bgunn said:

I've got a brilliant guy that's 2 mins drive from my place - first went there 7 years ago with my Jag XJ40 (which drew some remarks from him as I was 27, running a 3.6L metallic gold Jag!), and he's remembered me ever since.

Always fair, realises I know what I'm talking about, and knows that whilst I won't necessarily give him work to do, I'll always take my cars (and family members) there.

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We have a good local place too, passed the Panda first time with the wheels that the Fiat guy was tempted to fail, always willing to help when our Subaru inevitably fails its MOT!

Subaru failed on emissions this year and I had a google and the symptons they described pointed towards the idle air control valve being gummed up. Went to the Scooby dealer, got the gasket for the valve and supplied it, they put the iac valve in their parts washer and all was good

306maxi said:

the dealership monkey wanted to fail me because my wheels were a touch corroded. Jobsworth.

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Come again? How's that a failure

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Come again? How's that a failure

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It's an mot tester fail

306maxi said:

they failed it on there being damage to the tyre... ...I think they were being OTT as it was only a tiny cut

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It's a fail if the length of the cut is in excess of 25 mm or 10% of section width, whichever is greater, deep enough to reach the ply or cord. If the cut is smaller than this, all the tester can do is pass & advise.

So anything less than an inch long and you're good to go.

They claimed it reached the cord, but it didn't really. Tyres needed replacing anyway as they'd put the tracking out and it had killed the inner edges of the tyre.

My 2007 Dynamic failed it's first MOT (at an incredible 68,000 miles and before I bought it) on 4 bald tyres 2 of which were flagged as "dangerous". MOT tester was right as when it came to me the spare had less than 1mm of tread on it.
Echoing above, always use a good recommended Independent for MOT, never a fast fit place or the dealers, it's not just the cost and being ripped off but safety as well, a good Indie will be experienced and as a consequence won't miss the dangerous stuff.
Another benefit of building a relationship with an independent is more options to fix. Aircon compressor failed on my big Volvo, not an MOT item but he spotted the leak and mentioned it at my last MOT in December. New compressor is at least £400 even for OEM but they can be picked up secondhand from a breakers on Ebay for less than £50 which is what I did . Indie understood my logic and fitted it for me (obviously has to be re-gassed as well) if it he been no good I would have still paid for his labour and the re-gas but it worked perfectly saving me a shedload of money.

306maxi said:

I should also mention that when I had my first MOT, they failed it on there being damage to the tyre, but that's not the cars fault and personally I think they were being OTT as it was only a tiny cut, drove home, popped my winters on and triumphantly passed the MOT, the dealership monkey wanted to fail me because my wheels were a touch corroded. Jobsworth.

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They wanted to fail you because MOT testers need a certain percentage of fails to show they are competent in what they do...FACT

deepee121 said:

They wanted to fail you because MOT testers need a certain percentage of fails to show they are competent in what they do...FACT

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New one on me. If every car is a pass it's a pass, they are regulated to check they're doing their job properly. They don't have to fail a car which should pass.

It's a made up story. FACT

Owned from new
First MOT Feb 2013
30,000 miles (No advisories)

Pinns said:

First MOT Feb 201330,000 miles (No advisories)

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Wait let me get this straight. 201,300 miles?

First mot failed on flexy pipe to lambda sensor pipe, had to buy fiat part as at the time no pattern part available. (think I was ripped off on that one but needed the car asap) so first mot cost me 280 quid which was dearer than my 1998 fiesta that i binned in favour of a this car.

Second mot £45 advisory on top strut, lower ball joints and worn bush on rear shock eyelet. ( shockers were replaced 6months prior to this too)

ahmett said:

Wait let me get this straight. 201,300 miles?

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Looks like 2013 30,000 miles to me.

It got edited.

Took our 2010 10 plate 1.2 Lounge in to my trusted local place (Mac Testing of St Albans)for its first MOT yesterday, with 15,400 miles on the clock. Passed with two advisories - small chips on the windscreen and front brake pads on their way out.

I also got them to check it over with a view to the warranty running out at the end of June, and the guy said it was all looking fine.

Very happy with that.

Failed. Rear shockers and front brakes and advisory on oil leak from gearbox and front shocks. Got 75% of rear shocker costs back from fiat after 3 months of arguing. Oil leak was a seal and cost me about £80 for fiat dealer to fix. Had only done 22k at time.

Punto mk2 - 65,000 51 plate
Price to fix: £5 MOT £45

Failed: disc to suspension bolts wrong fitment (they're in my gearbox somewhere....
Numberplate bulb not working
Advisory:
Cv joint leaking slight grease no dirt engress (knew about that from clutch change)

Apart from the wrong bolts and numberplate light i knew the cv joint needed doing. Fairly happy with how she passed

kimmo said:

Failed. Rear shockers and front brakes and advisory on oil leak from gearbox and front shocks. Got 75% of rear shocker costs back from fiat after 3 months of arguing. Oil leak was a seal and cost me about £80 for fiat dealer to fix. Had only done 22k at time.

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why did you not indie it up?

Why did i not what? Lol. Not sure what that means.

Why did you go to a dealer and not an independent garage?