Council MOT centres

[Modette]

I was told that local councils have their own MOT centres for their vehicles, but legally they have to allow everyone to use them if they want to, the benefit being that they are there purely to do MOTs and have no interest in selling anything else or finding 'issues' with the car that will bring them work / profit.

So has anyone used one of these centres? Did you need to make an appointment or can you just show up?

 

[AppleSei]

Never heard of this, even the police dont have anything like that, i would doubt very much there is such a thing

They might have an on site workshop rather than an MOT centre - they have that where i work which will do all servicing and repairs but all vehicles go off site for an MOT

The HGV and PCV council vehicles will have to go to the vehicles manufacturer for its MOT, they certainly wont have anything personal for those

But be it cars, vans, HGV etc all the vehicles in the public service sector tend to be one manufacturer, those manufacturers may vary depending on your local areas choice, but the mechanics etc are only trained on this manufacturer only in order to speed up repairs and MOT's etc

There is the possibility they use a franchise (kwik fit etc etc) to MOT their car and van fleet but those places arent just for council vehicles only

If there is such a place I would be very suprised you are able to show up with any random vehicle and not be a council employee and MOT your vehicle, leaving their vehicles to wait

 

[dave]

i would think you need to ring them


http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot?gclid=CNq6sdarwKMCFer92Aodzhrkxw

 

[AppleSei]

wow, my post was a waste of time

 

[Modette]

They DO exist http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot#full I was asking if anyone had used one?

 

[jenks69]

I've used an MOT only place before and they were spot on, they offered advice on the things that are likely to cause me problems for the nex MOT.

 

[s130]

I've used my local Hedge End, Southampton, EBC Depot for the last 20+ year putting 3 or 4 cars in for MOT.

No problems what so ever. Friendly, very professional and certainly with my 3 or 4 visits a year they know me well (Fiat man )

When we were sprinting / track daying I always asked them to be hyper critical and to test well above MOT standard in the critical mechanical areas. They always obliged and pointed/advised on all sorts of things. Like a little bit of corrosion on an exhaust weld joint for example.

Our Strada Abarth does so little miles these years that sometimes, due to static pad and disc resting, a 'smooth' patch developes in one or both discs which shows up on the brake tester as classic warped disc problems. I recon most garages would fail and bill with new pads and discs. Not with these guys. They will run the brakes for a while on the rollers to check that the problem reduces.

Could not ask for more.

 

[seboni121]

seriously folks,you need to use your council M.O.T centres they are brilliant,may take a while to be seen but they do a thorough job,they have no vested intrest in passing or falling you at all,last year I used my local one in Caernarfon, thats in sunny wales on the other side of that wall,went there with my little seicento and it passed no problems best fiat they havr tested, just changed the rear brake light ,no charge.
They pointed a few things out but other than that painless,cup tea and biscuits not bad for £50,they love you to take your cars there as it helps the council keep the testing centre,in the finacial climate we are in at the moment make's sense.You need to pre-book as they have to prioritise the council vehicles,they are an excellent way of not getting shafted by bad garages.

 

[sludgeguts]

Never heard of these before & no wonder, Bucks doesn't run one.
I know last time my bus went away for test it covered about 50 miles!

 

[T14086]

https://www.fiatforum.com/garages/77636-list-council-garages-uk.html

 

[mejdmejd]

Hey dudes.
I work at a council garage and we do mot's. We have to do public mot's but its surprising that we don't get much public come in for tests. All taxi's in the city have to come to us for their bi-annual test. Good side is, as we dont work on public vehicles we dont fail things that aint a fail as we aint doing them for profit from labour =]. Bad side is, it costs £54.50 a test =[

 

[custard]

wow, my post was a waste of time

c'mon apple

https://www.fiatforum.com/cinquecento-seicento-faqs/95363-mot-prep.html

 

[T14086]

we dont fail things that aint a fail as we aint doing them for profit from labour

are you accusing garages of falsely failing cars at MOT?

 

[dave]

are you accusing garages of falsely failing cars at MOT?

kwiks*it

 

[Focus Owner]

220 car cost today.
new cv joint
service
MOT
i think that's an ok price

 

[Mr Wild]

Hey dudes.
I work at a council garage and we do mot's. We have to do public mot's but its surprising that we don't get much public come in for tests. All taxi's in the city have to come to us for their bi-annual test. Good side is, as we dont work on public vehicles we dont fail things that aint a fail as we aint doing them for profit from labour =]. Bad side is, it costs £54.50 a test =[

I used to work for the council and was told that they only MOT'd Taxi's and council vehicles

Test fees are expensive, I have been using Nationwide Autocentres past couple of times with their 50% off deal but have a feeling they'll fail me on first excuse next time since I do own repairs.

MOT's are so damn expensive these days.

 

[pooroldcodger]

Hey dudes.
I work at a council garage and we do mot's. We have to do public mot's but its surprising that we don't get much public come in for tests. All taxi's in the city have to come to us for their bi-annual test. Good side is, as we dont work on public vehicles we dont fail things that aint a fail as we aint doing them for profit from labour =]. Bad side is, it costs £54.50 a test =[

Taxis have a bi-annual test? Does that include private hire cabs?
I know you can't judge a car mechanically from the back seat, but that has come as a surprise to me judging by some that I have travelled in!

 

[custard]

Taxis have a bi-annual test? Does that include private hire cabs?
I know you can't judge a car mechanically from the back seat, but that has come as a surprise to me judging by some that I have travelled in!

probably down to the local councils licensing regs

 

[Modette]

Hey dudes.
I work at a council garage and we do mot's. We have to do public mot's but its surprising that we don't get much public come in for tests. All taxi's in the city have to come to us for their bi-annual test. Good side is, as we dont work on public vehicles we dont fail things that aint a fail as we aint doing them for profit from labour =]. Bad side is, it costs £54.50 a test =[

Thats not a bad price, I usually pay £50 and my local guy will charge me a fiver to replace a bulb without even asking me If I want him to do it. Same guy who hates Fiats so Im looking for an alternative. I wouldnt put it past him to find an issue just to prove his point.

Do you have set days or appointments for non council vehicles or can people just show up?

 

[mejdmejd]

Yeah taxies are bi anuall. Their test is also covers alot more than a normal mot, things such as cleanliness and first aid kits muts be carried. Thats the regs for our council anyway. You can just pop in to book appointments at most councils