# Sodding Mot Time



## coachwhip (Jun 11, 2013)

Got a new temp job and was getting a lift as it's 15 miles away. Haven't had a car of my own for around 10 years. But the company kept laying off or sacking the people I got lifts with.

So one weekend I needed to find a car to get me to work on the Monday. Most were rubbish,but found a little 106 that drove lovely. Unfortunately it turned out to have 3 weeks MOT not the 2 months I was told.

Took it in and the garage took the piss and failed it on loads inc welding and emissions and no cat. Sorted all the problems,took back and they found something else to fail on.

Took it to different garage and one fuel cleaner later got my MOT.

So glad I'm back on the road, pity you can't trust some garages.










Anyway should be back online now I have time again. Though watch spending may have to slow down now.


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## luckywatch (Feb 2, 2013)

If you know the garage is wrong itâ€™s always worth appealing to VOSA. The appeal system should be on your paperwork and you can find it on the DirectGov website.

It brings the garage under the scrutiny of the civil servants :sweatdrop: and no one likes that.


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## Raptor (May 1, 2010)

All MOT centres here in NI are government run centres unlike on the mainland

where you go to a garage. The upside of this is that they cant benefit by failing

your car for un-needed repair work unlike some garages might.

Saying that, when I lived in leeds I used a garage that was sympathetic as my fiesta

at the time couldn't pass the emissions test but they passed it anyway rather than

force the car off the road.


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

The MOT can be a bit hit and miss but surely if you repaired the faults listed that's all they look at when you take it back for the retest, I've never heard of a garage adding to the list of faults.

That being said........French, a tin can on wheels !!

:lol: :lol:


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## DJH584 (Apr 10, 2013)

Know the feeling about the MOT, had the Mondy tested recently and it cost me Â£180 for two new CV boots!!!

So I can sympathise with you regarding the money layout.


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## Raptor (May 1, 2010)

BondandBigM said:


> The MOT can be a bit hit and miss but surely if you repaired the faults listed that's all they look at when you take it back for the retest, I've never heard of a garage adding to the list of faults.
> 
> That being said........French, a tin can on wheels !!
> 
> :lol: :lol:


You are correct bond, when you go for retest they should only retest

the previously failed points.

Op, check your mot paperwork and retest/ fail sheet I can't remember the exact

wording but it is on there.


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## Retronaut (Jun 14, 2010)

Don't forget when told by a garage about the fail items only accept them on the official VOSA form.

If they have to enter them into the system they run the risk of you appealing against dodgy items and them getting in hot water so tend to be more careful.

I recently helped a workmate with her car and using that route the fix list went down from a pi$$ taking Â£600 to just needing a new horn to pass.

:cheers:

RIch.


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## DaveOS (May 9, 2010)

Not to play devil's advocate but it sounds as though your car failed its emissions test on the retest. The garage in question may or may not have carried out an emission test on the original MoT because the cat was not present. It would appear that after the cat was fitted, it subsequently failed the test. That isn't really the garages fault, the emission test is computerised and can't be adjusted at their end. It would also explain why a fuel treatment produced a pass.

If you are not happy with the service you received, by all means take it up with VOSA. It is their job to regulate MoT stations so they can look at the information and decide if any further action is warranted.

As an aside, it is perfectly acceptable to fail a car on something during a retest that is not on the failure certificate. For example, if a car failed on a ball joint then was presented a week later for retest with a headlight out or an airbag light on, if it is noticed by the tester, it will fail.

There are some shocking MoT garages out there but the vast majority are there to simply make sure your car is safe on the road.

Anyway, I'm glad you got it sorted and it looks a sweet little car that


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## DaveOS (May 9, 2010)

Retronaut said:


> Don't forget when told by a garage about the fail items only accept them on the official VOSA form.
> 
> If they have to enter them into the system they run the risk of you appealing against dodgy items and them getting in hot water so tend to be more careful.
> 
> ...


That is good advice


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## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

You can look out for council run MOT stations too. They normally MOT taxi's, buses etc but they only do MOT tests and not any repairs, therefore they have no incentive to bump up a bill.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot


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## coachwhip (Jun 11, 2013)

In all fairness it didn't have a cat and that is a fail. But most garages don't bother. More they took the piss by suggesting that it should be condemned. 5 failures on rear brakes, basically a set of rear pads. 1 ball joint, 1 droplink, 1 track rod end, some bulbs, tiny bit of welding and emission. Emissions would pass if engine hot,but now sorted anyway.

Apart from a little knocking on front the car drove very nicely. But when they failed on handbrake, they had no interest in putting on ramp and tightening 13mm adjuster. That was on day 10,told me I could bring it back next day and they would just check brakes, but when I did they wanted full MOT and 45 quid,legal and by the book but not helpful as needed car. So told them where to stick it.

I prefer a slightly more helpful garage not one with no interest. Personally I think they wanted to be sods and didn't want to pass it regardless, though my old boss took it for me first time, so maybe some sour grapes from him, even though there shouldn't be.

Now to look into things possibly missed, like no airbag light but airbag fitted which is probably a duff connection and the bulb removed from dash as an easy fix.

I suspect it's not been loved for the last couple of owners.


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## DaveOS (May 9, 2010)

Again not to be picky but not having an airbag light is not a fail. As long as there isn't one on permanantly. It sounds to me that although they are operating with in the MOT scheme, they are basically an unhelpful gang and not worthy of your custom. You've done the right thing by simply going somewhere else.


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## fernface (Mar 9, 2011)

Just had my MOT, now Â£250 less well off, came out with a list of "advisements". If i take the car to a different garage next year, will those advisements be visible to the new garage or do they have to find these "faults" for themselves.


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## DaveOS (May 9, 2010)

Advisories will be on the system for next year. Kwikfit and the like tend to do that. Cheap MoT but they use the advisories as a selling tool. Try to find a long established local garage. They are normally less likely to take the piss. Normally


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

Unfortunately they are clamping down on these boy racer type of motors, yours looks a prime example, probably a decent car but getting older and a bit tatty. Round about my way you would probably be getting grief on a regular basis from the local plods in a car like that. I sort of get the impression that the original garage maybe just didn't want to pass it ??

Wrong engines, no cats, those dodgy hid lights and so on, the local cops are all over these sort cars here so why would a garage take the chance on giving them a ticket.


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Dave O said:


> Again not to be picky but not having an airbag light is not a fail. As long as there isn't one on permanantly. It sounds to me that although they are operating with in the MOT scheme, they are basically an unhelpful gang and not worthy of your custom. You've done the right thing by simply going somewhere else.


Not true, I believe...

*5.4** Supplementary Restraint Systems (SRS)*

*This inspection applies to** airbags**, seat belt pretensioners and seat belt load limiters fitted as original equipment...*

*...Method of Inspection...*

*2.*

*
Turn on the ignition and **check the presence and operation** of any Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) **malfunction indictor lamp(s)** (MIL)*

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_540.htm

Personally, I'd rather have something cause an MOT fail, and fix it (or get it fixed), than find out that it doesn't work when I actually need it.


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## DaveOS (May 9, 2010)

As far as I'm aware, a car will fail when an airbag light is on but can only be advised if it doesn't illuminate. This was subject to a special notice from VOSA. I'm an Authorised examiner but not an MoT tester so can check with my testers tomorrow to clarify if any one is interested.


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Dave O said:


> As far as I'm aware, a car will fail when an airbag light is on but can only be advised if it doesn't illuminate. This was subject to a special notice from VOSA. I'm an Authorised examiner but not an MoT tester so can check with my testers tomorrow to clarify if any one is interested.


I'd be interested, my mother in law had to get the airbag sensor fixed on her Mondeo to clear the warning to pass the MOT. It's listed as a 'reason for rejection' on the above site...

* Reason for rejection*

* 2.*

*
A Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) malfunction indicator lamp:*

*
*

*
. inoperative*

*
*

*
. indicating a system malfunction.*

Would seem a bit of an oversight to check whether equipment designed to save you from serious injury was working correctly, but not check whether anyone had disabled the warning alert designed to tell you if it wasn't.


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## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

As i understand it, now any warning lights on the dash are an automatic fail. However if you remove the bulb (or it has blown) then the tester can not fail what is not there.

The same way people used to take the dodgy spare tyre out of the boot - if it is there it is a fail, if it isn't it can't be tested therefore can not fail.

I would prefer knowing the airbag works eitherway


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## coachwhip (Jun 11, 2013)

I thought it was a fail if light didn't come on when ignition was on but not started. Though my experience of MOT's is almost 10 years ago now.

Think my problem lies with the seatbelt pretensioners, common problem with connections. Should be able to get a look next week as won't need to use car.


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

coachwhip said:


> I thought it was a fail if light didn't come on when ignition was on but not started.


That was my impression too and if the tester is suppose to check the 'presence and operation of' the bulb with the ignition on, I'd say they should be failing it if the bulb has been removed (it wouldn't light up when the ignition was on 'I' or 'II'). Whether the testers are remembering to do that or not is another matter.

Can you actually remove or disable a 'bulb' for a specific warning light nowerdays?


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

Sounds like you should stay away from the original garage. I'm fortunate in that I have a good relationship with my MOT garage even though they only see me twice a year (I have two cars). I was under the impression that airbag warning lights had to come on with the ignition & then go out - removing the bulb is pointess because the light won't come on with the ignition.

My Alfa 156 diesel (05 reg) failed its MOT this year on a number of things - indicators not showing yellow/amber when switched on, airbag warning light displaying permanently, a worn rear tyre & play in the offside & nearside front suspension arm bushes (suspension wear is the Achilles' heel of the 156). They know that I like tinkering on cars (I had my SS1 MOT'd by them) & asked me if I wanted to do the work myself or if I wanted them to do it - in which case the bill would be Â£500ish for the labour (but not the parts - which I could provide or they'd get them in & charge me cost price). They weren't trying to rip me off it's just that they reckoned on so many hours to do the work & multiplied it by their hourly rate. Anyway I couldn't afford Â£500 so I opted to do the work myself apart from fitting the rear tyres (I bought a pair even though it wasn't strictly neccessary).

The airbag warning light was simply a loose connection & the indicator problem was caused by the yellow paint on the bulbs fading/flaking off (so all it needed was a couple of new bulbs). The suspension was a much bigger job, I bought the arms off ebay for approx Â£40 each & spent around 4 hours fitting them - 2 1/2 hours on one side, 1 1/2 on the other as I knew what I was doing by that stage. It has to be said that it wasn't the most pleasant of jobs but it wasn't really that difficult & it all went pretty smoothly. That was approx 4 months ago & there's already a slight clunk from one side of the car which is probably down to me buying cheap suspension arms  We'll see what the next MOT brings but at least I'll know what I'm doing if I have to change them again - if they get it through another MOT then I think they'll have done alright to last 2 years for an Â£80 outlay & a Saturday mornings work.

My point is that you don't always have to pay someone to do the job for you - brakes are fairly simple/cheap to work on, as are ball joints & anti-roll bar drop links, it's unlikely that yours is the first 106 to have the airbag warning light on so have a look online (join a forum if needed) & see how other owners have solved the problem. As I say the airbag warning light on my Alfa was nothing but a loose connection, I had to go online though to find out where the connections are & which ones usually play up, the loose one on mine happened to be under the rear parcel shelf & had to be accessed through the boot. It didn't even feel loose when I found it but it's not been a problem since - it comes on & goes out exactly as it should. When I took the car in for the re-test - within the re-test period - they only checked the things that it had failed on initially.

Must admit that Pug 106's are one of the few French cars I like & I'd be happy with a Roland Garros, XSI or, particularly, a Rallye - enjoy the ride :thumbup:


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## Big Bad Boris (Dec 3, 2010)

Raptor said:


> BondandBigM said:
> 
> 
> > The MOT can be a bit hit and miss but surely if you repaired the faults listed that's all they look at when you take it back for the retest, I've never heard of a garage adding to the list of faults.
> ...


If the car is put back in for an mot within 10 working days they only test the items it failed on. If it's longer than 10 days they have to do a full retest............ the op has mentioned that he took it back on day 10, in which case I'd lodge a complaint.

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/retests


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## mjsrb5 (Apr 7, 2013)

I've seen recent experience of warning lights failing MOTs, it was for traction control warning light on a Vectra, it failed at one testing station when the warning light was on and it failed at a different mot station for not coming on when the ignition was switched on (bulb removed).

I'd like to point out it wasn't my vehicle and I do not condone trying to cheat an MOT


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## DaveOS (May 9, 2010)

Who. Me? said:


> Dave O said:
> 
> 
> > As far as I'm aware, a car will fail when an airbag light is on but can only be advised if it doesn't illuminate. This was subject to a special notice from VOSA. I'm an Authorised examiner but not an MoT tester so can check with my testers tomorrow to clarify if any one is interested.
> ...


I'll check with the testers tomorrow if I remember. I only say it because we all agreed on how it was a crap idea to pass when the bulb was taken out. The ABS has to illuminate and then go out.


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

I too was under the impression that the AB lamp had to come on with ign then extinguish indicating a working system.......else anyone with a dodgey AB can just remove the bulb and pass the test!

Same with ABS I believe.


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## DaveOS (May 9, 2010)

Checked today, they have removed the option to fail a car for the non illumination of the airbag light. As an aside, you can't fail a car on the shock absorber bounce test either. Bloody ridiculous if you ask me.


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