For years now I have grown accustomed to treating the MOT as a kind of free check-up. If the car fails the first attempt, I go and fix it and then get the retest free. The examiner glances at the offending item, now replaced or whatever, and then writes out the pass certificate.
Suddenly last week the rules seem to have changed. The examiner did a full repeat test, even down to pulling out the extra child seat belts in the boot to see if they might have been worn out over the weekend, and measuring the tyres to see how much wear had occured in 50 miles.
Is this a new rule, or have I just been lucky in finding sensible examiners in the past who knew how to bend the rules?
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If the vehicle is brought back to the same testing station and retested before the end of the next working day on one or more of the following items, no additional fee is payable and only a Partial Re-Examination is required:
ABS Warning, Hazard Warning , Headlamp Aim, Rear Reflectors, Seats, Windscreen and Windsreen wipers/washers, Bootlid, Doors, Horn, Tailboard, VIN, Brake Pedal Antislip, Dropsides, Tailgate, Registration Plates, Steering Wheel, Emissions, Lamps, Loading Doors, Seat Belts (but not anchorages), Sharp Edges or Projections, Wheels and Tyres, Direction Indicators, Fuel Filler Cap, Mirrors.
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I believe that the 'rules' have said that for many years, but probably most garages realise that a complete re-examination doesn't make much sense. But a place near here of dubious repute did just what you describe many years ago - up on ramps, etc.etc - after failing wife's car for a numberplate bulb (which I suspect may have been OK anyway). As it cost me nothing, but had to be charged somewhere, I assumed that the DoT footed the bill for retests?
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From that wonderful reference:- www.motuk.co.uk/test_fee.htm
highlight is mine.
Retests (Re-Examinations)
if the vehicle stays at the test station which failed the vehicle, to be repaired No additional fee (Partial Re-Examination.
if the vehicle is brought back to the same testing station and retested before the end of the next working day on one or more of the following items only No additional fee (Partial Re-Examination)
ABS Warning, Hazard Warning , Headlamp Aim, Rear Reflectors, Seats, Windscreen and Windsreen wipers/washers, Bootlid, Doors, Horn, Tailboard, VIN, Brake Pedal Antislip, Dropsides, Tailgate, Registration Plates, Steering Wheel, Emissions, Lamps, Loading Doors, Seat Belts (but not anchorages), Sharp Edges or Projections, Wheels and Tyres*, Direction Indicators, Fuel Filler Cap, Mirrors.
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Don't know if this is purely a coincidence, but I know of 7 people, including myself, whose cars have failed the MOT in the last 2 months all for having the same problem - one of their rear indicators was not "orange" enough. All different types of cars, different stations.
Coincidence or is there "topical" items that the examiners all look for?
Incidentally, all were not officially failed, it was a case of "I can put in a bulb for you just now".
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- one of their rear indicators was not "orange" enough.
Given the current fashion for colourless light clusters I can understand, but how on earth do they decide that? Do they have special equipment to measure orangeness?
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Do they have special equipment to measure orangeness?
You know when you've been Tango'd
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Some of the buses I work on have these orange bulbs. What happens is that the orange film flakes off over time, therefore producing a gradually increasing white light showing through. It can be quite noticeable once you know to look for it.
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The car failed on Friday because one of the headlight bulbs was slightly bluer than the other, and its aim was a bit low. It couldn't be fixed on the spot because the adjusters had seized up and in fact needed quite a lot of DIY bodgery to get working again.
On Monday morning the same tester repeated the entire test, and charged half price.
I accept that that is the literal interpretation of the rules, it is just that in over 30 years of taking cars to MOT's I have never before met a tester who retested the whole car, and the retest has always been free, regardless of the item failed on.
My Triumph failed a month ago at a different test station on a worn track rod end. I had to send off for the part, so I couldn't take the car back till a week later. He glanced underneath, observed the brand new shiny component, and wrote out the certificate. It took 5 minutes and was free.
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An friend runs a garage which does MOT's, there is a considerable investment in equipment which at £25-30 per MOT takes a long while to recoup.
Unless he knows the customer and can apply commonsense, he and his other testers abide by the rules as they are tested by 'mystery shoppers' and have no desire to lose their MOT station status.
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Make that 8 people - the only MOT fail on SWMBO's Omega last time was the same - I too wondered how the MOT garage decided the exact wavelength of the light emitted by the bulb!
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SWMBO's Maestro failed it's last MOT sue to 'faded side repeaters' We couldn't figure out how faded they had to be to fail (but we got the partial retest for free a couple of days later)
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Actually, 9 people! My brother's Rover 100 failed on the same point, but he took it to another garage and they passed it first time.
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