How common are over-zealous MOTs to make cash?
Discussion
OK, I've got an old Audi A4, 19 years old with 128k on the clock, so I know it's not unusual for a car like this to need work come MOT time.
But I don’t use it much, I keep it well maintained, and in the last year I’ve only done around 4,000 miles.
The last three MOTs (all done at different garages) have all been completely clean, not a single advisory or issue.
Anyway, I took it to a place just round the corner from me this time, purely for convenience. Never used them before.
They failed it on 5 separate suspension bush or pin issues, a couple of split driveshaft boots, and the weirdest one, a supposed coolant leak.
They said the expansion tank was leaking badly enough that they couldn’t carry out the emissions test. Apparently the car was overheating and I even had to wait 20 minutes before I could leave in case it overheated again.
Thing is, I check the coolant regularly, every couple of weeks, and had checked it that morning. It was maybe half a centimetre low at most, barely worth topping up. That day I’d already done a 30-minute trip each way in the morning, then another 15-minute each way run to get it washed, and then drove to the MOT station. No signs of overheating at all. Temp needle was bang on halfway as always has been.
When I got it home I let it cool for a few hours, then checked the expansion tank, it was almost empty. So I topped it up, let it run for 10 minutes, no leaks. Then took it for a 20-minute drive, again, no overheating, no sign of coolant loss.
Here’s the thing, I live in a flat, so I keep coolant and oil in the boot to save me carrying stuff back and forth. Later that day when I went to get the bottle from the boot, it was lying loose on the floor, so they’ve clearly seen it.
Part of me thinks they saw the bottle, assumed I had a leak, and went digging, or worse, they’re trying it on, which now makes me question the rest of the failure points.
Just seems bizarre that it has never used more than a normal amount of coolant, and never overheated, and yet it suddenly did for the first time on their ramp, and then it is miraculously ok now?
They’ve quoted around £850 to fix everything, which doesn’t make sense as the car’s probably not even worth that.
I’ve got a relative who can do a test for me (but they’re a few hours away), and even they said it’s odd to have a car go from three spotless MOTs to all of this in one year.
Anyone else had something like this happen? Is it possible they're being a bit… opportunistic?
But I don’t use it much, I keep it well maintained, and in the last year I’ve only done around 4,000 miles.
The last three MOTs (all done at different garages) have all been completely clean, not a single advisory or issue.
Anyway, I took it to a place just round the corner from me this time, purely for convenience. Never used them before.
They failed it on 5 separate suspension bush or pin issues, a couple of split driveshaft boots, and the weirdest one, a supposed coolant leak.
They said the expansion tank was leaking badly enough that they couldn’t carry out the emissions test. Apparently the car was overheating and I even had to wait 20 minutes before I could leave in case it overheated again.
Thing is, I check the coolant regularly, every couple of weeks, and had checked it that morning. It was maybe half a centimetre low at most, barely worth topping up. That day I’d already done a 30-minute trip each way in the morning, then another 15-minute each way run to get it washed, and then drove to the MOT station. No signs of overheating at all. Temp needle was bang on halfway as always has been.
When I got it home I let it cool for a few hours, then checked the expansion tank, it was almost empty. So I topped it up, let it run for 10 minutes, no leaks. Then took it for a 20-minute drive, again, no overheating, no sign of coolant loss.
Here’s the thing, I live in a flat, so I keep coolant and oil in the boot to save me carrying stuff back and forth. Later that day when I went to get the bottle from the boot, it was lying loose on the floor, so they’ve clearly seen it.
Part of me thinks they saw the bottle, assumed I had a leak, and went digging, or worse, they’re trying it on, which now makes me question the rest of the failure points.
Just seems bizarre that it has never used more than a normal amount of coolant, and never overheated, and yet it suddenly did for the first time on their ramp, and then it is miraculously ok now?
They’ve quoted around £850 to fix everything, which doesn’t make sense as the car’s probably not even worth that.
I’ve got a relative who can do a test for me (but they’re a few hours away), and even they said it’s odd to have a car go from three spotless MOTs to all of this in one year.
Anyone else had something like this happen? Is it possible they're being a bit… opportunistic?
A4's always have issues with bottom arms so can understand it if these have failed, the same as the CV boot, if its split then thats a fail.
Given you keep coolant in the car and sounds like you have topped it up then maybe there is a cooling issue, a coolant leak wouldn't be a failure itself unless its running out. If its overheating then the tester can abort the test as they feel its unsafe.
We tend to find those that have little to no advisories are the cars that have been probably leniantly tested and then it comes as a shock when someone genuinly picks up on items.
If you feel they have been harsh then you can always get an appeals form but it sounds like you have had a fair MOT.
Given you keep coolant in the car and sounds like you have topped it up then maybe there is a cooling issue, a coolant leak wouldn't be a failure itself unless its running out. If its overheating then the tester can abort the test as they feel its unsafe.
We tend to find those that have little to no advisories are the cars that have been probably leniantly tested and then it comes as a shock when someone genuinly picks up on items.
If you feel they have been harsh then you can always get an appeals form but it sounds like you have had a fair MOT.
I appreciate that anecdotal evidence is just evidence of an anecdote... but a colleague took their car to a franchise dealer and it failed and were presented with an expensive list of works required that was needed to make it pass worthy.
They were suspicious so went to a nearby place that only does MOTs, not the repair (IIRC run by the local council) and low and behold the car passed first time.
Like I say, that is one person's story so could be complete bobbins but if you have concerns might be worth seeing if you have something local to you that does similar https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot...
They were suspicious so went to a nearby place that only does MOTs, not the repair (IIRC run by the local council) and low and behold the car passed first time.
Like I say, that is one person's story so could be complete bobbins but if you have concerns might be worth seeing if you have something local to you that does similar https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot...
stevemcs said:
A4's always have issues with bottom arms so can understand it if these have failed, the same as the CV boot, if its split then thats a fail.
Given you keep coolant in the car and sounds like you have topped it up then maybe there is a cooling issue, a coolant leak wouldn't be a failure itself unless its running out. If its overheating then the tester can abort the test as they feel its unsafe.
We tend to find those that have little to no advisories are the cars that have been probably leniantly tested and then it comes as a shock when someone genuinly picks up on items.
If you feel they have been harsh then you can always get an appeals form but it sounds like you have had a fair MOT.
I do keep coolant in the car but purely for convenience, i live in a flat and sometimes have to park fairly far away, its just easier to check things like water and oil by keeping them in the boot in small quantities. I may not use it for 2/3/4 weeks at a time, but when i do it will be multiple longer trips. I cant even remember the last time i had checked the coolant before this morning, but i have done several longer trips since, and have gone through at least one or two tanks of fuel, and it had barely used any coolant, just literally a dribble to bring it up to max.Given you keep coolant in the car and sounds like you have topped it up then maybe there is a cooling issue, a coolant leak wouldn't be a failure itself unless its running out. If its overheating then the tester can abort the test as they feel its unsafe.
We tend to find those that have little to no advisories are the cars that have been probably leniantly tested and then it comes as a shock when someone genuinly picks up on items.
If you feel they have been harsh then you can always get an appeals form but it sounds like you have had a fair MOT.
it has never come close to overheating, and how it lost all the coolant in the expansion tank from that very morning, after driving around in stop start traffic (I live in london) but showed no signs of overheating but then that all happened on the test, seems somewhat odd/miraculous to me.I then couldn't get it to leak or lose any coolant afterwards either.
CardinalBlue said:
I appreciate that anecdotal evidence is just evidence of an anecdote... but a colleague took their car to a franchise dealer and it failed and were presented with an expensive list of works required that was needed to make it pass worthy.
They were suspicious so went to a nearby place that only does MOTs, not the repair (IIRC run by the local council) and low and behold the car passed first time.
Like I say, that is one person's story so could be complete bobbins but if you have concerns might be worth seeing if you have something local to you that does similar https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot...
That is very interesting, looks like the downside is they wont let you drive it away if it does fail.They were suspicious so went to a nearby place that only does MOTs, not the repair (IIRC run by the local council) and low and behold the car passed first time.
Like I say, that is one person's story so could be complete bobbins but if you have concerns might be worth seeing if you have something local to you that does similar https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot...
i appreciate technically you cant do that anyway, but obviously you can if you want to.
I once had an MoT failure from a VW dealer on some expensive suspension bush. I took it to another place for an MoT, passed even without an advisory. Hah, I thought, I know your game! I had cause to be underneath a month or so later to look at a clonk and the suspension bush (both sides) was visibly buggered.
Had another failure on a different car of driveshaft boot split along with a hefty quote to fix. I didn't believe them and I jacked it up at home and I looked and looked and looked and there was no such split.
Conclusion: MoTs are a bit hit and miss.
Had another failure on a different car of driveshaft boot split along with a hefty quote to fix. I didn't believe them and I jacked it up at home and I looked and looked and looked and there was no such split.
Conclusion: MoTs are a bit hit and miss.
It would strike me as a very odd way to extract cash from someone to provide an expensive quote for a car the owner could easily say "sod that, I'll weigh it in - thanks for your time boys". Rather than do it for more premium or newer models where the owner might be much more likely to just stump up for the work.
Of course I'm not saying that means they're automatically on the level or not being overzealous. Or indeed that the motor trade isn't riddled with scam artists. But seeing as supposition and your description is all we have, I wouldn't immediately jump to scam because it doesn't sound an inherently unreasonable list of things to have flagged.
Of course I'm not saying that means they're automatically on the level or not being overzealous. Or indeed that the motor trade isn't riddled with scam artists. But seeing as supposition and your description is all we have, I wouldn't immediately jump to scam because it doesn't sound an inherently unreasonable list of things to have flagged.
Berger 3rd said:
That is very interesting, looks like the downside is they wont let you drive it away if it does fail.
i appreciate technically you cant do that anyway, but obviously you can if you want to.
An MOT test centre cannot refuse to let you take the car away, it doen't matter if its a fail or a dangerous defect with 4 tyres with cords hanging out and brakes on the metal. All we can do as a test centre is advise its not driveni appreciate technically you cant do that anyway, but obviously you can if you want to.
AS for the overheating, it does happen, they can sit there running for 30 minutes with no natural airflow
Berger 3rd said:
Temp needle was bang on halfway as always has been.
It could be different on a 19yr old car, but VW Group cars don't indicate the exact temperature, the needle is driven from the ECU and is basically saying "OK" which is why it always sits at halfway - it'll only go up if the car significantly overheats.My BiL has got a small family run garage.
Honestly they don't need the hassle of repairing an MOT failure. They're booked solid and anything unexpected in the schedule just mucks up the routine.
Obviously if it fails, it fails but they don't need to invent stuff to make work for themselves.
But there's going to be a certain amount of the testers personal opinion in any MOT so it's possibly down to the tester rather than the garage itself.
Good friend of mine has a MOT/repair garage.
I help him on a Sat sometimes and he lets me use 1 of his ramps to work on my own cars.
He changes bulbs/fits new heatshield nuts/tops up washers, etc etc, during mot's so they pass.
He is very fair, and if there is a problem/fail, he will show the customer.
He never fails cars for the work, he's already booked for about a month in advance most times.
I help him on a Sat sometimes and he lets me use 1 of his ramps to work on my own cars.
He changes bulbs/fits new heatshield nuts/tops up washers, etc etc, during mot's so they pass.
He is very fair, and if there is a problem/fail, he will show the customer.
He never fails cars for the work, he's already booked for about a month in advance most times.
Berger 3rd said:
They failed it on 5 separate suspension bush or pin issues, a couple of split driveshaft boots, and the weirdest one, a supposed coolant leak.
Can you actually fail on a coolant leak???? Being ignorant of these matters I just asked that question of the internet and this is what came back,"A coolant leak will only cause an MOT failure if it's severe enough to create a puddle larger than 75mm in diameter within 5 minutes, or if there are multiple leaks that collectively leak at that rate. Minor leaks, such as those that don't create a noticeable puddle, will not cause an MOT failure."
Every day's a school day.
Panamax said:
Berger 3rd said:
They failed it on 5 separate suspension bush or pin issues, a couple of split driveshaft boots, and the weirdest one, a supposed coolant leak.
Can you actually fail on a coolant leak???? Being ignorant of these matters I just asked that question of the internet and this is what came back,"A coolant leak will only cause an MOT failure if it's severe enough to create a puddle larger than 75mm in diameter within 5 minutes, or if there are multiple leaks that collectively leak at that rate. Minor leaks, such as those that don't create a noticeable puddle, will not cause an MOT failure."
Every day's a school day.
Mot testers are heavily regulated, and if found to be failing /or passing cars that shouldnt can mean loosing your testing license, ie your job.
However that said, it does depend on point of view sometimes, one testers, oh its ok just , isnt far from anothers thats knackered needs changing.
However that said, it does depend on point of view sometimes, one testers, oh its ok just , isnt far from anothers thats knackered needs changing.
Speed Matters | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff