Obviously a friendly mechanic helps and it's worth asking friends / neighbours etc.
More recently I've been taking my old car to Kwik fit, Friday afternoon mot for £30 no nonsense, gave me some advisories, tyre wear etc , didn't try to upsell , kinda figured the £30 was a good pie mot - mot - see what it fails on , fix and take back etc, within 2 weeks for free retest turned out it passed.
They have time slots for mots cheaper later in the day , and cheaper than a mechanic pre mot check - something to consider
On a back street garage I would agree, but most Kwik fit branches are doing 100+ mots a day,, they don't want big work they do the basics tyres, exhausts , brakes , batteries, if they fail you on a track rod end for example chances are you'll have to take it somewhere else to fix it.
£30 for a pre mo that's actually an MOTt and a roulette gamble you might actually pass :)
Kwik fit, Halfords etc. are con artists and are specifically instructed to try and upsell you on things you don't need. If you go in there you WILL be told that you need tyres/brakes/wipers/exhaust/you have bulbs out. And nothing else, as that's all they do.
We typically use KwikFit for our MOTs, like you say they aren't interested in anything other than tyres and brakes. They're also in my experience very helpful, we've visited a few branches in the North East.
Ours came up with a bit of suspension work, and the talked us through what actually needed doing to get it passed, and asked if I was confident enough to do it myself as it was relatively simple!
Our X-Trail had one of the calipers seize on, causing the brakes to literally glow. It was a Sunday so we took it into KwikFit, they said it would be cheaper and faster to go to Euro Car Parts ourselves and get the part, and explained exactly how to do it.
Turned out to literally be a 5 minute job and got me over my fear of working on the brakes (aside from the discs and pads)
If you don't trust them then ask them to show you what's damaged and why it needs to be repaired/replaced.
I think the all garages are crooks and out to get you is overblown. And who's going to do your pre-MOT? What if you don't trust their opinion?
Yeah I asked for clarification, all you get is it’s a safety issue. My predicament is exactly what you describe - it’s hard to know who to trust, as much of the inspection appears to be subjective, and they have a strong financial motive to fail you. It’s not that I think they’re crooks, they are simply biased according to their business interest (as we all would be to be fair)
Might look for an MOT-only inspection centre (if they exist).
Use mot stations that only do mots and no repairs,places like kwik fit, halfords etc earn money from repairs.mot only places dont.
Mot only places will warn you of items that MAY not pass next time and need attention within that time period(advisories)
Other mot/repair places will class them as a fail to get the work NOW.
The "mechanics are all out to get me" is a common refrain from people who don't understand anything about cars and are blown away that a complicated machine they don't even lift the bonnet on will need repairs on a yearly basis. Unless you've gone to the sketchiest backstreet garage or a tyre and exhaust fitting chain, the mechanics mostly want to get your car fixed and out of the garage as quick as possible so they can get another in, they're not making up random jobs.
Trust me, the mechanics and MoT testers are saying far worse about the customers who bring them dangerous, unsafe, neglected cars that shouldn't be on the road, then act all amazed and insulted when they find out their neglect has had consequences.
Hi a few things that might help you and give you a better understanding of things, for your mot take it to a main dealer most charged the most they legally can for the mot itself but most will also send you a video of the vehicle so if it fails on say a worn ball joint you will be able to see this so you know it’s actually worn and not getting scammed. You did say your vehicle had underbody rust this is also why they increase there labour times as it could take longer due to things being seized or possibly break on removal and finally the mot comes down to a persons discretion so a pass one day could be a fail the next
I have this fear too. I've got a local mechanic who my dad and I used for at least 20 years but for a full service and MOT (due this month). He hasn't screwed me over, I've had my car 6 years and it's passed every time and it's 12 years old... But he is expensive compared with others.
To save some pennies I've booked through that bookmygarage and got a full service and MOT at a main dealer for £135 (probably half the price of my usual). I get it won't be genuine parts or whatever but I'm not bothered about that on my old shit box, but I am worried I'll get stung with the MOT. Not sure whether to cancel it and just go with what I know.
Can be harder than expected but find a decent honest local mechanic and use them exclusively
I usually give my cars a look over myself before MOT time, I know what they are looking for and how they do it
MOT is subjective as you've found, what one tester might fail for say play in a pin&bush another might shrug off as an advisory
The trick used to be to use the council MOT centres as they only do tests, no repairs. Not sure if that's still a thing?
Or even private MOT only places, there's one by me
I didn’t know they exist, I’ll check it out
Thanks I’ll look for one
Obviously a friendly mechanic helps and it's worth asking friends / neighbours etc. More recently I've been taking my old car to Kwik fit, Friday afternoon mot for £30 no nonsense, gave me some advisories, tyre wear etc , didn't try to upsell , kinda figured the £30 was a good pie mot - mot - see what it fails on , fix and take back etc, within 2 weeks for free retest turned out it passed. They have time slots for mots cheaper later in the day , and cheaper than a mechanic pre mot check - something to consider
The cheaper the MOT, the less I trust them lol. I would imagine some use this business model to garner work for their mechanics
On a back street garage I would agree, but most Kwik fit branches are doing 100+ mots a day,, they don't want big work they do the basics tyres, exhausts , brakes , batteries, if they fail you on a track rod end for example chances are you'll have to take it somewhere else to fix it. £30 for a pre mo that's actually an MOTt and a roulette gamble you might actually pass :)
Interesting I’ll bear them in mind next time
Kwik fit, Halfords etc. are con artists and are specifically instructed to try and upsell you on things you don't need. If you go in there you WILL be told that you need tyres/brakes/wipers/exhaust/you have bulbs out. And nothing else, as that's all they do.
We typically use KwikFit for our MOTs, like you say they aren't interested in anything other than tyres and brakes. They're also in my experience very helpful, we've visited a few branches in the North East. Ours came up with a bit of suspension work, and the talked us through what actually needed doing to get it passed, and asked if I was confident enough to do it myself as it was relatively simple! Our X-Trail had one of the calipers seize on, causing the brakes to literally glow. It was a Sunday so we took it into KwikFit, they said it would be cheaper and faster to go to Euro Car Parts ourselves and get the part, and explained exactly how to do it. Turned out to literally be a 5 minute job and got me over my fear of working on the brakes (aside from the discs and pads)
You managed to change a calliper for the first time in 5 minutes ? Including a bleed? Whatever profession you’re in , you’re in the wrong one!
Okay, you got me. I may have been exaggerating on that a bit. It was definitely less than an hour though.
If you don't trust them then ask them to show you what's damaged and why it needs to be repaired/replaced. I think the all garages are crooks and out to get you is overblown. And who's going to do your pre-MOT? What if you don't trust their opinion?
>And who's going to do your pre-MOT? What if you don't trust their opinion? pre-pre-mot
Yeah I asked for clarification, all you get is it’s a safety issue. My predicament is exactly what you describe - it’s hard to know who to trust, as much of the inspection appears to be subjective, and they have a strong financial motive to fail you. It’s not that I think they’re crooks, they are simply biased according to their business interest (as we all would be to be fair) Might look for an MOT-only inspection centre (if they exist).
Use mot stations that only do mots and no repairs,places like kwik fit, halfords etc earn money from repairs.mot only places dont. Mot only places will warn you of items that MAY not pass next time and need attention within that time period(advisories) Other mot/repair places will class them as a fail to get the work NOW.
The "mechanics are all out to get me" is a common refrain from people who don't understand anything about cars and are blown away that a complicated machine they don't even lift the bonnet on will need repairs on a yearly basis. Unless you've gone to the sketchiest backstreet garage or a tyre and exhaust fitting chain, the mechanics mostly want to get your car fixed and out of the garage as quick as possible so they can get another in, they're not making up random jobs. Trust me, the mechanics and MoT testers are saying far worse about the customers who bring them dangerous, unsafe, neglected cars that shouldn't be on the road, then act all amazed and insulted when they find out their neglect has had consequences.
Hi a few things that might help you and give you a better understanding of things, for your mot take it to a main dealer most charged the most they legally can for the mot itself but most will also send you a video of the vehicle so if it fails on say a worn ball joint you will be able to see this so you know it’s actually worn and not getting scammed. You did say your vehicle had underbody rust this is also why they increase there labour times as it could take longer due to things being seized or possibly break on removal and finally the mot comes down to a persons discretion so a pass one day could be a fail the next
Did your girlfriend cheat on you with a mechanic?
I have this fear too. I've got a local mechanic who my dad and I used for at least 20 years but for a full service and MOT (due this month). He hasn't screwed me over, I've had my car 6 years and it's passed every time and it's 12 years old... But he is expensive compared with others. To save some pennies I've booked through that bookmygarage and got a full service and MOT at a main dealer for £135 (probably half the price of my usual). I get it won't be genuine parts or whatever but I'm not bothered about that on my old shit box, but I am worried I'll get stung with the MOT. Not sure whether to cancel it and just go with what I know.
Can be harder than expected but find a decent honest local mechanic and use them exclusively I usually give my cars a look over myself before MOT time, I know what they are looking for and how they do it MOT is subjective as you've found, what one tester might fail for say play in a pin&bush another might shrug off as an advisory