Well known national group - credulous son told need new CAT [1.4i, 114,000] cost 'around £400 all in'. I paid MoT fee, drove 2 miles to garage we usually use, 'sailed through' MoT - completely different emission readings, way below WKNG's. Usual garage not surprised, apparently local WKNG has a 'reputation' .
Returned to WKNG branch for explanation. Showed me their catalogue...'depending where the Lambda goes it's this one at £200 or that one at £300 plus labour plus vat - no, we've nothing cheaper'.
Told cats'r'us etc on internet around 50 notes and asked had they done the test properly - i.e. cat stabilisation, then last 5secs of 30 secs properly warmed up etc.. Showed me 'oil 80deg' on printout.......became defensive and belligerent.
Didn't get money back - letter to VOSA/trading standards.
Sorry if this is old hat to regulars but it's a new one on me.
De-classified from a specific make
Edited by Pugugly on 13/03/2008 at 21:04
|
I never, ever, have my car MOT'd at a place which stands to make money from failing it ie my local main dealer.
|
|
|
Very easy to fake a faulty cat reading; just let it cool down before testing - the oil temp [suspiciously like a machine's default value...] has little to do with cat temperature.
Why people trust these slick profit-driven operations escapes me - you should talk to some of their ex-employees about the sales pressure they're put under. The trade has known all about their many scams for decades - why it hasn't permeated into the public domain is a mystery.
VOSA will be very interested in such a complaint - they take accurate testing seriously and know well what goes on in such places. The more they clamp down on such things, the better for every straight NT employed by such places.
Cheap cats aren't worth the money; only OE quality will now suffice on many sophisticated systems.
|
|
did I hear on the news last week (or maybe it was Watchdog) about garages that are signed up to an industry standard like a kite mark/charter etc ie something that says that they are honest johns? Caught bits and bobs saying that take up was not that great - I would be interested in knowing as I would use these for my MOTs. Last place I went to tried to charge me £20 for adjusting my headlights when I know that they had not touched them (as the height adjustor had been broken for a long time).
|
These problems can be avoided by using the local authority test stations. They do not do repairs so have no axe to grind. QED :- no problem with unnessary work being required.
tinyurl.com/234s55
Unfortunately there are not too many of these stations but you may be fortunate in having one reasonably close by.
Happy MOT issuing Phil I
|
|
Some very big BT depots also offer this service. Our local one does.
|
|
And Colchester Fire brigade!
|
|
|
The tester at my local Ford place mentioned, but passed, a small chip to the windscreen and a delaminating number plate - either of which I thought he could have failed.
I was taken for the old 'pads and discs' routine. Focus Tdci at 64,000 miles, maybe they'd lasted quite well.
It's the mid-morning phone call from the service manager which starts: "He's had a look at it and they are one or two things to mention...." that I don't like.
The £200 service and MoT package booked in the morning came to £400 by the time I picked the car up in the afternoon.
|
The dealer I took our Clio to a few years ago told me the front indicator bulbs weren't orange enough.
I can't remember how much it was to change them, but I do remember being shocked.
I know the bubs can go white, but they looked fine, and the car had passed it's test in our village garage the day before (although they probably just beeped the horn and did the emissions test!).
|
|
|
Goes to suggest that it is smart move to have an MOT done at a place which has no profit to make in failing it for you and then then doing the work they have generated. MOT at one place - rectification at another.
|
The last MOT on my company Mondeo weeks before it went back...
1. New wiper blades - I had just replaced with Ford ones so they were fine! They used OEM ones.
2. Rear number plate swapped - but mine were Euro plates and the new one was not. Hastle to swap on principle but I paid for Euro plates. They gave in.
3. Who knows what else done and not needed.
|
The Orange bulb not being orange enough was a common failing a few years ago.
It had been brought up in a VOSA manual or magazine and was a very valid reason for a fail for those who replaced amber lens covers with clear ones and painted the lamps (and the paint faded).
|
|
I use a local authority place in Lancing - they do the testing for the local minicabs. They can be strict, but at least you know they are on the level.
|
|
Maybe HJ should have a database of "independents" on this site, there's plenty of us from all four corners of the sceptred isle to build one from local knowledge
|
I'm not letting on who my guy is. To heck with that. He's busy enough as it is. I 'm keeping him secret ! ;-)
However, for a suitable financial consideration............" Me 'an the boys was thinkin' 'o something a bit more shiny like" !
|
Whilst I agree telling people of good services/garages is excellent idea (word of mouth is always the best advertising etc), I also think that it is subjective.
What 1 person thinks is good; another will disagree. How does anyone judge "service" equally?
Recommend by all means, tell people not to use by all means; but to say "these people are good" is very difficult? And if someone should not be happy there?
Edited by Pugugly on 15/03/2008 at 19:01
|
Maybe HJ should have a database of "independents" ..........
Or even one for honest franchised dealers. I'm sure the crooked ones are in the minority. I've always been satisfied with the service I've had from all the franchised dealers I've used in the last 40-odd years.
|
|
Sounds like the same WKNG that failed my old Metro on the rear brakes - which they had replaced a few months earlier!
|
|
It's the mid-morning phone call from the service manager which starts: "He's had a look at it and they are one or two things to mention...." that I don't like.
Well how else can they present bad news, which may be perfectly legitimate and unavoidable ??
|
|
|
|
|
|
Getting the MOT tested at a local council centre may give you an unbiased honest test, but
some garages may react the wrong way if they do MOT testing themselves.
MOT at council centre followed by repairs at a non MOT testing centre may work but often there is a wait to book it in then get a retest.
A good honest MOT garage will do your MOT (without ripping you off) and try to repair it within a few days. There are still some of these places around.
Is it still possible to for a garage to do all what is required on the MOT test ("pretend test"), make the repairs maybe 2 weeks before it is due to expire then if it fails they haven't done the "test" (so can get it repaired with 2 weeks left to go) - if it passes then they just fill in all the paperwork and give a certificate or is this illegal? Used to be common 10 years ago in small garages, but now with online DVLA Test centre booking not so sure.
|
Once took my then VW Jetta to a big name outlet that did MOTs in the mid-1990s and learned that, to pass its test, some £340 worth of work was needed.
I knew pretty well that it was not correct, so took it to the local Hi-Q centre.
The Jetta passed with flying colours.....
I informed the Vehicle Inspectorate of all the facts, but never heard any more.
No wonder some garages get away with such scams with little comeback even now.
|
I've had this happen quite "legitimately" before. After I left my old home town, I continued to use the same MOT station / indie garage, even though it was a 50 mile run for me. The guy that owned the place was an old friend of my dad's, and although would not hesitate to fail the car if deserved, was always fair and honest.
Took SWMBO's old 106 XSi in which it passed apart from emissions which were well over. I can't remember the exact figures, but CO and HC were ridiculously high. He failed the car, and I said I would get it looked at and bring it back.
I dropped the car off on Monday morning with the garage used by our company to service the fleet. Got a call an hour later which went something along the lines of:
"We've just done an emissions test, and it's passed. Do you want us to do a full MOT while it's here?" I said yes, and it passed.
Sold the car on two months later, so have no idea what the outcome was at the next test, but I know for a fact that the first garage was not out to rip me off. Either their kit was duff, or it was an intermittent fault with the car.
Nothing like this had ever happened before or since, but I know it was not a scam.
Cheers
DP
|
>>old 106 XSi
Perhaps they didn't set the gear up correctly.
My old Kia Pride (stop laughing) pulls up several red bars on the screen during the emissions test. Then they Read The Flipping Book, press a few keys, and everything goes green (on the screen, not the environment).
|
|
|
|
You can save monies by getting your car tested at one of these instead of your (not always so) friendly main dealer....
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot#find
If your local council MOT testing centre is not listed here ring that Councils main switch board who will be able to help you.
|
|
|
