MOT failed, for several problems turns out to be fuse!
Discussion
Hello,
Car had MOT/service at inde garage.
Failed. Advised head lamp beam too low. They attempted to adjust but no success. I asked what I needed, they said a new head lamp. Not cheap as its an S3 with Xenons. Ended up buying after market lamps for 200 quid in the hope the ballast etc could transfer into the new lights.
Also failed for failed rear fogger. Advised new light switch.
Said it was OK for me to supply and they would fit.
So I was thinking really? They would have checked the fuse etc of course?
So took car away, ordered bits etc. Mate mechanic offered to check and turns out it was just a fuse and now head lamps and fog lights OK!
Am I with in my rights to atleast refuse to pay the retest fee? Surely a fuse is the first thing to check? They also didnt stamp my service book... I'll have lost money sending these parts back and the inconvenience of going bsck and for.
I know its an MOT but surely before advising me to get those parts they would have atleast checked the fuse?
Car had MOT/service at inde garage.
Failed. Advised head lamp beam too low. They attempted to adjust but no success. I asked what I needed, they said a new head lamp. Not cheap as its an S3 with Xenons. Ended up buying after market lamps for 200 quid in the hope the ballast etc could transfer into the new lights.
Also failed for failed rear fogger. Advised new light switch.
Said it was OK for me to supply and they would fit.
So I was thinking really? They would have checked the fuse etc of course?
So took car away, ordered bits etc. Mate mechanic offered to check and turns out it was just a fuse and now head lamps and fog lights OK!
Am I with in my rights to atleast refuse to pay the retest fee? Surely a fuse is the first thing to check? They also didnt stamp my service book... I'll have lost money sending these parts back and the inconvenience of going bsck and for.
I know its an MOT but surely before advising me to get those parts they would have atleast checked the fuse?
babo456 said:
Hello,
Car had MOT/service at inde garage.
Failed. Advised head lamp beam too low. They attempted to adjust but no success. I asked what I needed, they said a new head lamp. Not cheap as its an S3 with Xenons. Ended up buying after market lamps for 200 quid in the hope the ballast etc could transfer into the new lights.
Also failed for failed rear fogger. Advised new light switch.
Said it was OK for me to supply and they would fit.
So I was thinking really? They would have checked the fuse etc of course?
So took car away, ordered bits etc. Mate mechanic offered to check and turns out it was just a fuse and now head lamps and fog lights OK!
Am I with in my rights to atleast refuse to pay the retest fee? Surely a fuse is the first thing to check? They also didnt stamp my service book... I'll have lost money sending these parts back and the inconvenience of going bsck and for.
I know its an MOT but surely before advising me to get those parts they would have atleast checked the fuse?
More likely you've got a broken self leveling arm - driving between the places may have hidden in. Common fault and easily fixed.Car had MOT/service at inde garage.
Failed. Advised head lamp beam too low. They attempted to adjust but no success. I asked what I needed, they said a new head lamp. Not cheap as its an S3 with Xenons. Ended up buying after market lamps for 200 quid in the hope the ballast etc could transfer into the new lights.
Also failed for failed rear fogger. Advised new light switch.
Said it was OK for me to supply and they would fit.
So I was thinking really? They would have checked the fuse etc of course?
So took car away, ordered bits etc. Mate mechanic offered to check and turns out it was just a fuse and now head lamps and fog lights OK!
Am I with in my rights to atleast refuse to pay the retest fee? Surely a fuse is the first thing to check? They also didnt stamp my service book... I'll have lost money sending these parts back and the inconvenience of going bsck and for.
I know its an MOT but surely before advising me to get those parts they would have atleast checked the fuse?
rather depends on how obvious it was which fuse did those 2 things
does the car have a rear fog light and headlight level adjustment fuse ?
or does it have various different fuses for all sorts of light related things which aren't particularly obvious from the fuse box digram exactly what is on each fuse?
does the car have a rear fog light and headlight level adjustment fuse ?
or does it have various different fuses for all sorts of light related things which aren't particularly obvious from the fuse box digram exactly what is on each fuse?
It's an MOT. We are not testing and diagnosing faults, we are checking if your car is safe and complies to the regs.
If something does not work it fails and you get told, what it is and the solution is nothing to do with us, if I can see an obvious fix I will tell you but otherwise the car gets left for us to repair or it is taken away and re-presented for test at a later date.
Why any tester would suggest a fog switch before a bulb is beyond me and I am suprised a fog and levelling device are on the same circuit, saying that I have seen some weird combo's on fuses in the past so never say never.
If something does not work it fails and you get told, what it is and the solution is nothing to do with us, if I can see an obvious fix I will tell you but otherwise the car gets left for us to repair or it is taken away and re-presented for test at a later date.
Why any tester would suggest a fog switch before a bulb is beyond me and I am suprised a fog and levelling device are on the same circuit, saying that I have seen some weird combo's on fuses in the past so never say never.
Jesus christ - people really need to understand what an MOT is - if they tested every cars fuses and went into fault diagnosis they would lose huge amounts of time.
I would suggest checking your lights work first before an MOT in future too, no?
In future just let the garage deal with ordering replacement parts, their problem then if they are not needed - that and take it to your mate first if it needs future work who sounds like he knows what he is doing.
I would suggest checking your lights work first before an MOT in future too, no?
In future just let the garage deal with ordering replacement parts, their problem then if they are not needed - that and take it to your mate first if it needs future work who sounds like he knows what he is doing.
Edited by Rick1.8t on Thursday 11th December 12:29
An MoT should be regarded as a "spot check" - an inspection of a vehicle in a snapshot of time to assess it's road-worthiness at that moment in time.
Your car was not found to be "roadworthy" under the guidelines of the inspection at that snapshot in time.
The fuse thing, everything is very simple in hindsight isn't it? It al seems obvious after the fact. Even you yourself are saying "the fuses, how simple" so you could have checked that before spending money. Quite commonly though, fuses rarely go (I cant recall the last time I ever replaced a fuse apart from one I blew being a prat with some electrics on my motorbike, but that was my fault)
As for the stamp in the book, did they service the vehicle (oil, filters, plugs etc etc etc any or all)? Because if they didnt, no need to stamp. Of course, if they did, just take the book and ask them for the stamp. You should have at elast an invoice detailing the work done for your records (stamp is worth nothing im my opinion, I much prefer details of the work performed. I keep all my receipts and write down in the service book what was done at what mileage on what date, and have all th receipts and invoices there to prove parts were purchased etc etc)
Your car was not found to be "roadworthy" under the guidelines of the inspection at that snapshot in time.
The fuse thing, everything is very simple in hindsight isn't it? It al seems obvious after the fact. Even you yourself are saying "the fuses, how simple" so you could have checked that before spending money. Quite commonly though, fuses rarely go (I cant recall the last time I ever replaced a fuse apart from one I blew being a prat with some electrics on my motorbike, but that was my fault)
As for the stamp in the book, did they service the vehicle (oil, filters, plugs etc etc etc any or all)? Because if they didnt, no need to stamp. Of course, if they did, just take the book and ask them for the stamp. You should have at elast an invoice detailing the work done for your records (stamp is worth nothing im my opinion, I much prefer details of the work performed. I keep all my receipts and write down in the service book what was done at what mileage on what date, and have all th receipts and invoices there to prove parts were purchased etc etc)
Edited by thatdude on Thursday 11th December 12:40
B'stard Child said:
Yeah but an MOT is a service isn't it - car needs no more attention for another 12 mths
Good god - no no no no noMOT is NOT a service it does not mean everything is working fine and will continue to do so. It just means the bits they check are acceptable according to the guidelines.
You might need to change your brakes a few weeks later cos they are now worn out, same with tyres although in reality they would probably put them down as an advisory.
Yes they check steering, bushes and suspension and brakes and engine emissions, and that gives a certain level of comfort, but if your oil is 100000 miles old and below the dipstick or you have no coolant in the system or your brake fluid is now virtually water, non of these things would be looked at and you could drive out of the garage and kill your car.
testers, test, they don't fix, a 'nice' tester may help diagnose the problem or give you some pointers, but thats more than you are entitled to.
babo456 said:
My mate mechanic used a multimeter and the fuse diagram told us it was a light related fuse.
I will add aswell it looks like they checked the fog bulb as they have lost my 'nut' for securing the lower half of my rear light.
You mean the 'nut' is missing and from that you've assumed the bulb has been checked as part of your MOT inspection. Do you seriously believe the test means each and every bulb on your car is individually removed, looked at and replaced if OK?I will add aswell it looks like they checked the fog bulb as they have lost my 'nut' for securing the lower half of my rear light.
sparkyhx said:
B'stard Child said:
Yeah but an MOT is a service isn't it - car needs no more attention for another 12 mths
Good god - no no no no noMOT is NOT a service it does not mean everything is working fine and will continue to do so. It just means the bits they check are acceptable according to the guidelines.
You might need to change your brakes a few weeks later cos they are now worn out, same with tyres although in reality they would probably put them down as an advisory.
Yes they check steering, bushes and suspension and brakes and engine emissions, and that gives a certain level of comfort, but if your oil is 100000 miles old and below the dipstick or you have no coolant in the system or your brake fluid is now virtually water, non of these things would be looked at and you could drive out of the garage and kill your car.
testers, test, they don't fix, a 'nice' tester may help diagnose the problem or give you some pointers, but thats more than you are entitled to.
Rick1.8t said:
Jesus christ - people really need to understand what an MOT is - if they tested every cars fuses and went into fault diagnosis they would lose huge amounts of time.
Can't believe how many people are jumping down the OP's throat for this.Yes the MOT is just a vehicle check BUT if they are suggesting what needs to be done to rectify the fault that implies that they've checked into it not just picked a random solution out of the air.
If they come back and say it may be this, please take it away and investigate then that's fair but if they say it's failed, this is what it needs that implies to me that investigation has been carried out.
In this situation I'd have expected a phone call to say what it failed on and either a conclusive report on what needed done (as in they know that a bulb has failed) or them looking for authorisation to investigate and correctly diagnose the issue in which case a fuse should have been fairly far up the check list...
Rick1.8t said:
Jesus christ - people really need to understand what an MOT is - if they tested every cars fuses and went into fault diagnosis they would lose huge amounts of time.
]
But clearly they have done some "diagnosis" in order to "advise" that he needs new lights and switches! Even though this is a load of codswallop. It's just another example of how the motor trade is often so shoddy.]
These people are supposed professionals. If someone else off the street had blindly taken their word and bought new headlights and fog light switches, they'd waste a fortune based off of a hunch of these so-called professionals who didn't do any basic checks before 'advising'.
Edited by Howard- on Thursday 11th December 13:19
sparkyhx said:
Good god - no no no no no
MOT is NOT a service it does not mean everything is working fine and will continue to do so. It just means the bits they check are acceptable according to the guidelines.
You might need to change your brakes a few weeks later cos they are now worn out, same with tyres although in reality they would probably put them down as an advisory.
Yes they check steering, bushes and suspension and brakes and engine emissions, and that gives a certain level of comfort, but if your oil is 100000 miles old and below the dipstick or you have no coolant in the system or your brake fluid is now virtually water, non of these things would be looked at and you could drive out of the garage and kill your car.
testers, test, they don't fix, a 'nice' tester may help diagnose the problem or give you some pointers, but thats more than you are entitled to.
Where is that stupid parrot when I need it?MOT is NOT a service it does not mean everything is working fine and will continue to do so. It just means the bits they check are acceptable according to the guidelines.
You might need to change your brakes a few weeks later cos they are now worn out, same with tyres although in reality they would probably put them down as an advisory.
Yes they check steering, bushes and suspension and brakes and engine emissions, and that gives a certain level of comfort, but if your oil is 100000 miles old and below the dipstick or you have no coolant in the system or your brake fluid is now virtually water, non of these things would be looked at and you could drive out of the garage and kill your car.
testers, test, they don't fix, a 'nice' tester may help diagnose the problem or give you some pointers, but thats more than you are entitled to.
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