Damage to car during MOT?

[godpikachu]

Not sure if theres anything in this but id like a second opinion.

 

 

Last thursday I took my car (57 plate Ford KA) into a local garage for its MOT. The garage owner said the cost would be £50 but this would include a service as well. Aside from there being a dent in the bodywork (which was there when i bought the car and is not critical damage), the car itself ran fine.

 

 

A few weeks prior to this i had some work done on the brakes at the same garage, he said he had also had a look at the power steering and suspension as well but found no faults with it. I returned 2 hours later to pick my car up to find that my car had failed the MOT for the following reasons:- Leak on power steering system Offside suspension macpherson strut causing excessive movement. Steering rack faulty causing excessive movement. Brakes required replacement discs.

 

 

I challenged him on this as he had previously stated there were no faults, much less should there have been any faults with the brakes being as id paid him to fix them less than a fortnight previously! As it turns out, they had not done the MOT there, but instead had driven it to another garage well over the other side of town, and thus he said he wanted an additional £50 for doing this.

 

 

To add insult to injury, he also stated that on the way back, the water pump had failed, and thus he had had to call for the vehicle to be towed back, which he was planning to add to my rapidly increasing bill, a request to which i less than politely told him to put where the sun doesnt shine. the last straw came when he said he wasnt able to carry out the required work for at least 3 weeks and was intending to charge me storage for the vehicle while he "got round to it", to which i immediately got in my car and drove it home (i only live round the corner), where it has stayed since then and will continue to stay until i can get something sorted out for either repairs or a new car.

 

 

I have used this garage for the past couple of years and this has never happenned before with him, there was nothing wrong with the car before i took it to him and i find it surprising that after i left it in his care it suddenly develops a whole host of unexplained problems, most notably which caused it to fail its MOT. I have yet to give him any money and dont beleive i should have to, but is there anything i can do about it because i believe he is trying to take the micky and rip me off.

Edited December 9, 2013 by Conniff

[godpikachu]

also, i forgot to mention, he quoted me a price of over £1000 to fix all the faults (the car didnt cost that much when i bought it), however when i have looked at the cost of parts, the total amount for all the parts i would need comes to less than £400.

[i hate bailiffs]

£50 for a mot including service!!

 

They are too cheap for a reason take it somewhere else

Get another mot done on it that way you will see if they are trying it on ,if so report them to VOSA

[godpikachu]

£50 for a mot including service!!

 

They are too cheap for a reason take it somewhere else

Get another mot done on it that way you will see if they are trying it on ,if so report them to VOSA

 

Well i would but the cars pretty much undriveable now that the water pumps blown, it had a massive overheat when i was bringing it back so in all liklihood the head gasket is buggered now as well.

 

 

Sorry if the explanations a bit confusing, but this is the first time ive ever had this kind of problem, and i havent been driving all that long (just shy of 2 and a half years) The main jist of it is is that i was expecting him to do the MOT there (he even said thats what he was going to do) but instead hes taken the car somewhere else and in between me dropping it off and picking it up, its suddenly developed a ton of faults which he now wants the best part of £1500 to rectify!

Edited December 9, 2013 by Conniff

[king12345]

He's probably pushed that little ka beyond its limits and screwed it up.

Apologies for my usual preach here:

Do not leave your car to any garage, ever. If they're honest they'll have no problem letting you watch what they do (most likely outside the danger area, a few feet away)

[Conniff]

Has it been checked to see that it is the water pump? many things can make you lose water and overheat.

 

 

Check the MoT is genuine here - https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status

 

 

Lots of smaller repair garages 'arrange' MoT's which isn't the same as doing an MoT.