Mot test . my car failed but i believe the garage is conning me?

my car failed its mot , gargage says 10 things and said ohh bmw prices etc etc , and offered to fix them costing 拢1000 plus ... thing is 6 things they said were faulty last year and they then fixed them , when i asked they said ohh wear and tear


i believe the saythings that cannot be seen





anti roll bar unsecure


exhaust majoe leak of gasses


suspension excessive play in ball joint


brake pipes





these wer eon last years list also





my question





if i take to another garage for mOT , can they see what other garage has put ?





thanks|||Take it somewhere else, it is as simple as that.





BUT are you sure the list wasn't just advisories last year as if so they would not have been fixed.|||Hi





First of all, unless they use the MOT info website, then they cannot see what it has been failed on, but they need document references that only you can give them before they can do that.





If they are failing it on things they supposedly repaired last year then they either didn't repair them or didn't repair them properly, either way, they are taking you for a ride, and you need to stop using them.





Take your car elsewhere, tell them what you have told us, and tell them that you are looking for someone honest and reliable to look after your car.





Very best regards





Geordie|||Read your partial list of why the car failed the test. If you don't have the mechanical ability to check the failure list yourself take the car to a trusted private mechanic or a BMW dealer. If you have the money to buy one of these cars, repair parts and services are expensive also.





If you knew a ball joint, anti-roll bar and brake pipe was rusted leaking or loose from last years inspection, don't you feel somewhat embarrassed that you didn't repair things that will put you into a tree, wall, house or another car?|||You need to take it to a place that just does mot's and doesn't do repairs as well, that way there is no incentive fr them to try and generate business by falling your car unnecessarily. If you take it else where and it doesn't fail on those things them report the original garage to the authorities|||These do sound like failure items, and it's perfectly possible that they may be telling the truth.





Thousands of pounds sounds expensive to put that lot right though.





Have a look here: http://www.ukmot.com/MOT%20test/Council%20MOT%20Test%20Centers.asp





If you don't trust your MOT center, take it to one of those council-run ones in the link above - they are 100% above-board and very helpful, and won't try and con you!|||take it for a second opinion and while you are there ask them to show you where the ball joints are in the suspension, because the last time i was under a car ball joints were part of the steering swivel mechanism and nothing to do with suspension tell them you want a second opinion|||If you are not happy about the MOT test result, there is an appeal procedure. Details are on the fail certificate. If you intend to appeal don't get the car fixed first. The appeal inspector will need to see the car in the same condition it was in at its MOT test.|||to be honest, i dont trust garages either.. the ones that say i have problems and stuff, i just try to avoid going to them in the future. just go to another garage.. see what they say, and then go from there. and also the faults mentioned might just be advisory.|||Just take it elsewhere for another MOT. They willsee it has had one recently but unless you tell them, which you won't, they will only know by looking whether it has been fixed.|||No the other garage cannot see the other garage failed sheet .|||sounds abit to much to me, they seen you coming! lol take it to another garage as there not going to no you have taken it to another garage|||You went to a MAIN dealer for an MoT? Are you crazy?


Go to place that does MoT's but does do repairs.|||These all look like failure items to me, but you're quite free to take the car to another garage and pay for another MOT test, and yes, they'll see what's already in the system for that car.





It does sound from your tone that you've got the all too common attitude that MOT tests are to be got through as cheaply as possible and anything that the MOT man says is wrong with the car is a con. This is almost never the case, MOT inspectors are highly trained and regularly inspected themselves to see that they're being fair. Remember that it's their job to ensure that the cars on our roads meet a certain minimum standard of safety, if that didn't happen and your anti roll bar or suspension broke while you were driving it could have lethal consequences.





I don't care if you die, but I'd rather not have an out of control BMW veering towards me as I turn a bend. Get it fixed.|||One i am guessing you bought the car second hand?


If i my guess is right you have just discovered why the owner sold it to you1


secondly you are more likely to be coned by the small garage round the corner in the back street than a much maligned Kwik fit work shop.


reason they get paid if your car passes or not!


and as for the fee a small mot plus repair certainly doesn't.


I have read such a load of tripe and utter libel against the kwik fit workshops and other similar chains.


And yes for once the main dealership will be very very expensive for repairs and M.O.T.'s





If the items were on a list two years running then its a to do list .


Depending on the age of the car in question they sound if its a few years old about right despite what the air chair mechanics here claim.


So i my opinuion you sound like the average motorist complaining about the normal repeat normal cost of maintaining a car1


How ever if you want an independent check made you can go to the RAC OR AA But they will charge you1


OR GO TO TRADING STANDARDS WHO ARE BASED IN YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL AND ASK THEM THEY ARE FREE!





Your list sounds SPOT ON SO I THINK YOU ARE JUST MOANING JUST LIKE WE ALL DO WHEN IT COMES TO PAYING THE BILL FOR OUR PLEASURE!|||It would have been better if you had listed all 10 things ~ i say this because you mention them saying "oh BMW prices". Both brake pipes and ball joint are available at very reasonable prices from after market suppliers The exhaust leaks, depends where and certainly a genuine BMW exhaust (which would probably last far longer than you will keep the car) is very expensive but again is available for far less money from after market suppliers.





There seems to be this widespread belief that if a car fails the mot the garage is conning them. Now there certainly is a wide variation in the hourly labour charge, a small local garage has lower over heads than a big flash premises' but the lower labour charge does not mean that the mechanics are not as skilled. My youngest son is dual qualified, both as a vehicle body repair technician and as a mechanic and he also holds an mot testers certificate. He has worked in one dealership where the labour rate was 60 quid an hour and another where it was just 35 quid an hour. Same bloke doing the same job though ! As far as the mot test it's self is concerned, there are obviously the odd bad apples but the vast majority of mot testers are scroupulously fair. For the garage there is quite a large cash investment involved in becoming an mot test station and few garages will risk that investment by failing cars on things that don't warrant it. A garage's bread and butter is provided by their repeat customer base. The 'jam' is the passing trade. Do a good job for a customer and they will recommend you to a few of their close friends. Rip them off and they will scream blue murder to every one they know! There are some items in the test that can be subjective and open to individual interpretation. Wear in a ball joint is one. There will be a stage in its wear when it is border line whether it passes or fails. In a borderline case it is actually in your interest for them to fail it ! You earn money every week, you lose your life just once! My son and all the testers he knows are always aware that the car they are testing up on the ramp may have a young mum and a couple of kids in it later that day so on a subjective safety issue they will come down on the 'play safe' side.|||Take it to any local MOT testing station and ask them to jack it up and look - show them the MOT and tell them you think the garage are trying to con you - Garages want your business - so if they play fair, you are likely to use them again.



If you lived anywhere near Peterborough, I would tell you to take it to my friends garage - they would check it over for you for free and give you guidance.



With that fail list you would or should have noticed a clonk or two from the Anti roll bar - a load of hissing or exhaust noise being louder, a definite clonk with the suspension play and the brake pipes one is a common CON - if pipes show any signs of corrosion (even minimal) they try it on to get you replace them.



To be honest, this almost sounds like a Kwik Fit job (or similar)



Oh! Yeah - and if it passes - report the garage to the MOT people as they are filing false reports...|||It is relatively rare for an MOT test station to totally con people these days. If complaints are made they risk losing their MOT status and thus the business that comes in from fixing the faults. By all means get a second opinion. Some of the failure points may be debatable, but you have 10 so don't hold out too much hope. I think you need to change your garage, if they were supposed to fix some of these things last year they should have mostly stayed fixed, unless you requested the cheapest fix possible which may not have lasted. Be aware that if you have an old BMW then its never going to be cheap to keep it on the road.