dodgy m.o.t??

[ann1982]

2 weeks ago i took my car into a garage for the m.o.t. it was booked in for 1.30. was told to pick it up at 2.50 as it will take over an hour to carry it out. i got fed up walking around the town so at 2.30 i went back to the garage to see how it was coming along. to my surprise the car hadn't even been looked at and it was an hour after it was booked in. i was a bit miffed but understand some things take longer than expected. i asked how long it would be before i can pick the car up and was told 20mins. i thought they meant it would be looked at in 20mins, but no they meant the car would be finished with in 20mins?? i dont know much about cars, but surely to carry out an m.o.t takes a bit longer than 20mins?

anyway the car failed its m.o.t on the horn and windscreen wipers. i came away and checked the paper work, it said on the back that if the car is taken to them the next day to be repaired i wont have to pay for the m.o.t again. i then rung them up on the same day as m.o.t to book it in the next day. they said they were full the next day, so i asked if i brought it in on the next available day would i still have to pay as it wasn't my fault they were busy the next day. they told me yes i would!! i thought this was a bit cheeky.

anyway a few days ago i had to move my car from outside my flat as the landlord needed to get his car in the drive as he is doing work on another flat in our block. driving down the road there was a horrible scrapeing noise and my car started to overheat - just going down the road!!!

my partner had a look underneath the car and said a clip had been snapped on the exhaust. ( when the car came off the ramp at m.o.t centre i heard a scrapeing noise under the car - didnt think anything of it till now)!!! i also opened up the bonett of car started the engine and could see there was water leaking out of one of the pipes - shouldn't this have been spotted at the m.o.t centre? anyway had a machanic to look at the exhaust and he said it looks like the exhaust was damaged coming off a ramp. what i want to know is can i sue them for this?

 

thank you

[dave]

I would certainly write a letter of complaint to start with.

 

Let them know that you believe it was their fault and that if it is fixed and re-mot'ed then you will consider the matter closed and the need for you to take further action will be avoided.

[martinwhite]

Wouldn't do any harm to quote the Supply Of Goods and Services Act which states that a service has to be carried out with a reasonable degree of skill and care.

 

If they touched it then they clearly should have left it in serviceable order. If they didn't touch it, but should reasonably have noticed it during the MOT, then you could argue that they should have at least brought it to your attention.

 

As Dave says, write a letter of complaint saying that you will contact Trading Standards if you are not satisfied.

 

Martin

[less2303]

I'm sure also the Department of Transport would be keen to hear from you. There is a specified set time that an MOT should take, and also the testing station and tester have to operate under very strict guidelines. If they are found to be failing, the DOT will take their licence away!

[ann1982]

thanks to every1 who replied that is a great help and i will get on to them asap.

[breadline]

The only thing i can add is unless you had a service at the same time the water hose does not come under MOT.

 

A good garage would usually bring it to your attention as work being needed.

 

The exhaust clip

Once you drive the car off the forcourt from an MOT anything could happen.

 

It has been known for people to use friends tyres to obtain MOT and then change over once the certificate is issued for this reason MOT stations are well protected.

 

Unless you can prove a long running problem has been ignored eg: rust - Worn brake dics - anything which couldnt happen in an incident since taking the car away and couldnt be immediately altered by your self.

 

Or you have faulty documents, theres not much you can do.

 

But the letter of complaint is a good one, but 2 weeks is a long time before noticing a problem.

 

You could try calling trading standards, watch dog.

i always do this to see if they have any outstanding cases then if so its worth having a pop even more.

 

It is good that people do report garages with lack of respect and care as they cause seriouse dangers so do your worst to them.

 

good luck.

BL

 

PS If it helps I can get some things confirmed for you straight from the horses mouth so to speak and it will be to your interest not that garage, so let us know how you get on;-)

[Guest Lueeze]

Any news on this?

 

Lou x

[linlithgow]

Hope you screw this garage, but as usual they'll deny everything.

[mechs]

Being in the motor trade hence the name

Firstly the vehicle inspectorate operate via a computer now (the actual tester has to log on to the site with a card with his own unique number).

The vehicle Inspectorate allow one hour to carry out an inspection, though this is not inforcable as some take longer than others some take less time, but I would think they would be a bit concered if they knew that yours was done in 20 mins.

Unfortunately all garages are not yet inline with the computerisation if your failure sheet was printed then they are if hand written they are not, so my first thoughts would be if they are computerised would be to contact the vehicle inspectorate and they can trace the logging of the test.

 

Everyone has the right to appeal to them if you think you have had a dodgy mot ie your exhaust falls off due to a broken clamp or your suspension collapses due to corrosion they have missed. Unfortunately you have to pay the full fee but if they find in your favour it is returned ........if the car fails on other things then these also have to be rectified

 

Not actually seeing the exhaust I cannot comment about it but they could argue that it scraped along the ramp as you drove off so they are not to blame.

 

As for the hose I cannot coment but what you have to remember is that the mot test only covers certain items its not the same as having a service, even if the garage note a leaking hose they are not obliged to mention it ........but most would, we once had a car in for an mot and service the brake lights were working for both checks but as the car went out of the garage only one light was working ......what I am saying is things fail and unfortunately we have neither xray vision or physic powers to determine a failure point.

[mechs]

I forgot to add if you had left the car with the station even if they took 6 months to repair the car you would not have had to pay another mot test fee

 

I hope this mail has been of some use to you

[ann1982]

This topic was closed on 08 March 2019.

If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there.

If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened.

- Consumer Action Group