £100's in unnecessary repair bills, to get my car through an MOT. Your mileage may vary, but for me it's clear, taking your car to an MOT centre where they do repairs, and have an absolute vested interest in gaining additional repair work is likely to lead to additional unnecessary costs. I personally think all MOT centres should be run by the local authority and be separate and disassociated from any vehicle repair facility, and until that happens people are going to be ripped off, by unscrupulous garages.
Jnoosh
27 May 17#211
This is a myth. Many local authority test centres have much higher than average mot fail rates.
HistoricDealer
22 Mar 17#210
Local ford accident repair centre does them for £25. Never failed mine. £25 saved each year over this non-deal
MisterMadHatter
22 Mar 17#209
Well you learn the hard way. I think most people have been stung by these big outfitters at some point. They're on commission to find work and if they can't then they make it up. 'You need a new exhaust' is a common one. I would never take my car to a nationwide garage anymore. Not only do they rob you but they're completely inept 'mechanics' and end up breaking stuff. All you need to do is spend some time and find a decent local mechanic that's been going for a few years. If there's an old guy working there then that's a good sign. They do exist and it's worth researching (asking neighbours/work colleagues, looking online, etc). I pay £20 for my MOT and it rarely fails. Once you've built up a good report with the garage then you're sorted for life.
Wolf2010
22 Mar 17#208
Only one thing would like to say is that STAY AWAY FROM KWIKFIT...THEY ARE THE BIGGEST ROBBERS .
amour3k
21 Mar 17#207
WOW!, interesting you say that ...
1 or 2 other people I know, have highlighted around 'similar' in the past too?!, hmmmmmmmmm. :-(
Scary that .....
amour3k
21 Mar 17#206
Hahahahahaha, it's an interesting offer nonetheless, huh?, lol. ;-)
toymotor
21 Mar 17#205
the center at South Shields has one too but the tester is a twisty faced miserable old sod, so I'd avoid that one. It does have a reputation as a tough test.
Wolf2010
21 Mar 17#204
Totally agree ....KWIKFIT is the worst one they have never ever passed mine at first time. It's always after a hefty bill of repairs .
To attract customers they do MOT for as low as £25 . But that's only a Bait to charge customers 100s of pounds.
Bladyblah
21 Mar 17#203
Very few garages will pass your car on a mot test without needing something ,the usual con is wiper blades.One time I fiited new wiper bades and they still said I needed.I used the council for years and my cars sailed through.I have at last found a local trustworthy Garage and get my cars serviced and MOT at the same time without any problems.
SillyFencer
7 Mar 17#202
I get why this is better... they don't fix your car, so they have no reason to fail you in order to get the work. However, I've got a couple of thoughts.
If I think my car will pass with no work required, then surely I am better off going somewhere where they offer half price MOT?
If I think my car will fail and require work, then surely I am better off going somewhere that can do the work for me, or else I'll need to take it away, get the work done and take it back while paying another MOT fee?
Interesting. An oil leak should only be an advisory. If that really. Just look at certain car parks where the oil drips stain the road surface and you'll see a common pattern. Lots of cars leak oil, and it's really difficult to keep 4 litres of oil in something that's mechanical, has lots of parts, and is serviceable. Also oil these days is designed to have a viscosity to pass through tight tolerances between moving parts - if it didn't it wouldn't lubricate.
joesmum
21 Jan 17#198
there is a voucher in the, er, cough, Sun today for an MOT for £10 at Halfords. Not that I will be going there, always use a backstreet garage which I trust!
trevcjohnson
20 Jan 17#197
I live near the Redhill authority place but never felt the need to take a car there, I use a place I trust not far from there, they do an honest MOT, will fail the car if it needs to fail and will repair it if it needs repairing, no hassle. There are plenty of trustworthy places around without resorting to doing an authority MOT.
s24adm
19 Jan 17#196
no, being helpful isn't a "deal", it's advice.
horsey
17 Jan 17#195
Is there any site that recommends garages? it's just that I've found a great one and would like to pass it on.
Burr_ger
17 Jan 171#194
Decided to take my car in for an MOT at a different garage to one i normally use as they had a SPECIAL OFFER, £25 for a MOT. The car has never failed an MOT or received any advisories but i get the call to say my emissions are off the charts and the spacing on my number plate is slightly out. Requires a new catalytic converter, estimated cost £2000 to put right :confused: rebooked the car into my normal garage and it passed with flying colours and no advisories.
Cheaper is not always better, if you have a good relationship with a garage then go back there, if not then these council MOT testing centres is where you need to go as you know you will not get ripped off. A lot of us are not mechanically minded and going to these council testing centres means you are safe in the knowledge that you have had a fair test.
KareemSaid
16 Jan 17#193
Why does it bother people like you? If it's helpful isn't it a deal?
Lot of people like you on this site who you can always tell who the teacher's pet / grass are.
You should just report before exposing your true character. Bit sad lol
flashjohny
16 Jan 17#192
I always get my MOTs done at the dealer (toyota in my case). Never had any issues so far. Most expensive component was a bulb at £2.95.
Tucalito
16 Jan 17#191
I didn't know there were people interested in impartial MOTs. I thought we are all interested in passing the MOT, though.
therealjohnpeat
15 Jan 171#190
TOTAL waste of time - really - don't bother doing this.
The MOT is a safety check - they look for really obvious faults like missing safety equipment, worn-out brakes or rusted-through suspension components as well as doing an emissions check - it is in NO way a 'used car check'.
I'm not a fan of those checks either but they're FAR more useful than an MOT. My main problem with theses services is that they offer NO comeback - if they miss something, they do no accept any responsibility for that - and miss things they do.
If you have a regular garage you use, they may be a good place to ask if you want a 2nd-opinion but what sort of car are we talking about here?
Is it a 12-year-old shed, a <5-year-old car with some warranty or a premium marque/sports car which a specialist would look at?
Generally, my advice is to buy from somewhere local so it's easy to go back if you have issues and buy with your eyes-open. When I say "eyes open", any used-car will have issues, some have a lot more than others and generally you should expect some issues and be prepared for that. As-soon-as you get it, take it for a few drives, try EVERYTHING on it and generally try to find any issues as quickly as possible.
Whatever people think - whatever warranties and other cover they may have, once you've owned a car for a few weeks it's YOURS, warts and all**** - so you need to find anything amiss ASAP
If they find the car unroadworthy, you'd return it for a refund anyway so that's not an issue BUT that's also not how MOTs work.
If the car has a 12 month MOT and you take it for another MOT straight-away and it fails, you have until the earlier pass expires to correct any faults (as far as the DVLA is concerned - your insurer might disagree with your driving a car with known faults tho) -
A failed MOT does not condemn a car instantly - only when it's existing MOT runs-out - but not my comment about driving a car with 'known faults' being unwise for many, many reasons.
**** yes, I'm keenly aware of consumer law but in the real world, once you've used a car you'll have a devil of a time walking away from it and either end-up fixing it or selling it at a loss
brooky
15 Jan 17#189
You need fuel for every trip? Think that's a bit OTT to be honest
flip_star
14 Jan 17#188
I went to the one in Stonehaven Scotland and there were a few minor things i fixed myself easily. Took it back and it flew through Don't believe the person who says big commercial places ignore small things. The opposite is true. In fact just pick up a second hand haynes manual and do this to save a LOT of money. Esp if ur car isn't a computer on wheels designed so u can;t even touch anything.
simonbrowne
13 Jan 17#187
I am geting my (new) used car from a dealer ( big name but i dont trust any dealer) who has just done their own MOT test to sell the car.
I now want to take it to a MOT test center to get it checked independently. I want a thorough test done so any problems are found.
Guess I could get the RAC or AA to do a check otherwise.
Are there any other suggestions for getting a car checked when buying a used car?
edit
Seems the mot route may not be best as if it fails the car is then consider unroadworthy and dvlc is notified. I thought I could get it done and approach the dealer with the problems but still be able to use it till i got the items fixed using the original mot.
I might just take it to a local garage people have recommended and get them to give it a once over..
janz70
13 Jan 17#186
not a deal - just info, should be in misc
its not like they are doing it cheap
thecoolguy
12 Jan 17#185
Like my Decatted CLS55 that has the same emissions as a 1.2 corsa which so happens to be in the same garage for an MOT :confused:
therealjohnpeat
12 Jan 172#184
The funny thing about emissions is that IF your car fails, it's probably using a LOT more fuel than it should be. As this is a money-saving forum, you might want to actually fix that although emissions problems can be intermittent meaning one place will fail it and another will pass it correctly depending on what's going-on.
Many things on the MOT are 'personal opinion' - things like the state of suspension/brakes/sills etc. will sometimes be failed by one tester and just 'advisoried' by another. It's rare that a tester will fail something that someone else won't at least consider an issue BUT another tester might lean to an advisory rather than a fail and then there's the "phoned in" MOT, of course.
A good tester, IMO, is looking at the whole car and the level of care it has seen. Borderline issues on a car which is clearly being maintained are less worrying that borderline issues on a car where the owner never looks under the bonnet or has it serviced. Cars presented by mechanics are also generally seen more favourably than those presented by the public (because any issues can be blamed on the mechanic instead of the tester)
p.s. the 'upsell' you want to avoid here isn't that work is required - it's the extent of that work.
Example: a leaking shock can be replaced but some places will tell you it's "a good idea to replace all the springs and shocks on the axle/whole car". That's not untrue - refreshing everything isn't a bad idea but it's not necessary for safety/the MOT - it MIGHT be cost-effective in the long-run tho, depending on your car.
My local finds another exhaust pipe to stick the probe into if it fails emissions.
joanne10
12 Jan 171#180
Well I've no complaints with the Doncaster council MOT they are thorough our car is there well over an hour. Before we went to the local garages and they weren't even 5 minutes although cheaper for the test there was always a list of faults bulbs out, wipers or something. Even VOSA got involved and sorted them out for ripping customers off and not doing a proper MOT. Turns out the break pads were about bold and they didn't even check them.
I think the council MOT one is about £38.00 now and we are happy they do a thorough test. I know you can get MOTs done cheaper but when you have bad experiences from some garages I'd rather have things done properly so don't mind paying £8 more :smiley:
Picard123
12 Jan 17#179
I went to my local authority MOT testing place a couple of years ago.
Rip off £55 charge and they completely missed a broken spring in the suspension.
Not good quality!!!
Much cheaper and more reliable MOTs elsewhere.
therealjohnpeat
11 Jan 173#178
Remember at school when you failed those TESTs they made you take? You probably raged at the teachers who could've moved the decimal place/multiple-choice-answer/crayon marks? Same idea with the MOT really - I guess some teachers might have but these teachers don't ;0
That list of things you seem to think you need to pay an expert to check/fix here are mostly things you should be checking WAY more often than yearly - hell, some of this stuff should be checked EVERY time you use your car...
1 - external lights must work (reversing lights aren't in the MOT but check them anyway for safety's sake!)
2 - water from washers and wiping by wipers is important (just on the windscreen but safety suggests you check others you may have!!)
3 - tyres should be the right ones, with tread on them and air in them - this really is an 'every trip' thing!!
4 - fuel and oil are important and should in their proper holes (again, an 'every trip essential')
5 - locks/door handles/seat releases - anything needed for anyone to get out of the car - must work to get away from the crash you have because someone else had no wipers/lights/fuel/oil etc.
There's a bit of mechanical stuff underneath the bonnet/frame to consider but don't worry, so-long-as the car's been regularly serviced by a professional they'll have have raised those issues with you at the appropriate time instead of waiting until you needed an annual test...
So there's a bit of a motto here - check your car works properly before driving it instead of waiting for a once-a-year-test because you and other people may otherwise die and that's kinda stupid.
simonturner69
11 Jan 17#177
Sorry your garage doesn't replace a bulb for you, that you didn't notice had gone.
Perhaps find yourself a friendly garage next time. :smiley:
Then again, I am sure you have a 500 point checklist all ticked off, before you take it down and pay your £50. :laughing:
therealjohnpeat
11 Jan 171#176
An MOT tester cannot and must not remove or replace anything on your car - they cannot even remove underbody trays (they will simply note where inspection was impossible due to them being in-the-way) - the only tool they're allowed is the 'pointy screwdriver of rust detection', otherwise they are NOT supposed to fix problems, just record them.
Your local garage may inspect your car BEFORE the MOT or they may rectify faults after the MOT (failure - must be recorded) and retest it (hopefully passing) but they are NOT supposed to do the test and fixes at the same time.
The test is not a "let's fix this lazy ****'s car for them' session - it's an inspection of your car's roadworthiness and any problems should be recorded on a 'fail' for future owners to see that a mechanical incompetent has owned the car before ;0
and as others have said, the MOT tells you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the mechanical state or reliability of a car - tho many people seem to think it's some sort of 'guarantee of goodness', which is quite funny. The now-available-online failure history of cars is VERY interesting tho, as it highlights where a car has been owned by someone who finds bulbs 'a bit complicated' (and therefore probably didn't check oil or anything else either - e.g. don't buy it)
plodging
11 Jan 17#175
National tyres doing them for £27.50 , presumably it will be "national" I wouldn't pay the £60 or whatever the council want again .. Had mine done at 2 main dealers for £25 in previous years with no issues .
buds4flip
11 Jan 17#174
Any idea about the cost of MOT in Bristol? Do they have a contact number to book an appointment?
plodging
11 Jan 17#173
I wish my car was 2012 or later :smiley:
T2000Bill
11 Jan 172#172
If you take a car in with a blown bulb and empty water bottle you deserve to fail as that is just lazy and can be done by yourself, it amazes me how many people don't give their car a cursory check over before taking it for MOT, I even plug all the belts in beforehand and clean out the car.
Here in N.I. we have the government test and they don't fix cars so it is in your own interest to make sure any small niggles are sorted and not rely on the tester to find them, there are a lot of garages over here that do pre mot checks for £20 and they wash underneath as well as the testers dislike oily cars.
I personally do my own repairs but there are some things that you just can't test yourself, they have a shock machine for imbalance on shocks and a rig that twists the whole car to find worn bushes etc, I would rather have it failed by a government test as I know it genuinely needs doing.
When I lived in England I took an old Audi 80 that I had kept in top condition to the local MOT test and they failed it on wishbone bushes, little did they know I knew my stuff and had replaced them for MOT, 5 mins after a small discussion that I was a spanner monkey and a receipt for the parts they backtracked and said 'Oh we'll let it slide as there is only a small amount of movement', yeah right!!
I'd rather have a strict test and know that my car is safe for me, my occupants and other road users.
julieallen
11 Jan 17#171
Of course its impossible for a bulb to go on the way to the test station isn't it? Its extremely rare any of my cars ever fail on something I wasn't aware they might fail on.
izzysmum
11 Jan 17#170
Testers have their own ideas on what will cause the car to be un-road worthy. One of our cars failed on emmisions, got a second mot which it failed on loads of stuff but not emmisions! Took it back to the first test centre and they just retested emmisions and passed it... What the flip. First test centre failed it (guessing because the engine was cold), second garage handed me an estimate for £780 for the work to fix failures.
Spam101
11 Jan 172#169
If you can't even be arsed to do a few simple checks a few days before you take it down. Bulbs, oil and your washer bottle checks itself for christ sake! then your deserve to fail.
Spam101
11 Jan 17#168
You still got done, could get a whole pack of eurolec bulbs for that.
Spam101
11 Jan 17#167
The Council have doubled the cost of the MOT in Salford now, It's £60 I believe now and I think £20 for a retest. That's the only place I'm aware of in Manchester that let's your bring in a public vehicle.
Not sure if it's worthwhile anymore... but I do have 5 advisories from last time :'(
simonturner69
11 Jan 172#166
£50 for a bit of paper?
No thanks, find yourself a proper local, friendly garage that will actually bother replacing a brake light bulb and pass it for you.
Mattio
11 Jan 17#165
I concur with this, I went to one in Devon and was failed for 4 or 5 things, took it to the garage and they said it would have passed!
Darkle
11 Jan 17#164
What a stand up citizen.
brooky
11 Jan 17#163
Whatever floats your boat
M1LFHunter
11 Jan 171#162
I love it when people think their car's OK if it passes the MOT
therealjohnpeat
11 Jan 17#161
Technically he's correct to do that if your car is 2012-or-later and had a TPMS system as standard.
Warning lights feature in the MOT depending on age and other conditions but generally they must illuminate and extinguish (the details of exactly when/how different cars do this are available to MOT testers) - so another common failure is lights which simply never come on (because they're removed or blanked-out)
A 'thorough' MOT might not always be quite what you were hoping for - tho I've seen a few cases where a missing light transpired to be a faked/bodged-out airbag and finding that BEFORE you go through the windscreen was probably a good thing (you can replace an airbag with a resistor - tho it's less effective at saving your life!!)
DizzyDaisy
10 Jan 17#160
I have to agree about them being thorough!!
Told my friend who lives in Cambridge to seek out his local council garage. He did, went to them 3 years Ina row, great service but 4 years running, got a repair bill for some £450'ish every year plus MOT cost. At the Cambridge centre, Mark says they carry out the works too. So he was £1400+ Over 3 years, the 5th year, they handed him a bill for £800 on a car that was perhaps worth £1200. He then took it to a local family business, a mile or so from the council garage and is based in Cherry Hinton. He was handed a £55 charge for his Mot and extra work required? NO. Just a new tyre!!!!
I was gobsmacked!!
So as much as I like our local council centres, I just wouldn't take an older car there, they are indeed very thorough!
canitinwadhwa82
10 Jan 17#159
Halfords charge 30£ and they are quite honest, I am getting from them for last 3 years
Bad Actor
10 Jan 17#158
Anyone in the Milton Keynes area I recommend you go here:-
>>>clicky<<<
I was always getting ripped off with discount MOT deals then they would fail it for some obscure suspension issue and charge upwards of £200 to fix and give me my certificate.
Did this for over 20 years.
Found this place based on recommendations and awards etc and the first time I took it there they did a full service and MOT coming in at under £100, they had to replace a bulb as well.
Took my car back in November as the anti roll bar bolt had sheared causing a worrying knocking noise, they stuck it up on the ramp to have a look, said that's ok as long as you don't drive like Schumacher and they'd sort it when in for MOT in January.
Gave me a price so I could budget and they'd sort it out when booked in 3 months later.
I expect a lot of places would take a sharp intake of breath and say it's a death trap unless it's fixed immediately.
Good guys, recommended if you are in Milton Keynes neck of the woods. :smiley:
Darkle
10 Jan 17#157
This is exactly why I just go to a garage I trust. I have a 14 year old car that I use for town trips only, and I've had plenty of cases where the garage has passed me and just let me know that something may be needing fixed soon.
I get it with the whole "Garages must want to fail you because they want to do chargeable work on your car." but I've often found that these MOT centers are very strict jobsworths about minor problems.
Fail it I don't really get how these are a deal. if your car fails its because you didn't maintain it.
When was the last time your car failed the MOT and you had repairs there.? Most folks will shop around for the repair.
If folks learned how stuff works it would be a much easier world, and I wouldn't keep getting dazzled by wonky headlights.
I did some MOT training when I did my service and repair nvq, they always used to say if it doesn't look maintained - eg not undersealed, brake pipes left to corrode , iffy tyres, then obviously the owner doesn't really care so err on the side of fail if you aren't 100% and make them repair it for safety sake.
You can't fail a car because there's nothing wrong with it, you can fail it because you go by the book.
morrig
9 Jan 17#151
Go to Hale garage Liverpool for years with my 19 year old Ka mot ,give it a good check before and only do low mileage and have been lucky up till now,due next month.
Hope hav'nt tempted fate!
Always go to a garage that does not charge a re-test fee as the cheapo ones usually charge more for that than the mot.
Master G
9 Jan 171#150
4K miles a year? I walk further than that.
shidahmid
9 Jan 17#149
Gay none in York :disappointed:
JoeyJoeC
9 Jan 17#148
Sorry, was I advertising the garage to others? I didn't realise.
paul.jacobs
9 Jan 17#147
Never had a problem at my local kwikfit every other year when my Clio needs an MOT and not needing a service, plus it's cheap when booking online, about £27.
My Clio does about 4K miles a year. Had a few advisories, same ones each time, but did say to sort the fogged plastic headlights before next one.
julieallen
9 Jan 172#146
can't really compare a dodgy mot station with legitimates ones.
He can barely look at the car if it only takes 20 mins, it takes more than that to do the computer work, brakes and emissions test.
welsh ham
9 Jan 17#145
Same as NEWPORT corporation road one it's actually a service and repair centre operated by the council run NEWPORT bus and open to the general public.
RuudBullit
9 Jan 17#144
You're entitled to your opinion, but like I've already said, being impartial is no guarantee of competency or quality of work. Only honesty.
hass123
9 Jan 17#143
Just two in West Midlands :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: so many scammers especially around the Birmingham "Triangle of Hell" aka the trio of Sparkbrook, Small Heath and Alum Rock.
drharishgarg
9 Jan 17#142
FLEET MANAGEMENT
CENTRAL WORKSHOPS
CULWELL STREET
WOLVERHAMPTON
WV10 0JN
VTS Site Number55183
Telephone 01902554884
If your vehicle fails a test, there will be no retest fee provided work is carried out and your vehicle is re-presented within 10 working days
Master G
9 Jan 17#140
Or, be on friendly terms with your local mechanic who wouldn't put you in danger by passing an unroadworthy vehicle.
TygerrTygerr
9 Jan 17#139
Recommendations will never be the way to go because almost all of them will be based on whether the car passes, regardless of whether it should. A vehicle being declared fit when it isn't can have *much* more expensive consequences than spending £25 extra on an MOT. That is a tiny amount in the context of owning a car.
For the most impartially honest service you want to eliminate the financial incentive to pass or fail. So you're looking at an MOT garages that doesn't do or associate with repairs, and re-tests for free. There are also non-council garages which only do MOTs, if your area is looking a bit sparse for those.
RuudBullit
9 Jan 17#138
I'm sure most are competent, so won't be. But that also is true for private garages, who may be cheaper. Which is why I think recommendations are the way to go.
Master G
9 Jan 17#137
A rehashed 'no deal'. Too many retards voting hot. I pay the same at my local garage. If it needs a replacement bulb, they will just do it for a couple of pounds. No need to take it back and pay again. How the heck is this a good deal?
TygerrTygerr
9 Jan 172#136
That's not really a deal though is it, it's illegal incompetence. This discussion is an embarrassment of ignorant counter-productivity. Doing something badly, or wrong, is always going to be an option to save money, it doesn't need to be listed here.
JoeyJoeC
9 Jan 17#135
My local place does it for £30 and takes him about 20 minutes. Any major faults, he will fail for minor problem then issue a pass straight away and tell us to get it sorted. Last year he said the brakes were seized and that if I were to hit the brakes too hard in the wet, the car will probably spin. He knows us well and knows we will get the work done.
dezontk
9 Jan 17#134
Not saying this isn't bad, but I can get kwikfit as cheap as £20 sometimes, combined with a dash cam and it's saved me a good bit the last few years. (Think the dashcam is a truth-machine in a lot of situations).
plodging
9 Jan 17#133
The bloke at Newcastle branch was going to fail mine cos the tyre pressure alarm was on , Thorough indeed.
davek
9 Jan 171#132
This isn't reduced or on a two for one and it's considerably dearer than most garages, who in my experience aren't there to rip you off as they have enough legitimate business to keep them going.
So where's the deal?
muddassarsardar
9 Jan 17#131
what do u mean registration of the taxi that's a separate fee a taxi mot a separate fee. the test is the similar to normal mot but done at a council test centre with a few extra checks not massively differnce takes around 30/40 minutes so paying 193 seems excessive. if the failure is on a major part then a full re-test fee has to be payed which is again more than the maximum off the 50% that should be charged even if u get the work done in 24 hours. they give u 24 hours to get stuff like a light bulb fixed.
ezzer72
9 Jan 17#130
I think you have misunderstood who my comment referred to. It wasn't the official centres, it was the 'no pass, no fee' outfits that another member mentioned.
fireman1
9 Jan 171#129
So what we are saying is these people won't rip you off on repairs but will have ripped you off already with the price!
As for the post above, Why would you take your car for an mot knowing it should fail and then moan that it passes. Some people!
Canary0500
9 Jan 17#128
Please be wary of these mot test centres, I tried one of these and they passed my car with flying colours (i.e. no advisories) which would have been great, however I am aware that there are at least 3 problems with my car that should have been at least an advisory, if not a fail.
I don't know why they do this, probably so they get repeat custom or something.
Major_Black
9 Jan 171#127
Guess the only bit you paid attention to like me was 187k/miles lol
Major_Black
9 Jan 17#126
Learnt something new today about councils having mot centres. Im in favour of a honest MOT tester. The garage i use is pretty honest hence why been using him to MOT my 3cars for the past 7yrs. I wont be changing my garage soon (unless free MOT) but im sure will benefit some.
danielUK84
9 Jan 171#125
But the point is, its not a deal. Just good advice.
I hate to be pendantic but the earths circumference is around 24k miles, your car its been round the world nearly 8 times, or have you literally toured in it? If so, ill shut up lol
julieallen
9 Jan 17#124
yes, thats why I said a small garage :smiley:, one of my side lights was off for my last test, cost me £3.30!
KareemSaid
9 Jan 174#123
The comments on this site make me laugh. It's like a filthy soup of Daily Mail and Guardian comments.
Snobs, inverted snobs, trolls, HDUK mafia congratulating themselves, supermarket deals in the future, like collectors, people who contribute nothing but say nothing, anything that appears on MSE - usually unacknowledged and occasionally, people who post deals just to help people save a few pennies to help others out,
I have used the council MOT facility. It costs £40 and, depending on the faults found and repaired at your own garage £20 for a retest.
My local council services all the refuse wagons and council vehicles like emergency services. Obviously it depends what you have wrong with your motor but in my experience it comes down to your attitude.
I gave my car the visual once over and checked all the things I could. It came back with quite a few fails mainly due to being under the car which I couldn't of checked anyway.
I have a trusted mechanic who doesn't rip people off. But he doesn't do MOTs - sends the car off to another local garage. I assume this is because they need quite dear government checked calibration equipment.
Came away from the council and independent test centre, my garage charged me £100 to fix faults to get through MOT which included welding and polishing headlamps and replacing some rubber joints and coil springs.
Took it back to the council MOT centre fully expecting to have to pay another £20 retest but they waived that.
The tester that did mine explained that they were completely independent and the MOT was stringent as they fix council run vehicles. He would not suggest any local garages.
My local centre was about 3 miles from my home and I know that the ones posted aren't exhaustive. Go to your local council website.
Although my car has done 187,000k miles I presented it clean, inside and out so he could probably tell, even though it's an old car I take a bit of pride - in driving round in a car that has been round the world twice!!
An MOT is a certificate of safety. It's there for a purpose. There are lots of dodgy garages about and used car dealers passing off illegal MOTS.
I saw this deal on MSE and looked up my local council. I know for certain that I haven't got a dodgy MOT and am very happy with the service I got.
I recommend anyone who doesn't have a garage that does MOTs to go this way and then go round a few local garages that have been recommended to get the work done.
Worth posting OP - I am sure you have helped a lot more people than the mouthy miseries on have on here.
In fact I can see you have posted 100 deals since 2015 - most of the big mouths haven't even posted one deals since they joined.
Helpful!!
HOT
Danosaur1
9 Jan 17#122
I was given 10% discount because my wife was a local council employee.
They do all the repairs at my mot centre, whereby you used to get it repaired elsewhere, then represent it.
Not an issue really though, because they would have to do things properly. Otherwise it would make the front pages.
masekwm
9 Jan 17#121
Indeed,
mutav
9 Jan 17#120
£54.65 for an annual MOT is just another tax/job-creation rip-off. Most of the rest of Europe don't have yearly tests. How so many diesel engines spewing out thick black smoke manage to pass the annual test is just a mystery :confused:
That said, it's worth paying the full price for a decent MOT, otherwise you risk a bait-and-switch with a cut-price test.
goldy12
9 Jan 17#119
Think you find they are doing it to earn extra revenue,.
There is definitely no statutory obligation to provide such a service, after all it is and always have been more than sufficiently provided for by the private sector.
red23
9 Jan 17#118
or go to kwik fit for a "free Mot" :laughing:
RobinMichael
9 Jan 17#117
Believe it or not, a taxi parked on a hill. Something went wrong, and it crashed into my car. They should have more thorough MOT's.
RobinMichael
9 Jan 171#116
Most MOT centres don't like to get a reputation for failing cars. Although they are not exactly a business, they do want a steady stream of business if they are to keep their jobs.
RobinMichael
9 Jan 17#115
Local Authorities do it as a service. They may even have a statutory obligation to offer the service. They are not 'earning extra cash'.
brianp9
9 Jan 17#114
used to be cheaper - but not now !
RobinMichael
9 Jan 171#113
I took my car to a main dealer. I waited for it to be done. Pass plus £25 for a brake light bulb, (1/4 hours work). I knew they did free retests.
They had not told me about the work. I asked them to remove the light bulb. The 'receptionist' was rather flustered and then he agreed to waive the charge.
RobinMichael
9 Jan 17#112
I used a local garage that also does car sales. I am not particularly familiar with the area. I was surprised that they only charged me £35. My car is also twenty years old and at the previous MOT station - local authority - they told my son my car was marvellous.
However this MOT station / car sales found a catalogue of faults even though they passed it. Discoloured number plate, slight rust, perished tyres etc.
The perished tyres made me think. One of them had got rather hot on a long journey. But most of the stuff was very minor, but will still look bad when I come to sell it.
The manager of the garage very strange I thought on the whole.
I wondered, what was his game? Certainly a 'lack of trust'.
RobinMichael
9 Jan 171#111
Is this because your car is modified and lacks an air bag?
RobinMichael
9 Jan 17#110
The local authority MOT centre where I live services the Council's fleet. Are Council staff competent? Are garages competent?
RobinMichael
9 Jan 17#109
Why don't you complain to the MOT inspectorate and your local councillor?
Biggunspaul
9 Jan 171#108
Who wants an honest MOT tester ?
I must be the only person who seeks a bent MOT tester who will overlook my decat pipe when it comes to the emissions test and the emissions reader finds its way up someone else's exhaust pipe :wink:
Mitsubishi evolution emissions test = Ford Fiesta emissions :smile:
nitro228
9 Jan 17#107
And the cheapest option is almost always to keep the car that you already own.
slybunda
9 Jan 17#106
be weary of these garages. one failed me because the stereo in my car was not working. they said its a fail because i cant get traffic announcements over the radio.
RuudBullit
9 Jan 17#105
Although being impartial takes away any financial incentive for finding faults that aren't actually there, it's no guarantee of competency. Personally, I think with something like this, as with getting any tradesman, you should just do your research, and above all, speak to people you know and trust to get recommendations of honest, competent people. I would never recommend someone to a friend who I wasn't sure was 100% reliable, so for me that's the best endorsement there is.
ifti
9 Jan 17#104
i have chalfont coaches of harrow near my house. they do car MOT's, very independent and very honest. .
therealclaireh
9 Jan 17#103
Seems like a good deal to me since council run MOT centres don't do any mechanic work they have no incentive to try and find problems that don't exist so they can fleece unnecessary money out of you so any fail worthy problems they do find are genuine problems that need fixing
CouldntThinkOfAUsername
9 Jan 172#102
How is this a "deal"? People vote any odd garbage hot these days. Unless the MOT is £20, its not a deal as you can find a local garage around £30 and they'll pass it and tell you what needs doing.
ikonanddiva
9 Jan 17#101
Great info but there's no "deal", so I'm voting cold but may consider joining HotUKInfo.com
KiNG
9 Jan 171#100
how is this a deal ?
oldskoolpug
9 Jan 17#99
Lollllllll
Build up a rapport........?
Alrighty then Casanova.....
This guy.
rehydrated
9 Jan 17#98
Great list. Loads of places covered. Thank you!
RuudBullit
9 Jan 171#97
Sadly, the motor trade is one of the most unscrupulous there is, and this has been the same for years. It makes Joe Public distrust anyone in the trade, even if this is unfair.
tariq3877
9 Jan 172#96
This is no deal it's an advert. WTH with you guys giving positives what's the deal here.
haiderinho
9 Jan 17#95
The luton council one is pants. They charge such a high price (£54). They are just making money. My local one charges £35 and free retest within 14 days if required
RedmanDealer
9 Jan 17#94
We used to do the MOTs at our council place for the same reason of trust until they shut the service a few years ago. Obviously the advice of finding a trustworthy garage is the best but that is often hard for people. Knowing a mechanic who can at least offer a second opinion helps so much in this regard.
It can work both ways, I've had my Golf for over 10 years now (nearly 14 years old), it hardly gives me any trouble and apart from the high annual road tax and rubbish economy around town it costs very little to own. I will be buying a never car soon but there is every risk that I could end up with a car with more problems than I have now, and that could be the case with a brand new car as well. A new car will cost me more to run once you factor in dealer servicing costs etc even if the repair costs are lower (zilch if covered under warranty).
It's simple - cars will always cost you money! :smiley: There's no magic solution but at least nowadays there's lots of options (leasing/second hand etc) so people can take the best one that fits their circumstances.
othen
9 Jan 17#93
... but my point is this is not a hot deal, even if Martin Lewis gets his car tested there. It is not cheap and does not provide any different service from other garages.
IndyS
9 Jan 17#92
This has been several times before but is a good reminder if you are unable to trust local garages or Kwik Fits of this world..
jaques_kalis
9 Jan 17#91
Haven't voted either way. Some might prefer convenience of having MOT and repair at the same place
as apposed to honest test ( Not all the test centres who do MOT / repairs are dishonest though )
danielUK84
9 Jan 17#90
All councils charge different prices, my local is expense with no free restest.
The council I actually use 16 miles away is £38 with free retest, he offered a free emission recheck appointment before the actual retest too! He really makes and effort to get it to pass, the most recent took 75mins as he did the emissions test for me 3 times to finally get it to scrape though on high idle. Oh and he put a temporary patch of gumgum on the slight exhaust joint leak too.
That being said i dont see why this is being posted as a hotdeal? Its merely good advice.
RobinMichael
9 Jan 17#89
I was slightly surprised to see this here. This is the sort of deal I would expect to see on Honest John or a money saving website. My experience of the local authority MOT centre has not been entirely happy. On more than one occasion they have put a hole in a vital component of a car.
"Have you got a problem with your automatic gearbox?" "No, why do you ask?" "Because all your automatic oil has just drained out."
When that happens, there is very little alternative other than to scrap the car.
This or something like it, has happened more than once. On the other hand, I have taken a car to a back street mechanic who has a 'good' relationship with an MOT centre. He has managed to pass cars which are horror stories!
I have got a picture so I could show you.
Hpi_matrix
9 Jan 17#88
Took my partners car to the one in Chelmsford as we were new to the area. It was fine, but very strict and a hassle to arrange and re-test so I wouldn't bother taking a car over 6-7 years old to one.
JoeyJoeC
9 Jan 17#87
I love my local MOT place. Only £30 and he will pass anything, but will make sure you're aware of the problems and to bring it back for him to give it a once over.
jasoncb
9 Jan 17#86
Its great that your car is roadworthy and 100% safe but letting your kids drive it is questionable parenting.
k1904486
9 Jan 17#85
Whether or not this is a deal depends on how good your local council test center is and who does your MOT.
My experiences:
Birmingham: Very busy MOT center, make sure you book a month or two in advance, or you wont get a slot. Charge full price for MOT £54 and the re-test is not free. If your car fails it won't be a "deal". The upside the guy who did the MOT was very friendly. No unnecessary advisories or work.
Coventry: Center has more capacity than Birmingham and was easy to book the car a couple weeks in advance. Charge £45 for the test and re-test is free if you fix and bring it back in a week. The center is full of Coventry black cab drivers who are required to do their MOT there and were surprised why I was getting it done there? The MOT guy was very rude. During underside inspection he found a leak and called me over and said I will fail your MOT so and so reason (fair enough). Then he says "I should stop the test now whats the point?". I requested him to please carry on and he did for an additional 1.5 hours. He implied to me that he had done the full test as a favour, when he should have stopped at the first fault found. He added some "advisories" which I later had checked at a garage and they said its nothing at all. I later found out that even if the car fails MOT at some point during the test, the test should still be completed (unless impossible to continue) in full because there may be additional failure reasons not just the first one found. Anyway got the car fixed same day and re-booked next day. This time a different guy did the re-test (20 minutes) and was a totally different experience. Very polite and checked the work that had been done and passed the MOT.
huggychair
9 Jan 171#84
It's because Martain Lewis (aka the Pied Piper) was blindly promoting it for so long :smile:
thelatics
9 Jan 171#83
I've taken several cars either mine or my kids and always had good treatment. The only downside was that you had to pay by cash which I thought odd (considering its the council).
They also never charged the full maximum fee, if memory serves it was £45 last year.
Also last time I was in, a woman had brought her car and it failed on either a bulb or a wiper, and she was allowed to go out, get it fixed (which she did in less than 30 minutes) and he then re-tested it for free, and passed it, pretty good service I thought. Not sure if it fails on something you can't immediately fix whether the same would apply.
avalon50
9 Jan 17#82
I have been taking my cars to a local authority test centre for a few years now. Oh, and how long as Middlesborough been in Yorkshire. It is now according to the site.
tryn2help
9 Jan 17#81
It's a deal because people want to save money by not being ripped off by unscrupulous garages - of which there are an abundance discovered every time 'watchdog' organisations go undercover and put 'thoroughly tested/doctored' cars into garages.
When we get figures revealing 90% of garages tested missed potentially dangerous faults, it's a bit concerning.
P.S. Also charging for work not even carried out.
missmisiowa
9 Jan 17#80
Exactly! I used to go to a shop where the guys would genuinely check all the 'safety' bits like brakes, wheels, etc. Nothing else mattered to them as long as I would let them change a few bulbs and wipers for £50.
That was a real deal! :-)
goldy12
9 Jan 17#79
Why do you automatically assume they will? 1( wrong of the OP to even suggest that other garages are dishonest) Perhaps if your car fails an MOT it has a fault. Bear in mind if your car does fail at the local authority test centre you then have to find a garage anyway that's not going to rip you off on repairs.
Personally I would choose a local independent garage ( not the likes of Halfords or Kwik Fit) that is relatively busy anyway, and where the staff are approachable and willing to give advice and assistance ( without trying to pressure you or up sell) on any aspect of your car.
ssc1
9 Jan 17#78
impartial yes expect to pay full fee 54 odd quid.
Dalkirst
9 Jan 17#77
How do these re-hashed posts that are posted every 2 months it seems get so hot?
masekwm
9 Jan 17#76
I can't use the council...
check_your_bank
9 Jan 17#75
acquiring a cheaper car doesn't necessary mean a cheaper to maintain car or a smaller outlay. quite often the opposite, it doesn't mean you will be better off , as other avenues allow you to avoid a large lump sum payout and keep the money in the bank or use it for a house deposit (unless of course you have a second car that needs to have money spent on it)
in fact the very reason I have a new car is due to the excessive cost and inherent inconvenience of second hand ownership, I'm going to save a packet this year against the cost of car ownership in previous years which have eaten into my savings - and I won't be spending any time awaiting the return of or collecting my vehicle and bill or discussing car mechanics that I know little about - also I know exactly how much I will be spending on motoring this year too, which is great.
r_holmes22
9 Jan 17#74
But how do you find out which ones won't rip you off?
bojangles
9 Jan 17#73
By adding on advisories, etc. or being overly strict and failing something that is perfectly passable.
My other half had an MOT which passed, but with a list of advisories. brakes, fuel lines, tyres, along with a few other things, etc. Tyres & brakes was fine as they are easy to check or know when your brakes need replacing!
Following year took it to a different garage & the only advisory was the fuel lines.
So we got them replaced.
check_your_bank
9 Jan 17#72
I can afford to move but I obviously have plans that I'm not going to let a neighbour's behaviour influence, it's fairly easy to ignore, annoying when you think about though - moreso as she drives like an idiot , no seatbelts and a dog hanging out the window on the wrong side of the road (which is fine with dvla and police obviously)
I'm sure there are people like that all over anyway, personally I'm surprised a 'person like that' is living in a house in this area. Perhaps the money they save on car costs has enabled them to do so...
back to topic though, perhaps a better deal to just ignore MOT and save your money then.
cdm22
9 Jan 17#71
Hmm, £45 for this at my local authority test centre or £27 from a chain that have tested my car for the last 5 years with no problems at all?
Can't see the deal here.
goldy12
9 Jan 17#70
Personally I think it's wrong that publicly funded bodies are using public facilities to earn extra cash, and putting smaller independent businesses at risk. Local authorities should concentrate on providing the services they are already being paid to provide.
Plenty of really good local garages around that will do MOT's without ripping you off
Swarfega
9 Jan 17#69
Took mine to Kwik Fit last week.
£27 original price but with a 10% voucher (10OFFMOT20) it's £24.30. 8.88% on topcashback (£2.13) so in all it cost me £22.17. Car passed fine.
nitro228
9 Jan 17#68
Maybe if you bought a cheaper car you could afford to move to a nicer area and wouldn't have to worry about living next to people like that?
kix
9 Jan 17#67
North Tyneside Council
Harvey Combe
Station Road
Killingworth
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE12 6UB
Tel: 01916436394
VTS Site Number: 6119BL
tomwenn
9 Jan 17#66
Saving potentially hundreds on unbiased MOT tests?
nitro228
9 Jan 171#65
How can you be sure about it for the other 365 days of the year then? The MOT tells you that you're car is roadworthy on the day it's tested. It doesn't mean you can assume that will be the case for the next 12 months. As a car owner/driver, you have a responsibility to ensure it is roadworthy every time you get into it, and the same applies to your children if they're driving.
Taz1529
9 Jan 17#64
Well doesn't that sound honest... They don't make money unless they pass you. It's basically giving out dodgy MOT's to make them money.
But ya know, if you drive a rotbox!
check_your_bank
9 Jan 17#63
MOTs , ah yes i remember them thankfully something i no longer have to give a crap about.
Saving a fiver on the cost of an MOT is nothing when your second hand car requires work, that is the real cost(or rather pain) of an MOT.
Unless of course you just don't bother , like my neighbors, i'm sure they save fair bit just ignoring it then getting a 'new' car for a few hundred quid when it catastrophically fails - lack of MOT and tax also seems to give them special rights to park in disabled bays too, at one point i thought there was a law against such things.
Rory Joe
9 Jan 17#62
TBH I usually book a free tyre/brake check at Halfords a month before and then pay the £29.99 for the MOT a month later.
Never had any issues, even when I knew my brakes were coming towards the end of their life they told me they were passable and still good for a few thousand miles.
Doesn't seem to me that they're incentivised for making up jobs that need doing, I know people are quick to bash chain garages but I've never had any issues.
That won't change either if they fail me when it's due in March - I've been using them for many years and I'd trust the decision to be an accurate one.
BeerGoggles
9 Jan 17#61
Yea I used to say the same about my garage as I had a mate who did all my mechanical work at a reduced cost. They knew me and knew I gave all the work to my friend and I always got an MOT for under £100. My friend stopped doing work and as soon as I started to give them the work, like magic, my MOT's quotes were well up and usually over £200. I bet the garage isn't trustworthy, they just know there is nothing in it to mess you around.
There used to be a garage that only did MOT's and no mechanical work. Again my MOT's were the cheapest I had, of course they started doing work eventually and the costs went up. MOT test centres should be government run IMO.
Back in the day when i used to wash my socks (few years back, I bin them after one day of wearing now) I used to use this washing powder, and they always came out really clean
Www.smug-show-off.co.uk
nasir_glasgow
9 Jan 17#57
anyone else used them ive been getting mixed reviews from them
Dan__
9 Jan 17#56
the only one for glasgow you have to book 3 months in advance? lol
I hand it into my local trusted garage that I have been using for many years, they take it to their MOT station partner and get it checked. Usually its always a pass so no funny business. Its a very good garage and regarded by many that I know including breakdown recovery guys as being the best in glasgow.
meandog101
9 Jan 17#55
Good effort for the OP - if you're not sure where to take your car for an MOT, then this may be for you. If you already have a good relationship with your usual MOT garage and feel that they don't rip you off, then (like me) I'd probably stick with that, and have recommended the garage to others too.
Always good info to have though.
ebble
9 Jan 17#54
I'm nearly 60 and bought my third car a year ago. Before that I had two small hatchbacks for 13 and 14 years respectively. At most of the MOTs at chains like Kwik Fit and National I was never ripped off and often there was no work to be done at all to get a pass.
I don't think there is any problem with impartiality at the vast majority of MOT providers.
urmum
9 Jan 17#53
I have been a master tech for 20 years and use my local kwikfit because they are the cheapest MOT around (£30, or £27 with 10% discount codes/groupon etc) They dont know what I do for a living and I cant fault them (other than they are slow and their waiting areas are gross!) have never had a problem with them so far...
Savo
9 Jan 17#52
Think they specialise on cars TBH
ollie87
9 Jan 17#51
Back when I used to drive cars that needed an MOT (few years back, I get rid before they need one now) I used to use http://weonlymot.co.uk and they were bloody brilliant.
daskapital
9 Jan 17#50
Well Rutlish auto care in Wimbledon is supposed to be a council MOT test centre.
Told me I needed a new exhaust because the bracket snapped. £88.
bought a strap from eBay for £10. On a second occasion, they passed the car, but told me the light bulbs were upside down and charge me £20 PER BULB to turn them the right way up. I found this one hard to believe as according to several manuals I read the bulbs will only actually go in one way around (VW Passat) they have a special holder the bulb goes into and clicks into place.
So no, council run MOT centres will not be perfect little angels and never rip you off..... still better than kwik fit though..
m5rcc
9 Jan 172#49
There isn't one. In fact it's a poor deal because a trusted local garage wouldn't charge full price for a MOT and pass the car.
jordon1
9 Jan 17#48
totally off topic now. but that fee is not just an mot. it is the registration of the taxi, an mot alongside the local authority checks. there are numerous items which are checked by local authority which fall outside the mot. this is for safety and to meet the regulations set by said authority.
the maximum charged for an mot on its own....not related to a taxi which is a fee for a package of services is set by vosa at a maximum of 54.65 for a class 4 mot.
the half retest fee applies in certain circumstances and failures. a free test is offered on certain items. this can usually be found on a noticeboard in the mot stations.
i dont believe any authority is overcharging for mots. you may be disgruntled by the taxi fees you have to pay but for this you are recieving more than a single mot test.
othen
9 Jan 172#47
I agree. This one gets published every few months and for some reason it gets voted hot, in spite of being rather expensive (it charges the standard fee, whereas there are plenty of garages offering to test cars for less), and by its very nature offers not one iota more than it has to. I have no idea why a rather poor deal gets so much support, and this is certainly not a hot deal.
gulz
9 Jan 17#46
Did my 6th annual visit at Newham's in Dec. The first visit (in 2011, with a BMW) failed MOT on emmissions. Every subsequent visit with my Audi has passed. So I can say with certainity that at least my local will fail the MOT if there is a genunine reason to do so.
They charge £40 for a car and have ample availability. Even got an online booking system which makes things really convenient.
julieallen
9 Jan 171#45
The point is, most small garages would just top up the water or replace the bulbs while the test is ongoing and pass the car rather than fail it, make you take it away, then come back a week later because it needed a 2 minute job doing, costing either nothing or under a tenner.
Don't think anyone is suggesting if the brakes or steering don't work it should pass.
If you find a good independent garage you should use them rather than these. A good garage won't rip you off and say you need work doing you don't.
RCUK
9 Jan 17#44
I always go to my local kwik fit -and its been pretty good!
Only time i was failed was due to number plate spacing - think the guy doing the testr was a bit jealous. When the centre manager saw it he looked in shock and a bit embarrassed - called up a mate and said to make the plates up for me, made me go get them and fit them and passed me right away.
As a plus, i got a lovely set of metal plates for £20!
Iamthemills
9 Jan 171#43
wouldn't trust these nitwits with my prized award winning potato.
ses6jwg
9 Jan 17#42
Last time I took the missus c1 to kwik fit it was £27 and it passed fine with 2 advisories
luvsadealdealdeal
9 Jan 17#41
au contraire, my local garage usually fails me but they are still brilliant :smiley:
they fail me because my car is 20YO and has various wear & tear/ maintenance issues to sort out, as you'd expect
they are brilliant because they don't rip me off and just get on & sort out the issues cheaply & efficiently, letting me provide the spare parts if I want to
anthony69
9 Jan 173#40
I find the comments in this thread, and others ( usually involving Halfords Auto centre's ) amusing when someone writes that their local garage is simply amazing as they have always had no issues (ie fails). Of course, as soon as they get a fail from said garage it then becomes the worst garage in the world and they are telling friends and family to avoid!
bairdyblues
9 Jan 17#39
Agree with the comments about finding a good local garage. I take mine to a local bloke who does a thorough job but doesn't do repairs. He only really deals in tyres so if your tyres are dodgy, he'll offer to replace it for you but that's about it. Always been fair with me and I've been going there about 18 years.
Darthballs
9 Jan 17#38
cheers
poshaffi
9 Jan 17#37
heat added for OPs effort
frakison
9 Jan 172#36
Sorry if they failed your car/taxi on some petty thing like it being UNROADWORTHY!!!! FFS, if they FOUND a prescribed problem, it EXISTED and needed repairing, if not, it wouldn't be on the GOVERNMENTS fail list! Just because you don't think that you need serviceable windscreen wipers or both brake bulbs doesn't mean it should pass!!!! :confused:
frakison
9 Jan 171#35
I'm no cabbie, but that seems to include the vehicle registration fee too?!?! I for one think that its acceptable for the licensing authority to want to check that a vehicle is roadworthy if its being used to ferry people about regardless of the vehicle age!! :wink:
CheapandCheer
9 Jan 17#34
I rang once these guys for MOT and they told me that if your vehicle failed MOT test you will have to pay for retest as retest is not free so be careful.
tariq3877
8 Jan 172#33
How much they paid you for this advertisement? Honesty I have seen many idiots who actually look for problem which are not even there.
apmhearn
8 Jan 17#32
I used an "impartial" test centre last year, they had a garage next door for repairs when your car failed, which was probably owned by their business partner.
muddassarsardar
8 Jan 17#31
erm let me guess by being overcharged, by having things made up as being needed repaired which don't and by having a car failed and retested for no reason
tryn2help
8 Jan 172#30
As others have said 'NEVER' had to pay for re-test at council; very simple to check, ask them when you book it.
And, yes, they are extremely thorough; had cars fail on simple things like no water in the window-washers (forgot), but quite honestly, I prefer to have that type of thorough because it gives me peace of mind.
If these guys say it's roadworthy then it's roadworthy, and that's something I need to be sure about if the kids are driving the car.
ezzer72
8 Jan 176#29
That's uber expensive :wink:
b4rrydoyle
8 Jan 171#28
this turned out to be Rubbish advice.
gulidford charged 54 for mot!!!
30 around corner for me
liamf12
8 Jan 171#27
I've had a few fails at my local garage but they've also been very good too. Tested lamps and all passed then later on they noticed one had blown, my usual luck. They changed the lamp free of charge. I also changed a brake cylinder once, couldn't get the pipe connection undone so cut it. Peugeot charged me £20 then told me there was a 3 day wait for parts. Local garage got apprentice to make one up free, on the spot. Needless to say I put money in their tea kitty. Pays to find a good garage, stick with them and spread the message.
look at the fees they charge for a taxi mot 193 what a rip off is this allowed by law.
dsuk
8 Jan 17#24
How can you be ripped off on MOT?
smk77
8 Jan 17#23
Indeed. Not sure why I took the bait. Nasty needless comment so typical of a UKIP supporter.
IWOOTN
8 Jan 171#22
ni undertaken by dva.
frakison
8 Jan 17#21
Are you sure?!?! Our local has the government poster up which clearly states the rates even for private hire?!? Surely a garage charging £25 with HONEST appraisals would have a queue around the block?
brooky
8 Jan 172#20
If your car fails then you'll end up paying for 2 MOT's + the repair. If it failed at a garage then you'll only pay for 1 MOT + the repair, plus a huge time saving (your car is off the road for one day versus 3). For me it's a no brainer I'm afraid - cold.
anthony69
8 Jan 174#19
I have done this now for a few years, and have found the following.
Whilst you maybe getting a more honest test from a Government MOT Test Centre, it is likely that it will be a VERY thorough MOT Test. By that I mean they may fail you for very minor things that another garage may simply ignore and pass off. Mine failed due to a very tiny leak of oil. I took it to another garage to fix, who said they would have actually passed it, as the problem was so minor. They literally tightended something up to resolve the fault, and that was it.
I had to take it back to the re-test, for which I had to pay half the test fee again.
So, I guess its swings and roundabouts...
SCOUSEKEVIN
8 Jan 17#18
If you are North Glasgow go to In-Tune Garage Services Maryhill Rd. Which Magazine Trusted Trader
and at the moment £30 for a MOT. Brilliant Customer Service, Book in advance and NO I do not work for them and am not related in any way just a very happy customer. (A very hard to please one lol)
frakison
8 Jan 172#17
They have always done free retests for me, I think it depends on the time taken to return the "fixed" vehicle and what the failure was :wink:
Most will NOT do repairs hence the fact that many believe that this will mean a higher chance of passing at these stations as there would be no point. Put it this way, I never had a car pass when I went to independents but I have never had a fail since using Local Authority MOT station, coincidence maybe, but it does seem fishy.
muddassarsardar
8 Jan 17#16
the council are a rip off they break.the lawo n mot fees and nobody cares about it for taxi mot's they charge more than vosa maximum prices and charge more than the 50percent fee maximum for a partial re_test. so I wouldn't recommend them to anyone I don't think my local charge 25 quid so this post seems to be a incorrect deal.
BenderRodriguez
8 Jan 173#15
Then find another garage to fix any fails, drive your car back and forth between them at least twice taking time off work for getting there by bus, with the nearest MOT centre often being miles away.
Or you just avoid Kwikscams and other chains and find a trusted local garage recommended by friends.
luvsadealdealdeal
8 Jan 171#14
can't beat local lads you can trusty, same here, bottle of wine @ Xmas to show a wee bitty appreciation
jordon1
8 Jan 179#13
Depends how you look at it.
They wont repair your vehicle, so wont go out for their way to fail it like some bad garages do. However, most charge the full VOSA test fee of £54.65 at the moment. Alot of places will also have limited availability due to taxi testing/licensing checks and their own fleet vehicles taking up alot of the day so getting a suitable appointment.
Find a good local garage, build up a repor with them. I am on first name terms with my local garage (i only use them 3 or 4 times a year for tests as i do all my own mechanical work), charge £45 which isn't cheap either (some garages within 10miles of me do tests for £30), but i can trust them to do an honest fair test and they are on my door step. They even know how to correctly test my kit cars, whereas other garages failed it on emissions (doesnt need an emissions test) etc.
luvsadealdealdeal
8 Jan 172#12
the implication is that dodgy garages 'find' something wrong so that they can fix it at your cost - whereas local authority MOT testers don't have any financial motivation to do the same, they don't do repair work
ezzer72
8 Jan 172#11
Would they not be tempted to pass an iffy car?
ether707
8 Jan 1721#10
I don't get it .Whats the deal?
thearbiter65
8 Jan 17#9
Seen this deal on here before, but worth the reminder. Voted hot.
kruger1
8 Jan 171#8
I used these service once. They are quite good as they are not interested failing you. However, the best garage I found was "no pass no fee". If you can find one near you, try it. You will never go to any other
boofuls1
8 Jan 171#7
Ok. I remember a few years ago all council test centres did the test for free where as the usual test centres st garages etc charged a fee. Sure I got that from Martins Money Tips. Maybe I'm wrong. Sorry x
Corranga
8 Jan 171#6
I presume there is no free retest if it fails though as I think you need a new test if the car leaves the testing premises.
So this potentially benefits those who can do their own repairs and have a bit of a clue rather than those who genuinely do need am honest MOT, or do they do repairs too?
johnnystorm
8 Jan 17#5
You can remove Waveney from the list, the sign up by the depot entrance says they now service the public's vehicles.
luvsadealdealdeal
8 Jan 171#4
nope it's a paid MOT test
boofuls1
8 Jan 17#3
Thought this was free??
luvsadealdealdeal
8 Jan 171#2
I hope you gave the garage manager a bottle of red this Xmas? :smiley:
bbbazman
8 Jan 1732#1
Nice to see this again. Voted hot, as usual.
True about the honesty part, although I'm really looking for the opposite, that way I might get a pass. :man:
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Opening post
Scotland:
Aberdeenshire 38 Powis Terrace, Kittybrewster, Aberdeen AB25 3RF 01224 489300
Aberdeenshire Harlaw Way, Harlaw Road, Inverurie AB51 4TE 01467 627538
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire Council, Mintlaw Repair Depot, Mintlaw, Peterhead, AB42 8EE 01771 623197
Aberdeenshire Stonehaven Repair Depot, Aberdeenshire Council, Kirkton Rd, Stonehaven AB39 2NQ 01569 763274
Ayrshire North Ayrshire Council, Unit 1d, West Byrehill Industrial Estate, Pennyburn, Kilwinning, KA13 6HR 01294541600
Dundee Dundee City Council Environment Dept, Marchbanks Workshop, 34 Harefield Road, Dundee,DD2 3JW 01382434773
Edinburgh CEC Fleet Services, Russel Rd, Gorgie EH11 2LP 0131 337 2307
Fife Fife Council, Bankhead Central, Bankhead Park, Glenrothes, KY7 6GH 03451 55 55 55
Glasgow MOT Inspection Centre, 425 Polmadie Road, G42 OPG (must book 3mths in advance) 0141 287 3326/3328
Lanarkshire Old Edinburgh Rd, Bellshill ML4 3JF 01698 506284
Midlothian Midlothian Council, 80 High Street, Bonnyrigg EH19 2AE 0131 660 3486
Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Council Contract Services, Transport, Unit 2, 52 Underwood Road, Paisley, PA3 1TL 0141 5614053
West Lothian Deans Industrial Estate, Livingstone EH54 8AY 01506 777831
Wales:
Cardiff Cardiff Council Central Transport Services, Coleridge Road, Grangetown, Cardiff, CF11 8BT 02922330068
Carmarthenshire Trostre Depot, Trostre Road, LLanelli SA14 9RA 01554 784138
Ceredigion Glanyrafon Ind Est, Llanbadarn, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3JQ 01970 633844
Denbighshire Fleet Management & Vehicle Maintenance, Expressway Business Park, Abergele Road, Bodelwyddan LL18 5SQ 01745 839230
Glamorgan The Vale Of Glamorgan Council, Vehicle Workshop, Alps Depot, Wenvoe CF5 6AA 029 2067 3243
Gwent Blaenau Gwent Borough Council, Works Department, Central Depot, Barleyfield Ind Est, Brynmawr. NP23 4YF. 01495311556
Gwent Newport MOT Testing Station, Unit 9 Newport Business Centre, Corporation Road, Newport, NP19 4RF 01633 282752
Gwynedd Gwynedd Council - MOT Test Centre, Cibyn Industrial Estate, Caernarfon, LL55 2BF 01286 671455
Pembrokeshire Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire SA73 2RR 01437 775938
Powys Ffrwdgrech DSO Depot, Ffrwdgrech Industrial Estate, Brecon LD3 8DR 01874 620565 (ask for Vehicle Maintenance workshops in Brecon)
Wrexham Wrexham MOT Centre, Abbey Road South, Wrexham Industrial Estate, Wrexham, LL13 9PW 01978 729600
Yorkshire & Lincolnshire:
Barnsley Barnsley Council Fleet Services, Smithies Lane Depot, Smithies Lane, Smithies, Barnsley S71 1NL 01226 774194
Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire Council Beverley Depot, Annie Reed Road, Beverley HU17 0LF 01482 395781
Bridlington Carnaby Depot, Carnaby Industrial Estate, Bridlington 01262 401973
Dewsbury Kirklees Council MOT Testing, George Street Depot, Dewsbury WF13 2LX 01924 325001
Goole Goole Depot, Seavy Road, Goole 01405 766938
Doncaster Doncaster Council, North Bridge, Doncaster DN5 9AN 01302 736851
Grantham Mowbeck Way, off Alexandra Road, Grantham 01476 406551/406557
Halifax Calderdale Council MBC, Battinson Road, Halifax, HX1 4PL 01422 264 374
Harrogate Claro Rd, Harrogate HG1 4AT 01423 556877
Huddersfield Kirklees Council MOT Testing, Vine Street Depot, Huddersfield HD1 6NT 01484 223230
Leeds 225a York Road, Leeds LS9 7QQ 0113 378 1464
Scunthorpe North Lincolnshire Council, Fleet Workshop & Offices, Plot 22, Grange Lane North, Scunthorpe, DN16 1BT 01724 297867
Sheffield Sheffield City Council MOT Testing, Staniforth Road, Sheffield S9 3GZ 0114 203 7421
Wakefield Transport Services, Central Vehicle Workshops, Newton Bar Depot, Wakefield, WF1 2TU 01924 306301
North East England:
Gateshead Local Environmental Services, Central Depot, Park Road, Gateshead NE8 3HN 0191 433 7433
Middlesbrough Cargo Fleet Lane, Middlesborough TS3 8AL 01642 728066 or 01642 728061
Newcastle Newington Road, Shieldfield, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE6 5BD 01912 783 819
Redcar Limerick Rd, Dormanstown, Redcar TS10 5JU 01642 444979
South Shields Heddon Way, Tyne Dock, South Shields NE34 0NT 0191 427 2024
Stockton-on-Tees Cowpen Lane Depot, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees TS23 4DD 01642 527167
North West England:
Bamber Bridge Dewhurst Row, Holme Road, Bamber Bridge PR5 6BB 01772 532618
Bolton Transport Services & Vehicle Workshop, Bradley Fold Depot, Bradley Fold Road, Bolton BL2 6RS 0161 253 6699
Burnley Lancashire County Council, Units A & B Brindley Close, Network 65 Business Park, Burnley BB11 5TD 01282 448873
Carlisle Boustead's Grassing, Rome Street, Carlisle CA2 5LG 01228 817518
Knowsley Stretton Way Depot, Huyton Industrial Estate, Knowsley L36 6JF 0151 443 2816
Lytham St Annes Fylde Borough Council, Snowdon Rd, Lytham St Annes FY8 3DP 01253 658635
Oldham Operational Services Depot, Moorhey Street Oldham OL4 1JF 0161 770 4445
Salford Turnpike House, 631 Eccles New Road, Salford M50 1SW 0161 925 1042
Warrington Wilderspool Causeway, Warrington WA4 6PT 01925 634296
Widnes Neighbourhood Services, Lowerhouse Lane Depot, Lowerhouse Lane, Widnes, WA8 7AW 0151 511 7222
Wigan Wigan Council, Makerfield Depot, Makerfield Way, Ince, Wigan WN2 2PR 01942 705125
West Midlands:
Birmingham Montague Street, Bordesley, Birmingham B9 4BA 0121 303 3311
Coventry 259 London Rd, Coventry CV3 4AR 024 7683 2147
Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle Borough Council MOT Testing Centre, Knutton Lane, Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5 2SL 01782 620953
Nuneaton St. Marys Road Depot, St. Marys Road, Nuneaton CV11 5AR 024 7637 6031
Stafford Building QA, Beacon Business Park, Weston Road, Stafford ST18 0YY 01785 854832 / 854833
Stoke on Trent Stoke on Trent City Council, Weighbridge Site, Cromer Road, Northwood, Stoke on Trent ST1 6QN 01782 232297
Walsall Walsall Council MOT Test Centre, Environmental Depot, 200 Pelsall Road, Brownhills, Walsall WS8 7EN 01922 653753
Western England:
Banbury Thorpe Lane Depot, Banbury OX16 4UT 01295 221916
Bath Bath and North East Somerset Council, Locksbrook Trading Estate, Bath BA1 3EL 01225 477314
Bristol Sandy Park Rd, Brislington, Bristol BS4 3NZ 0117 903 6319
Bristol Broad Lane, Engine Common, Yate, Bristol BS37 7PN 01454 863920
Cheltenham Swindon Rd Depot, Cheltenham GL51 9JZ 01242 264184
Devizes Wiltshire Council Works Depot, Horton Road, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 2JJ 01380 725854
Oxford Transport Services Division, Cowley Marsh Depot, Marsh Road, Oxford OX4 2HH 01865 252944
Eastern England:
Bury St Edmunds ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL, Olding Road, Off Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3TA 01284 757458
Chelmsford Chelmsford City Council MOT Testing, Drovers Way, Chelmsford CM2 5PH 01245 615800
Lowestoft Waveney District Council MOT Testing Centre, Rotterdam Road, Lowestoft NR32 2EF 01502 565626
Luton Fleet Transport, Central Depot, Kingsway, Luton LU4 8AU 01582 546839
Norwich Norfolk County Services MOT Testing, 280 Fifers Lane, Norwich NR6 6EQ 01603 894346
South West England:
Bodmin Central Group Centre, Castle Canyke Road, Bodmin PL31 1DZ 01872 327 827
Dorchester Fleet Services, Charminster Depot, 1 Wanchard Lane, Charminster, Dorchester, DT2 5RP 01305 228104
Redruth Cornwall Transport Organisation Engineering, Western Group Centre, Radnor Road, Scorrier, Redruth TR16 5EH 01872 327252
Southern and South East England:
Andover Test Valley Borough Council, Portway Depot, Macadam Way, Andover SP10 3XW 01264 368000
Guildford Woking Road Depot, Woking Road, Guildford GU1 1QE 01483 445091
Milton Keynes Synergy Park, Chesney Wold, Bleak Hall, Milton Keynes, MK6 1LY 01908 252845
Hedge End Eastleigh Borough Council, Hedge End Depot, Botley Road, Hedge End SO30 2RA 023 8068 8389
Redhill Reigate and Banstead Borough Council MOT Centre, Horley Road, Redhill RH1 6PN 01737 276650/13
Southampton City Depot, First Avenue, Millbrook, Southampton SO15 0LJ 023 8083 4363
London:
Croydon Factory Lane, Croydon CR0 3RL 020 8255 2758
East Ham Newham Council MOT Centre, Central Depot, Jenkins Lane IG11 0AD 020 8472 0343
Epping Forest Langston Road, Debden IG10 3UE 020 8532 0357
Hounslow Bridge Rd Depot, Pears Rd, Hounslow TW3 1SQ 020 8583 5430
King's Cross York Way Depot, Freight Lane, York Way, London N1C 4BE 020 7974 3447
Poplar Blackwall Transport Complex, 1 Silvocea Way, London E14 0JJ 020 7364 1069
Thamesmead Greenwich Council Fleet Management, Birchmere Depot, Eastern Way, London SE28 8BF 020 8921 4561
Wandsworth 1 Dormay Street, Frogmore Complex, London SW18 1EY 020 8871 6761
Top comments
True about the honesty part, although I'm really looking for the opposite, that way I might get a pass. :man:
They wont repair your vehicle, so wont go out for their way to fail it like some bad garages do. However, most charge the full VOSA test fee of £54.65 at the moment. Alot of places will also have limited availability due to taxi testing/licensing checks and their own fleet vehicles taking up alot of the day so getting a suitable appointment.
Find a good local garage, build up a repor with them. I am on first name terms with my local garage (i only use them 3 or 4 times a year for tests as i do all my own mechanical work), charge £45 which isn't cheap either (some garages within 10miles of me do tests for £30), but i can trust them to do an honest fair test and they are on my door step. They even know how to correctly test my kit cars, whereas other garages failed it on emissions (doesnt need an emissions test) etc.
Latest comments (212)
1 or 2 other people I know, have highlighted around 'similar' in the past too?!, hmmmmmmmmm. :-(
Scary that .....
To attract customers they do MOT for as low as £25 . But that's only a Bait to charge customers 100s of pounds.
If I think my car will pass with no work required, then surely I am better off going somewhere where they offer half price MOT?
If I think my car will fail and require work, then surely I am better off going somewhere that can do the work for me, or else I'll need to take it away, get the work done and take it back while paying another MOT fee?
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/vehicle-services-mots-and-repairs
Cheaper is not always better, if you have a good relationship with a garage then go back there, if not then these council MOT testing centres is where you need to go as you know you will not get ripped off. A lot of us are not mechanically minded and going to these council testing centres means you are safe in the knowledge that you have had a fair test.
Lot of people like you on this site who you can always tell who the teacher's pet / grass are.
You should just report before exposing your true character. Bit sad lol
The MOT is a safety check - they look for really obvious faults like missing safety equipment, worn-out brakes or rusted-through suspension components as well as doing an emissions check - it is in NO way a 'used car check'.
I'm not a fan of those checks either but they're FAR more useful than an MOT. My main problem with theses services is that they offer NO comeback - if they miss something, they do no accept any responsibility for that - and miss things they do.
If you have a regular garage you use, they may be a good place to ask if you want a 2nd-opinion but what sort of car are we talking about here?
Is it a 12-year-old shed, a <5-year-old car with some warranty or a premium marque/sports car which a specialist would look at?
Generally, my advice is to buy from somewhere local so it's easy to go back if you have issues and buy with your eyes-open. When I say "eyes open", any used-car will have issues, some have a lot more than others and generally you should expect some issues and be prepared for that. As-soon-as you get it, take it for a few drives, try EVERYTHING on it and generally try to find any issues as quickly as possible.
Whatever people think - whatever warranties and other cover they may have, once you've owned a car for a few weeks it's YOURS, warts and all**** - so you need to find anything amiss ASAP
If they find the car unroadworthy, you'd return it for a refund anyway so that's not an issue BUT that's also not how MOTs work.
If the car has a 12 month MOT and you take it for another MOT straight-away and it fails, you have until the earlier pass expires to correct any faults (as far as the DVLA is concerned - your insurer might disagree with your driving a car with known faults tho) -
A failed MOT does not condemn a car instantly - only when it's existing MOT runs-out - but not my comment about driving a car with 'known faults' being unwise for many, many reasons.
**** yes, I'm keenly aware of consumer law but in the real world, once you've used a car you'll have a devil of a time walking away from it and either end-up fixing it or selling it at a loss
I now want to take it to a MOT test center to get it checked independently. I want a thorough test done so any problems are found.
Guess I could get the RAC or AA to do a check otherwise.
Are there any other suggestions for getting a car checked when buying a used car?
edit
Seems the mot route may not be best as if it fails the car is then consider unroadworthy and dvlc is notified. I thought I could get it done and approach the dealer with the problems but still be able to use it till i got the items fixed using the original mot.
I might just take it to a local garage people have recommended and get them to give it a once over..
its not like they are doing it cheap
Many things on the MOT are 'personal opinion' - things like the state of suspension/brakes/sills etc. will sometimes be failed by one tester and just 'advisoried' by another. It's rare that a tester will fail something that someone else won't at least consider an issue BUT another tester might lean to an advisory rather than a fail and then there's the "phoned in" MOT, of course.
A good tester, IMO, is looking at the whole car and the level of care it has seen. Borderline issues on a car which is clearly being maintained are less worrying that borderline issues on a car where the owner never looks under the bonnet or has it serviced. Cars presented by mechanics are also generally seen more favourably than those presented by the public (because any issues can be blamed on the mechanic instead of the tester)
p.s. the 'upsell' you want to avoid here isn't that work is required - it's the extent of that work.
Example: a leaking shock can be replaced but some places will tell you it's "a good idea to replace all the springs and shocks on the axle/whole car". That's not untrue - refreshing everything isn't a bad idea but it's not necessary for safety/the MOT - it MIGHT be cost-effective in the long-run tho, depending on your car.
I think the council MOT one is about £38.00 now and we are happy they do a thorough test. I know you can get MOTs done cheaper but when you have bad experiences from some garages I'd rather have things done properly so don't mind paying £8 more :smiley:
Rip off £55 charge and they completely missed a broken spring in the suspension.
Not good quality!!!
Much cheaper and more reliable MOTs elsewhere.
That list of things you seem to think you need to pay an expert to check/fix here are mostly things you should be checking WAY more often than yearly - hell, some of this stuff should be checked EVERY time you use your car...
1 - external lights must work (reversing lights aren't in the MOT but check them anyway for safety's sake!)
2 - water from washers and wiping by wipers is important (just on the windscreen but safety suggests you check others you may have!!)
3 - tyres should be the right ones, with tread on them and air in them - this really is an 'every trip' thing!!
4 - fuel and oil are important and should in their proper holes (again, an 'every trip essential')
5 - locks/door handles/seat releases - anything needed for anyone to get out of the car - must work to get away from the crash you have because someone else had no wipers/lights/fuel/oil etc.
There's a bit of mechanical stuff underneath the bonnet/frame to consider but don't worry, so-long-as the car's been regularly serviced by a professional they'll have have raised those issues with you at the appropriate time instead of waiting until you needed an annual test...
So there's a bit of a motto here - check your car works properly before driving it instead of waiting for a once-a-year-test because you and other people may otherwise die and that's kinda stupid.
Perhaps find yourself a friendly garage next time. :smiley:
Then again, I am sure you have a 500 point checklist all ticked off, before you take it down and pay your £50. :laughing:
Your local garage may inspect your car BEFORE the MOT or they may rectify faults after the MOT (failure - must be recorded) and retest it (hopefully passing) but they are NOT supposed to do the test and fixes at the same time.
The test is not a "let's fix this lazy ****'s car for them' session - it's an inspection of your car's roadworthiness and any problems should be recorded on a 'fail' for future owners to see that a mechanical incompetent has owned the car before ;0
and as others have said, the MOT tells you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the mechanical state or reliability of a car - tho many people seem to think it's some sort of 'guarantee of goodness', which is quite funny. The now-available-online failure history of cars is VERY interesting tho, as it highlights where a car has been owned by someone who finds bulbs 'a bit complicated' (and therefore probably didn't check oil or anything else either - e.g. don't buy it)
Here in N.I. we have the government test and they don't fix cars so it is in your own interest to make sure any small niggles are sorted and not rely on the tester to find them, there are a lot of garages over here that do pre mot checks for £20 and they wash underneath as well as the testers dislike oily cars.
I personally do my own repairs but there are some things that you just can't test yourself, they have a shock machine for imbalance on shocks and a rig that twists the whole car to find worn bushes etc, I would rather have it failed by a government test as I know it genuinely needs doing.
When I lived in England I took an old Audi 80 that I had kept in top condition to the local MOT test and they failed it on wishbone bushes, little did they know I knew my stuff and had replaced them for MOT, 5 mins after a small discussion that I was a spanner monkey and a receipt for the parts they backtracked and said 'Oh we'll let it slide as there is only a small amount of movement', yeah right!!
I'd rather have a strict test and know that my car is safe for me, my occupants and other road users.
Not sure if it's worthwhile anymore... but I do have 5 advisories from last time :'(
No thanks, find yourself a proper local, friendly garage that will actually bother replacing a brake light bulb and pass it for you.
Warning lights feature in the MOT depending on age and other conditions but generally they must illuminate and extinguish (the details of exactly when/how different cars do this are available to MOT testers) - so another common failure is lights which simply never come on (because they're removed or blanked-out)
A 'thorough' MOT might not always be quite what you were hoping for - tho I've seen a few cases where a missing light transpired to be a faked/bodged-out airbag and finding that BEFORE you go through the windscreen was probably a good thing (you can replace an airbag with a resistor - tho it's less effective at saving your life!!)
Told my friend who lives in Cambridge to seek out his local council garage. He did, went to them 3 years Ina row, great service but 4 years running, got a repair bill for some £450'ish every year plus MOT cost. At the Cambridge centre, Mark says they carry out the works too. So he was £1400+ Over 3 years, the 5th year, they handed him a bill for £800 on a car that was perhaps worth £1200. He then took it to a local family business, a mile or so from the council garage and is based in Cherry Hinton. He was handed a £55 charge for his Mot and extra work required? NO. Just a new tyre!!!!
I was gobsmacked!!
So as much as I like our local council centres, I just wouldn't take an older car there, they are indeed very thorough!
>>>clicky<<<
I was always getting ripped off with discount MOT deals then they would fail it for some obscure suspension issue and charge upwards of £200 to fix and give me my certificate.
Did this for over 20 years.
Found this place based on recommendations and awards etc and the first time I took it there they did a full service and MOT coming in at under £100, they had to replace a bulb as well.
Took my car back in November as the anti roll bar bolt had sheared causing a worrying knocking noise, they stuck it up on the ramp to have a look, said that's ok as long as you don't drive like Schumacher and they'd sort it when in for MOT in January.
Gave me a price so I could budget and they'd sort it out when booked in 3 months later.
I expect a lot of places would take a sharp intake of breath and say it's a death trap unless it's fixed immediately.
Good guys, recommended if you are in Milton Keynes neck of the woods. :smiley:
I get it with the whole "Garages must want to fail you because they want to do chargeable work on your car." but I've often found that these MOT centers are very strict jobsworths about minor problems.
When was the last time your car failed the MOT and you had repairs there.? Most folks will shop around for the repair.
If folks learned how stuff works it would be a much easier world, and I wouldn't keep getting dazzled by wonky headlights.
I did some MOT training when I did my service and repair nvq, they always used to say if it doesn't look maintained - eg not undersealed, brake pipes left to corrode , iffy tyres, then obviously the owner doesn't really care so err on the side of fail if you aren't 100% and make them repair it for safety sake.
You can't fail a car because there's nothing wrong with it, you can fail it because you go by the book.
Hope hav'nt tempted fate!
Always go to a garage that does not charge a re-test fee as the cheapo ones usually charge more for that than the mot.
My Clio does about 4K miles a year. Had a few advisories, same ones each time, but did say to sort the fogged plastic headlights before next one.
He can barely look at the car if it only takes 20 mins, it takes more than that to do the computer work, brakes and emissions test.
CENTRAL WORKSHOPS
CULWELL STREET
WOLVERHAMPTON
WV10 0JN
VTS Site Number55183
Telephone 01902554884
http://cms.walsall.gov.uk/index/transport_and_streets/motor_vehicles_roads_and_parking/mot.htm
Re-tests:
If your vehicle fails a test, there will be no retest fee provided work is carried out and your vehicle is re-presented within 10 working days
For the most impartially honest service you want to eliminate the financial incentive to pass or fail. So you're looking at an MOT garages that doesn't do or associate with repairs, and re-tests for free. There are also non-council garages which only do MOTs, if your area is looking a bit sparse for those.
So where's the deal?
As for the post above, Why would you take your car for an mot knowing it should fail and then moan that it passes. Some people!
I don't know why they do this, probably so they get repeat custom or something.
I hate to be pendantic but the earths circumference is around 24k miles, your car its been round the world nearly 8 times, or have you literally toured in it? If so, ill shut up lol
Snobs, inverted snobs, trolls, HDUK mafia congratulating themselves, supermarket deals in the future, like collectors, people who contribute nothing but say nothing, anything that appears on MSE - usually unacknowledged and occasionally, people who post deals just to help people save a few pennies to help others out,
I have used the council MOT facility. It costs £40 and, depending on the faults found and repaired at your own garage £20 for a retest.
My local council services all the refuse wagons and council vehicles like emergency services. Obviously it depends what you have wrong with your motor but in my experience it comes down to your attitude.
I gave my car the visual once over and checked all the things I could. It came back with quite a few fails mainly due to being under the car which I couldn't of checked anyway.
I have a trusted mechanic who doesn't rip people off. But he doesn't do MOTs - sends the car off to another local garage. I assume this is because they need quite dear government checked calibration equipment.
Came away from the council and independent test centre, my garage charged me £100 to fix faults to get through MOT which included welding and polishing headlamps and replacing some rubber joints and coil springs.
Took it back to the council MOT centre fully expecting to have to pay another £20 retest but they waived that.
The tester that did mine explained that they were completely independent and the MOT was stringent as they fix council run vehicles. He would not suggest any local garages.
My local centre was about 3 miles from my home and I know that the ones posted aren't exhaustive. Go to your local council website.
Although my car has done 187,000k miles I presented it clean, inside and out so he could probably tell, even though it's an old car I take a bit of pride - in driving round in a car that has been round the world twice!!
An MOT is a certificate of safety. It's there for a purpose. There are lots of dodgy garages about and used car dealers passing off illegal MOTS.
I saw this deal on MSE and looked up my local council. I know for certain that I haven't got a dodgy MOT and am very happy with the service I got.
I recommend anyone who doesn't have a garage that does MOTs to go this way and then go round a few local garages that have been recommended to get the work done.
Worth posting OP - I am sure you have helped a lot more people than the mouthy miseries on have on here.
In fact I can see you have posted 100 deals since 2015 - most of the big mouths haven't even posted one deals since they joined.
Helpful!!
HOT
They do all the repairs at my mot centre, whereby you used to get it repaired elsewhere, then represent it.
Not an issue really though, because they would have to do things properly. Otherwise it would make the front pages.
That said, it's worth paying the full price for a decent MOT, otherwise you risk a bait-and-switch with a cut-price test.
There is definitely no statutory obligation to provide such a service, after all it is and always have been more than sufficiently provided for by the private sector.
I took my car to a main dealer. I waited for it to be done. Pass plus £25 for a brake light bulb, (1/4 hours work). I knew they did free retests.
They had not told me about the work. I asked them to remove the light bulb. The 'receptionist' was rather flustered and then he agreed to waive the charge.
However this MOT station / car sales found a catalogue of faults even though they passed it. Discoloured number plate, slight rust, perished tyres etc.
The perished tyres made me think. One of them had got rather hot on a long journey. But most of the stuff was very minor, but will still look bad when I come to sell it.
The manager of the garage very strange I thought on the whole.
I wondered, what was his game? Certainly a 'lack of trust'.
I must be the only person who seeks a bent MOT tester who will overlook my decat pipe when it comes to the emissions test and the emissions reader finds its way up someone else's exhaust pipe :wink:
Mitsubishi evolution emissions test = Ford Fiesta emissions :smile:
Build up a rapport........?
Alrighty then Casanova.....
This guy.
It can work both ways, I've had my Golf for over 10 years now (nearly 14 years old), it hardly gives me any trouble and apart from the high annual road tax and rubbish economy around town it costs very little to own. I will be buying a never car soon but there is every risk that I could end up with a car with more problems than I have now, and that could be the case with a brand new car as well. A new car will cost me more to run once you factor in dealer servicing costs etc even if the repair costs are lower (zilch if covered under warranty).
It's simple - cars will always cost you money! :smiley: There's no magic solution but at least nowadays there's lots of options (leasing/second hand etc) so people can take the best one that fits their circumstances.
as apposed to honest test ( Not all the test centres who do MOT / repairs are dishonest though )
The council I actually use 16 miles away is £38 with free retest, he offered a free emission recheck appointment before the actual retest too! He really makes and effort to get it to pass, the most recent took 75mins as he did the emissions test for me 3 times to finally get it to scrape though on high idle. Oh and he put a temporary patch of gumgum on the slight exhaust joint leak too.
That being said i dont see why this is being posted as a hotdeal? Its merely good advice.
"Have you got a problem with your automatic gearbox?" "No, why do you ask?" "Because all your automatic oil has just drained out."
When that happens, there is very little alternative other than to scrap the car.
This or something like it, has happened more than once. On the other hand, I have taken a car to a back street mechanic who has a 'good' relationship with an MOT centre. He has managed to pass cars which are horror stories!
I have got a picture so I could show you.
My experiences:
Birmingham: Very busy MOT center, make sure you book a month or two in advance, or you wont get a slot. Charge full price for MOT £54 and the re-test is not free. If your car fails it won't be a "deal". The upside the guy who did the MOT was very friendly. No unnecessary advisories or work.
Coventry: Center has more capacity than Birmingham and was easy to book the car a couple weeks in advance. Charge £45 for the test and re-test is free if you fix and bring it back in a week. The center is full of Coventry black cab drivers who are required to do their MOT there and were surprised why I was getting it done there? The MOT guy was very rude. During underside inspection he found a leak and called me over and said I will fail your MOT so and so reason (fair enough). Then he says "I should stop the test now whats the point?". I requested him to please carry on and he did for an additional 1.5 hours. He implied to me that he had done the full test as a favour, when he should have stopped at the first fault found. He added some "advisories" which I later had checked at a garage and they said its nothing at all. I later found out that even if the car fails MOT at some point during the test, the test should still be completed (unless impossible to continue) in full because there may be additional failure reasons not just the first one found. Anyway got the car fixed same day and re-booked next day. This time a different guy did the re-test (20 minutes) and was a totally different experience. Very polite and checked the work that had been done and passed the MOT.
They also never charged the full maximum fee, if memory serves it was £45 last year.
Also last time I was in, a woman had brought her car and it failed on either a bulb or a wiper, and she was allowed to go out, get it fixed (which she did in less than 30 minutes) and he then re-tested it for free, and passed it, pretty good service I thought. Not sure if it fails on something you can't immediately fix whether the same would apply.
When we get figures revealing 90% of garages tested missed potentially dangerous faults, it's a bit concerning.
P.S. Also charging for work not even carried out.
That was a real deal! :-)
Personally I would choose a local independent garage ( not the likes of Halfords or Kwik Fit) that is relatively busy anyway, and where the staff are approachable and willing to give advice and assistance ( without trying to pressure you or up sell) on any aspect of your car.
in fact the very reason I have a new car is due to the excessive cost and inherent inconvenience of second hand ownership, I'm going to save a packet this year against the cost of car ownership in previous years which have eaten into my savings - and I won't be spending any time awaiting the return of or collecting my vehicle and bill or discussing car mechanics that I know little about - also I know exactly how much I will be spending on motoring this year too, which is great.
My other half had an MOT which passed, but with a list of advisories. brakes, fuel lines, tyres, along with a few other things, etc. Tyres & brakes was fine as they are easy to check or know when your brakes need replacing!
Following year took it to a different garage & the only advisory was the fuel lines.
So we got them replaced.
I'm sure there are people like that all over anyway, personally I'm surprised a 'person like that' is living in a house in this area. Perhaps the money they save on car costs has enabled them to do so...
back to topic though, perhaps a better deal to just ignore MOT and save your money then.
Can't see the deal here.
Plenty of really good local garages around that will do MOT's without ripping you off
£27 original price but with a 10% voucher (10OFFMOT20) it's £24.30. 8.88% on topcashback (£2.13) so in all it cost me £22.17. Car passed fine.
Harvey Combe
Station Road
Killingworth
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE12 6UB
Tel: 01916436394
VTS Site Number: 6119BL
But ya know, if you drive a rotbox!
Saving a fiver on the cost of an MOT is nothing when your second hand car requires work, that is the real cost(or rather pain) of an MOT.
Unless of course you just don't bother , like my neighbors, i'm sure they save fair bit just ignoring it then getting a 'new' car for a few hundred quid when it catastrophically fails - lack of MOT and tax also seems to give them special rights to park in disabled bays too, at one point i thought there was a law against such things.
Never had any issues, even when I knew my brakes were coming towards the end of their life they told me they were passable and still good for a few thousand miles.
Doesn't seem to me that they're incentivised for making up jobs that need doing, I know people are quick to bash chain garages but I've never had any issues.
That won't change either if they fail me when it's due in March - I've been using them for many years and I'd trust the decision to be an accurate one.
There used to be a garage that only did MOT's and no mechanical work. Again my MOT's were the cheapest I had, of course they started doing work eventually and the costs went up. MOT test centres should be government run IMO.
It's actually a really low effort post.
Www.smug-show-off.co.uk
I hand it into my local trusted garage that I have been using for many years, they take it to their MOT station partner and get it checked. Usually its always a pass so no funny business. Its a very good garage and regarded by many that I know including breakdown recovery guys as being the best in glasgow.
Always good info to have though.
I don't think there is any problem with impartiality at the vast majority of MOT providers.
Told me I needed a new exhaust because the bracket snapped. £88.
bought a strap from eBay for £10. On a second occasion, they passed the car, but told me the light bulbs were upside down and charge me £20 PER BULB to turn them the right way up. I found this one hard to believe as according to several manuals I read the bulbs will only actually go in one way around (VW Passat) they have a special holder the bulb goes into and clicks into place.
So no, council run MOT centres will not be perfect little angels and never rip you off..... still better than kwik fit though..
the maximum charged for an mot on its own....not related to a taxi which is a fee for a package of services is set by vosa at a maximum of 54.65 for a class 4 mot.
the half retest fee applies in certain circumstances and failures. a free test is offered on certain items. this can usually be found on a noticeboard in the mot stations.
i dont believe any authority is overcharging for mots. you may be disgruntled by the taxi fees you have to pay but for this you are recieving more than a single mot test.
They charge £40 for a car and have ample availability. Even got an online booking system which makes things really convenient.
Don't think anyone is suggesting if the brakes or steering don't work it should pass.
If you find a good independent garage you should use them rather than these. A good garage won't rip you off and say you need work doing you don't.
Only time i was failed was due to number plate spacing - think the guy doing the testr was a bit jealous. When the centre manager saw it he looked in shock and a bit embarrassed - called up a mate and said to make the plates up for me, made me go get them and fit them and passed me right away.
As a plus, i got a lovely set of metal plates for £20!
they fail me because my car is 20YO and has various wear & tear/ maintenance issues to sort out, as you'd expect
they are brilliant because they don't rip me off and just get on & sort out the issues cheaply & efficiently, letting me provide the spare parts if I want to
And, yes, they are extremely thorough; had cars fail on simple things like no water in the window-washers (forgot), but quite honestly, I prefer to have that type of thorough because it gives me peace of mind.
If these guys say it's roadworthy then it's roadworthy, and that's something I need to be sure about if the kids are driving the car.
gulidford charged 54 for mot!!!
30 around corner for me
look at the fees they charge for a taxi mot 193 what a rip off is this allowed by law.
Whilst you maybe getting a more honest test from a Government MOT Test Centre, it is likely that it will be a VERY thorough MOT Test. By that I mean they may fail you for very minor things that another garage may simply ignore and pass off. Mine failed due to a very tiny leak of oil. I took it to another garage to fix, who said they would have actually passed it, as the problem was so minor. They literally tightended something up to resolve the fault, and that was it.
I had to take it back to the re-test, for which I had to pay half the test fee again.
So, I guess its swings and roundabouts...
and at the moment £30 for a MOT. Brilliant Customer Service, Book in advance and NO I do not work for them and am not related in any way just a very happy customer. (A very hard to please one lol)
Most will NOT do repairs hence the fact that many believe that this will mean a higher chance of passing at these stations as there would be no point. Put it this way, I never had a car pass when I went to independents but I have never had a fail since using Local Authority MOT station, coincidence maybe, but it does seem fishy.
Or you just avoid Kwikscams and other chains and find a trusted local garage recommended by friends.
They wont repair your vehicle, so wont go out for their way to fail it like some bad garages do. However, most charge the full VOSA test fee of £54.65 at the moment. Alot of places will also have limited availability due to taxi testing/licensing checks and their own fleet vehicles taking up alot of the day so getting a suitable appointment.
Find a good local garage, build up a repor with them. I am on first name terms with my local garage (i only use them 3 or 4 times a year for tests as i do all my own mechanical work), charge £45 which isn't cheap either (some garages within 10miles of me do tests for £30), but i can trust them to do an honest fair test and they are on my door step. They even know how to correctly test my kit cars, whereas other garages failed it on emissions (doesnt need an emissions test) etc.
So this potentially benefits those who can do their own repairs and have a bit of a clue rather than those who genuinely do need am honest MOT, or do they do repairs too?
True about the honesty part, although I'm really looking for the opposite, that way I might get a pass. :man: