MOT fail

Well just got back from collecting the 90 from the garage, as I was expecting it failed.

On the following:

Front brakes only have less than 1.5mm left (got my moneys worth out of them!)
A frame ball joint
Steering ball joint has excessive play
Rear wheel bearing
Head lights flash isnt working
Horns fcuked
Drivers door wont open.. (it does you just need to hold the catch up when opening the door!)
Number plate light
Side lights

Anyway then it was all priced up in total to get that all fixed, parts and labor.. ready?

£556.16!!!

So after having a mild heart attack, I crunched some numbers.

This is what they priced me.
Front brakes £39
A frame ball joint £27
Steering ball joint £27
Rear wheel bearing £44.95

Now that sounds a bit expencive!!!

Then theres the £152 they want for the parts to repair the rest!
And fianlly the £160+ for labor!

I think thats a little unreasonable, so I got on the blower to a friend of mine and managed to pick up brand new

Front brakes £13
A frame ball joint £10
Wheel bearing £7.82
Steering ball joint £5

Planning to fix and fit it all wednesday so it should (fingers crossed) pass on thursday!

Damn that's expensive parts ! But I don't think the labour is too unreasonable, we charge £42 and hour and there's easy 3hours work there so 160 is pretty standard

Crikey!

ANyway, gives you something to do of an afternoon

Never good, but most of those you really should have known about before booking it in!

Not being unkind, just struck me as a bad use of £55 to be told your horn and headlamp flash does not work

Station House said:

Never good, but most of those you really should have known about before booking it in!

Not being unkind, just struck me as a bad use of £55 to be told your horn and headlamp flash does not work

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who still pays £55? :doh:

I have known about a few things like a frame, horn and lights thats just a fuse that i changed when i got back.

Im not great with electrics, so rather someone who knew what they were doing play with it

I didnt pay £55, only paid for the MOT that was 30 odd quid, so not all is lost yet!

JNEC said:

I didnt pay £55, only paid for the MOT that was 30 odd quid, so not all is lost yet!

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30's damn cheap for an mot ! if you leave it there to be fixed there should be no retest fee if you take it away they can charge a partial re-test fee but not full price, we always do free re-test but some don't. the flasher problem could be the stalk getting knackered as if it still comes on main beam there bulbs and relay are fine, sidelights and numberplate light are most probably just bulbs so dirt cheap. if the steering joint is the drop arm ball joint, these can be a ball ache to do, ive spent well over an hour on one before and that inviolved welding the inner cup out good luck

I only ever pay £27.50 and no retest fee.

The Mad Hat Man said:

I only ever pay £27.50 and no retest fee.

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to be honest for a test that cheap the garage has got to be doing over 1000 a year or else the tester isn't really paying himself anything. a tester should average 40 mins ish per test or else vosa get on there back. and with certification of machinery every 6-12 months aswell as his own wages. theres alot of investment in mot's

200tdi ayre said:

30's damn cheap for an mot ! if you leave it there to be fixed there should be no retest fee if you take it away they can charge a partial re-test fee but not full price, we always do free re-test but some don't. the flasher problem could be the stalk getting knackered as if it still comes on main beam there bulbs and relay are fine, sidelights and numberplate light are most probably just bulbs so dirt cheap. if the steering joint is the drop arm ball joint, these can be a ball ache to do, ive spent well over an hour on one before and that inviolved welding the inner cup out good luck

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Cheers all noted! I'm in the process of getting hold of a friends work shop so I got all the correct tools to get it done

200tdi ayre said:

if the steering joint is the drop arm ball joint, these can be a ball ache to do good luck

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I second that and so can the a-frame ball joint !

Jason2 said:

I second that and so can the a-frame ball joint !

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I've got a 70 tonne press so the ball joints fairly easy for me

JNEC said:

Front brakes £13
A frame ball joint £10
Wheel bearing £7.82
Steering ball joint £5

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Labour seems fair enough, but those parts you have priced up will be Britpart, so allow cost for doing them again in about 6 months time.

Especially the A-frame ball joint, get a Lemforder, sure I paid £20 for mine at LR Direct.

Get Timken bearings and a genuine seal, ought to be about £18 for the lot.

Steering ball joint, even a Delphi or Lemforder will only set you back another 4 or 5 quid.

I put wifes car in for an MOT recently as I was in the dog house for letting it run out. I thought it would pass but they came up with failure for the anti roll bar bushes and the longets 2 brake pipes on the car that were hidden under some plastic sill trim. there was also advisorys for things such as "plastic cover on engine obscurring parts for inspection". They only charged £27 for the MOT but were obviously expecting me to ok it all over the phone as they knew the MOT had expired. Needless to say I didnt and another garage passed it ok and an inspection by mechanics at work also said it was all fine. I got onto VOSA but need not have bothered. The thing is if VOSA charge £55 for the MOT and they charge £27 then somehow they have to make up their losses on cars that pass needing no work. I think I was to be one of those to make up their losses!

A reputable garage is the important thing.

No harm intended, but putting a motor in for an MOT with numerous lights / horn etc not working is just laziness, and is only going to make the tester be more harsh on anything borderline he finds, as he will just see it as a car that gets zero maintenance.

I wouldn't dream of taking even a 4 year old, 10,000 mile car in for its first ever MOT without a good clean inside and out, and checking the wipers and lights as a very minimum, perception is everything.

mojofilter said:

No harm intended, but putting a motor in for an MOT with numerous lights / horn etc not working is just laziness, and is only going to make the tester be more harsh on anything borderline he finds, as he will just see it as a car that gets zero maintenance.

I wouldn't dream of taking even a 4 year old, 10,000 mile car in for its first ever MOT without a good clean inside and out, and checking the wipers and lights as a very minimum, perception is everything.

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Spot on that,
Nothing ****es me of more than a motor that comes in for test and the lights are out and it says so on the dash and/or its full of crap/ looks like they are living in the thing

Agreed. Also, its much cheaper to change your own bulbs, windscreen wipers etc.

Matt Baxter said:

Spot on that,
Nothing ****es me of more than a motor that comes in for test and the lights are out and it says so on the dash and/or its full of crap/ looks like they are living in the thing

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Lol, I even fish the rarely to never used rear seatbelt sockets out from under the seats, and plug the belts into them as a wee sweetner to show the tester I care!

Plus, a pre requisite for being a tester is a memory like an elephant. You don't know the guy from Adam, probably walk by him in the street every day without recognising him, but as soon as you tun up for an MOT, the first thing he says is 'ey up', I hope you've changes these back discs I gave you an advisory for last year'!