MOT issues

[trevormax]

Hello, I wonder if anyone can help me with this (sorry if it is a very long question).

 

I sent my car in for an MOT on Saturday and got a call back on the same day to tell me it had failed. When I asked what was wrong with it, I was told by the guy that he wasn't sure as the guy who had done it had gone home for the day.

 

So I called back on Monday morning and was told that the handbrake had a problem with not being strong enough, the exhaust had a leak, a buld needed replacing and one of the wheels was buckled and needed to be replaced. The wheels I have are 17" alloy wheels, and these ones aren't easy to get unless you buy 4 of them.

 

This was all of the details given to me and the guy could not give me a price as they weren't sure what was wrong with the brake or exhaust and that I would have to replace the wheel my self but as I needed my car back badly for work, I told him to go ahead with whatever repairs had to be done.

 

I phoned again on Tuesday and was told everything was done. I asked about the wheel and was told they had found a replacement (somehow, I didn't beleive them). again I was not told a price or any details of what repairs were done.

 

As I work 9-5:30 I couldn't go to get the car so sent my father with my bank card. When I got home from work, he gave me the receipt with the MOT documents including the pass certificate. The bill came to £53. As it was low, I thought the exhauset and brake must have been minor issues and the wheel had obviously not been replaced so this figure seemed about right.

 

I had a phone call today (but couldn't answre as I was in work) saying I had taken the car without paying my bill although I have the receipt which means I have paid them. I was not given an invoice or receipts for parts and labour though.

 

I was wondering where I stand if they say they made a mistake with the bill being too low as it was them who did the MOT, priced it all up and charged the amount I paid. Is this the same as a shop charging the wrong amount at the till when there is no price on the shelf and then phoning me up days later saying they made a mistake and want more money?

 

Thanks in advance

[Conniff]

So it failed on a wheel and other things, but your have the car back with a full MoT certificate and the buckled wheel is still in place, is that right?

 

Sounds fraudulent to me, they have issued a pass certificate on a car that has not passed and so is unfit for road use.

 

Mind you, £53 is the cost of an MoT test so you probably haven't paid the repair bill.

Did they tell you how much the bill is?

 

You must let them know that you will not contemplate paying any further monies to them until they have

sent you a fully itemised bill.

[noomill060]

AND the MOT Failure Sheet- this has the list of all the things the tester failed it on.

[noomill060]

Buckled wheel? My arris.

 

Tell them you want the buckled wheel back. (Your brother is a chartered engineer and he'll tell you if its buckled or not.)

 

If they say its been disposed of, you want evidence of its disposal. Alloy is worth a bit so they will have a chit from the scrapyard they flogged it for, and a receipt for the replacement they miraculously found so easily.

Edited September 4, 2008 by noomill060

[Devdas73]

You dont mention wheter you agreed to do the remedial work? Were you in the process of getting an estimate? This is to establish if there was a contract to do the remedial work or was it only for the MOT? Did you agree to do the remedial work without an estimate?

 

And I agree with noomill they would have to issue a fail certificate and probably have to charge a retest fee as well

 

As for the work done you can carry out basic checks chips, kerb damage etc, if it has not been changed then take it up with them same thing for the exhaust is there a change in tone? Take the car to a garage and ask them to put it up on the ramp some places do free checks. This should establish if work was done, replacement exhaust is quite easy to spot it should be clean and gleaming. No work done would mean they are taking you for a ride....

[RickB]

Don't know about now but in the past if your car failed the MOT & the repairs were done by the garage that did the initial test (I think the proviso was that it couldn't leave the garage) then there was no chanrge for the second test.

[trevormax]

Thanks for the advice. I have phoned the garage and it turns out they did only charge for the MOT ( £53). I managed to get a more detailed list of what they did which is as follows:

 

Stripped, cleaned and adjusted the brakes.

Stripped cleaned and sealed a hole in the exhaust.

replaced a headlamp bulb.

and replaced the wheel with a second hand one.

 

In total the parts and labour will cost £80 which (as long as the wheel was in fact replaced) isn't too bad I guess. I will be checking the wheel a bit more as soon as it stops raining cats and dogs. This is because that wheel has been on that position since i got the car about 4 years ago, has never been kurbed as far as I can remember, and has never failed an MOT before.

 

again thanks for the advice though

[patdavies]

If you want to be sure that the wheel has been replaced, simply tell them that you want the old one back - it is after all, your property.

 

The repair to the exhaust also rings alarm bells for me.

 

AFAIK, if an exhaust has been repaired when presented for the test and passes (no leakage) then fine. If it fails the test, I believe that it has to be replaced rather than repaired. One of the resident mechanics will be along soon to provide a definitive answer I'm sure.

[butty_a]

Pretty sure blow holes in exhaust can be repaired, fast weld etc but still sounds as though they are fishing for a few extra pounds. Follow this link

Are you satisfied with your MOT? : Directgov - Motoring. Its part of direct gov and they offer advice about this sort of thing. i.e passed and shouldn't or failed and should have passed etc.

 

Regarding the wheel though, I thought alloys crack rather than buckle because they're more brittle.

[riget]

£80 sounds fair to me, a repair to the exhaust is fine before or after the test.

[noomill060]

Ive got a split seam in my 23 year old stainless exhaust. Every year I just buy a tin of beans and after devouring the contents, cut the top and bottm of the tin with the tin opener, slit the resultant tube down the manufactuing line with a pair of scissors, then after smearing the inside on the tin with hight temperature exhaust cement, clamp the tin around the split seam with a three large jubilee clips.

 

Looks a sight, but it doesnt leak and the nice MOT man has never bleated about it.