MOT Failure

[BandyAndy]

I took the 32 for it's annual test yesterday. I parked up in their waiting bay and headed off to reception. I intended staying in the customer services area as I had an appointment, so made myself comfortable with a coffee.
I've never had any anxiety over her passing the test, she's molly-coddled no end and never wants for anything. In fact, I probably spend more time and money on preventive maintenance rather than repairing anything.
Well imagine my surprise when the tester called me from reception and told me she'd failed.
The rear brake lights were not working, the indicators weren't either and the ESP light was on !
Well I drove her there and everything was fine, but I knew what the problem was straight away. She must have blown a fuse as the tester put her up on the ramp.
What's the chances of that happening ?
I accompanied him back to the car and explained what I thought was wrong. I opened the fuse box and replaced the fuse with a spare, I started her up and turned the wheels full lock both ways to extinguish the ESP light.
Voila ! All lights now working correctly as well.
I thought he would just pass her now and that would be that. But no, he'd already registered the failed MOT, and now she's got her first failure in the eight years I've owned her.

I'm gutted

 

[merc estate]

Lucky you new what was going on otherwise that could have been expensive. Remember the days when they would tell you before failing it.

 

[Rory]

I had one fail at our village garage fail as headlamps too low. The fail wasn't mentioned when they called to say ready or when I collected the car - I only found looking through the paperwork. Asked the tester and he said he'd tweaked them up and then issued a pass. I'm very dubious anything was done.

Having a row with a SEAT dealer at the moment who has put an advisory on daughter's 3yr/30K mile Ateca for worn suspension bushes. I'm arguing that if they're worn sufficiently to mention on first MOT they should change under warranty.

 

[Uttyrnuttry]

I had a car of mine a few years back, where the indicator light blew as I turned into the garage. The tester said he’d seen me indicate to turn onto their forecourt!
They just replaced the bulb (for free!) and issued the pass.
Oh, to have some common sense like that these days!

 

[Chrishazle]

I had something similar at Kwik Fit folkestone a few years ago with the 968 cab. As he drove the car into the test bay I noticed that one brake light was not working. told the guy, and said I had a spare bulb and could change it in 5 minutes - but he insisted on doing the test and failing her. 5 minutes later, in their car park, I'd changed the bulb abd checked it worked, called him out to see it - he checked the other lights as well, then told me that as he was "in the system" with another vehicle he could not issue the pass cert for another hour, so I went home and had them post it to me!

 

[BTB 500]

But no, he'd already registered the failed MOT, and now she's got her first failure in the eight years I've owned her.

I found an MOT fail listed for our old S203 with the reason: "Electronic parking brake control defective" (the 203 doesn't have electronic parking brakes!). This was followed by a pass (with the same date and mileage) - the garage never said anything at the time other than it had passed. I tried a number of times to get this removed by the DVLA but it was still there when we sold the car.

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , let's call the MOT tester I know Mr DW.

Well Mr DW had an old lady appear with her car for its annual test.

Couple of issues he spotted , break lights not working plus wiper not working correctly.

Easy fix

Rest of the car was perfect.

Called into the office and given a telling off by his boss and the old bird.

She worked for the Ministry of Transport and told him he should have failed the car.

His reply was OK !

As he explained in his opinion every car on the road could be made to fail the MOT upon inspection

From that day forth he was an absolute bast**d when doing the cars MOT test.

From memory rare for car passed first time and the boss love it , so much revenue for don't nothing.

Mr DW retired at 40 and has not worked for 30 years.

What a waste

 

[m80]

Hi , let's call the MOT tester I know Mr DW.

Well Mr DW had an old lady appear with her car for its annual test.

Couple of issues he spotted , break lights not working plus wiper not working correctly.

Easy fix

Rest of the car was perfect.

Called into the office and given a telling off by his boss and the old bird.

She worked for the Ministry of Transport and told him he should have failed the car.

His reply was OK !

As he explained in his opinion every car on the road could be made to fail the MOT upon inspection

From that day forth he was an absolute bast**d when doing the cars MOT test.

From memory rare for car passed first time and the boss love it , so much revenue for don't nothing.

Mr DW retired at 40 and has not worked for 30 years.

What a waste

Fine if the old bird was to report herself for driving a car in an unsafe condition.

Is it important to record the state of the car at presentation,
or at departure if fixed?

 

[Railwayman]

The only time I tend to use a garage is at MOT time as I have serviced and repaired them myself for many years. Been going to the same place for 30 years and they are superb, took a girlfriends car to them once for a MOT and it passed but was told they had found the top brake light not working but had repaired it, no charge (wiring loom broken wire at tailgate hinge point). Wont name the place for obvious reasons (see post above) but for the life of me cannot see the point of why this is not allowed, long as it leaves the site fully road legal, what's the problem?

 

[ernie]

The only time I tend to use a garage is at MOT time as I have serviced and repaired them myself for many years. Been going to the same place for 30 years and they are superb, took a girlfriends car to them once for a MOT and it passed but was told they had found the top brake light not working but had repaired it, no charge (wiring loom broken wire at tailgate hinge point). Wont name the place for obvious reasons (see post above) but for the life of me cannot see the point of why this is not allowed, long as it leaves the site fully road legal, what's the problem?

It seems that statistically, a proportion of cars in for test will not pass. Hence they fail some with easily fixable problems to make the stats. look good.

A car that I px'ed at an MB garage failed a test before they sold it due to insufficient water in the screen wash reservoir, I suspect for that reason.

Ernie

 

[DSM10000]

Having a row with a SEAT dealer at the moment who has put an advisory on daughter's 3yr/30K mile Ateca for worn suspension bushes. I'm arguing that if they're worn sufficiently to mention on first MOT they should change under warranty.

I can understand the dealer not wanting to see this as a warranty claim.

Wear in an MOT advisory context is very subjective and and tear items are not usually covered by warranty. In addition it was just an advisory and therfore the vehicle is still fit for use.

 

[zipdip]

Well we have members all over the country about time we had a list of MOT garages who have testers who do not salute the flag every morning and make car owners lives a pain,,maybe we should have our own approved list and maybe a list of do not go there ones,looking at this thread we already have some candidates for the latter.

 

[Nicebutdim]

When the MOT test interval was extended by 6 months during lockdown there were no reports of carnage on the roads.

It’s all about creating revenue for garages. A two year interval would be more acceptable with perhaps a more frequent test for commercial vehicles and others covering high annual mileage.

 

[oldguy57]

It seems that statistically, a proportion of cars in for test will not pass. Hence they fail some with easily fixable problems to make the stats. look good.

A car that I px'ed at an MB garage failed a test before they sold it due to insufficient water in the screen wash reservoir, I suspect for that reason.

Ernie

A garage I used years ago had a virtually 100% pass rate. That was because he would offer a pre MOT inspection, and advise the owner what would need to be done, if anything . He didn't do repairs so no way of making money. He was hounded by the authorities, but kept meticulous records so there was nothing they could argue with. There was even a "secret shopper" type attempt who brought in a total shed. Soon sussed them and sent them on their way.
I agree it's nonsense to fail on low washer fluid and similar, just to make up the numbers. At the opposite end of the scale in my neck of the woods there are apparently 1 or 2 dodgy places where an MOT can be obtained in "special" circumstances. Stupid thing to do.

 

[BTB 500]

A car that I px'ed at an MB garage failed a test before they sold it due to insufficient water in the screen wash reservoir, I suspect for that reason.

The reason it failed was presumably because the windscreen washer didn't work when tested. The reason for this might have been that the reservoir was empty, but equally it could have been a blocked or disconnected pipe, blocked jets, etc. IMHO it's not realistic to expect an MOT tester to spend any time diagnosing why something isn't working?

 

[geoffus]

With regard to washer fluid low, drivers should check on these basic items as well as lights, tyres and wiper blades, they are safety issues and deserve a fail, only then will the owners learn to check them regularly and keep us all safe.

 

[ernie]

The reason it failed was presumably because the windscreen washer didn't work when tested. The reason for this might have been that the reservoir was empty, but equally it could have been a blocked or disconnected pipe, blocked jets, etc. IMHO it's not realistic to expect an MOT tester to spend any time diagnosing why something isn't working?

At the point of testing, though, the car actually belonged to the garage and I drove it there with everything working, including the washers.

Agree with what you say, though, that the MOT tester shouldn't have to diagnose problems.

Ernie

 

[ernie]

With regard to washer fluid low, drivers should check on these basic items as well as lights, tyres and wiper blades, they are safety issues and deserve a fail, only then will the owners learn to check them regularly and keep us all safe.

Agreed! Mine was px'ed with a valid MOT and they MOT'd it, presumably to give the new owner a full year's MOT. I drove it there with everything working properly.

Ernie

 

[ernie]

Back in the good old 60's, we had a test station that tested brakes with a gallon can of oil; if it fell over when placed side-on testing the h/b, it passed. It had to also fall over end-on for the footbrake to pass. How things have changed!

Ernie

 

[Deleted member 159894]

Back in the good old 60's, we had a test station that tested brakes with a gallon can of oil; if it fell over when placed side-on testing the h/b, it passed. It had to also fall over end-on for the footbrake to pass. How things have changed!

Ernie

For the better.