MOT fail - garage says I can't drive my car?!?

[Burgerbob]

My wife's car failed its MOT today with a frayed passenger seatbelt. The old MOT expires on 9 Feb. But the garage says that now it has failed an MOT I can't drive it (unless driving it to a prearranged test).

Are they taking the piss? It has a perfectly valid MOT, but it is now stuck at the garage until next week when the parts arrive. They have me over a barrel to charge what they want to fix it too.

[Burgerbob]

Mexman said:

Errr, just drive it away with no one sitting in the passenger seat?
What can go wrong?

That was actually my thoughts, but the wife wasn't happy!

Thanks all for your thoughts, as you can see the care has a valid MOT, but also an MOT fail... My issue with the garage is not that the work needs to be done, but that I suspect I may have been lied to. They were very clear, the car had failed its MOT so it should not be driven as it did not have an MOT. In the interim period before the garage gets the part my wife would have wanted to use the car to commute to work, plus importantly take our son to school so ideally I'd have wanted to use it more than just taking it home / to get it fixed. We'll now have to make alternative arrangements (to be fair to the garage they did offer a courtesy car).

[Burgerbob]

clayts450 said:

Isn't the offside front seat belt the driver's seat belt... ?

Bit tricky to drive home if no-one is sat in the seat.

Well spotted - she said passenger belt on the phone...

I can actually see an argument to say the car isn't roadworthy if its the driver's belt, which may (in part) support the garage

[Burgerbob]

Thanks for your comments. It's a seat belt so I'm happy for the garage to fix it. It's at a Kia garage and I'm sure the quickest way to get it fixed is to leave it with them.

I have 2 issues that I will pursue with them. Being told an incorrect interpretation of the mot legislation effectively gave me no options but to get them to fix it. Plus, they have told me it is not covered under the Kia 7 year warranty, I'd like to know why.

Anyway, I'll come back once it's all fixed and I have answers to the above.

Thanks