If any of the openings don't open, then the MOT station should refuse to test the car.You have various items you need to check during an MOT, and must have access to them. From the testers manual: w ww.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/tgx03000101.htm A proper examination cannot be carried out because of the inability to open any device - e.g. door, tailgate, boot lid, engine cover or fuel cap - designed to be readily opened

Does anyone know if these two companies have an agreement? I've had a couple of letters from Provident, and a doorstep call this evening saying that they had bought the debt from Quick Quid and can now offer for me to pay Quick Quid by paying Provident weekly as they now own the debt..?? I am currently in the process of going bankrupt so basically told the man to leave, but find it strange how this has happened...

Many thanks, We have spoken to BM again,and they are being really good, just GE who are causing the real problems, which seems to be a common thing when reading some of the posts on here. I think I'll send in a SAR before making any rash decisions!. I've learned a lot just reading some of the excellent advice!

I'm after some advice here as I feel like I'm trying to bail out the Titanic with a teacup... We have a mortgage with Birmingham Midshires,and a secured loan with GE money,both of which we are in arrears with. Over the past few years for various reasons our payments have been eratic,for various reasons,but for the past 6 months I have been trying to take charge of stuff and sorting everything out.Birmingham Midshires have actually been really good,and spoke to my wife on the phone about securitisation,if we paid 6 months at the normal monthly payment.I thought this was going fine,until after a phonecall to them I found that there had been no payment in October.. I put money every month into my wifes account to call and pay by debit card,but found out then that she had been getting harrassed by GE Money and paid a double payment to them to try and get them off her back and missed BM's payment. Both have an order on the house and are adding huge charges every month. The house is worth about the same as we owe,and if I'm honest is too small for us and our 3 kids. We have fought and fought with them to get a reasonable payment plan but GE just seem to make things up as they go along,asking for bigger and bigger amounts every month and always tell us our arrears amount, but this must include a load of charges as it is far more than the payments we have missed.. Sometimes I feel it'd be best just to hand the keys back and rent a bigger house for quite a bit less than we pay BM and GE. If it does go to court can they include the arrears charges in the total, and if we did hand the keys back,BM would be paid off completely so would GE come chasing us with what we are due tem plus all the charges they have been adding over the years? My wife was told that out of the £300 we pay each month,£280 go to pay interest and charges- I can't see us ever paying this off... Just after some pointers about what we can do, what would happen if we did end up in court,and what to expect if we did go for voluntary repossesion?

Brake pads will only fail if the tester can see them and decide they are less than 1.5mm thick... which is way less than where I'd recommend changing pads. A sticking caliper slide or similar can wear out pads in a few hundred miles,and Vosa will only entertain an appeal within a month for anything excluding corrosion,so I'm afraid thats not an option. Lots of cars are fitted with pad wear indcators,or sometimes "squealers" which make a terrible racket when you brake in reverse (if the pads have been fitted properly) Don't ignore this-it can be expensive,although pads are much harder now,and tend to wear discs faster, we see 2 sets of pads to each pair of discs now...

Kwik Fit will do just about anything to stop customers making a fuss. Tell them you want a 70A/Hr battery,and you will pay £59+ the postage costs if applicable.. You will get it. If not,phone customer services and make a complaint. Kwik fit batteries are good quality, and remember the guarantee is valid wherever you are in the country,so it actually makes sense to get a battery from them! You are never too far away from a KF branch!

Yes, they are.

Possibly, but not always. Don't automatically blame the belt!

What engine was in the Punto? Just interested as we have had a similar episode recently..

Bah, new fangled things anyway... [

When a cam belt snaps or strips teeth,the starter turns with no resistance so can sound like its faulty. Have you got reciepts for the cam belt change,as many places just change the belt when selling a car for maximum profit. The water pump which is driven by the cambelt may have siezed,or possibly a tensioner which can cause the belt to fail. Fiat engines can be tricky to do a belt on as they need special tools to lock the cams and crank in place when fitting a new belt. If these are not used it can also cause problems with the belt tension,which can also lead to failure.

If you are taking your car in for an MOT, give it the old "bypass decoke" beforehand. Lots of cars do short journeys only and basically choke themselves. Hold it in 3rd gear at highish revs for a mile or so, really does make a difference! If its a town runabout the oil can get contaminated with petrol and give a falsely high reading. First thing I do when a car fails is give it a good run... about a 60-70% sucess rate if the readings are withing what I'd expect to see because of this.Cats also need to be very ho to work at peak efficiency,and oil temp should be 80 degrees plus to do the test. Do this with diesels too!

LOL, I was a tester in the North of Scotland at the last foot and mouth outbreak. We were'nt allowed to test anything that was in the least bit dirty! That was about 99.9% of cars on the road...

Good luck!

VW group cars seem to have an unusual fault in which the clutch pedal action gets very heavy when the clutch is worn, which in turn puts extra stress on the pedal box,which is really quite flimsy. I have seen pedal boxes being changed more than once for breakage when the cutch was actually at fault. It is a symptom rather than a fault! EPS is a power steering fault,whereas ESP is stability control, Many problems with VW group cars are caused by the brake light switch,of which there may be two and are fitted on the pedal box with plastic clips.. Worth checking!