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[dtnorth]

I took the old girl for an MOT this week and she failed miserably.

Various suspension and steering components were the failures.

So out of bloody mindedness I took it to another high street retail
chain and lo and behold, it passed.

Therein exists questionability into the methods used by these organisations.

However, I have my pass certificate in a perhaps an unsafe vehicle.

Hats off to VOSA. Bumping us off with dodgy rules.....

[hotel21]

Don't like the sound of that. Either the frst was too strict or the second too lenient......

If you can, post up the reasons for failure from the first test.  Its a good start point for discussion by the guru's here and may go someway to putting your (and our) minds at rest....  

[dtnorth]

First MOT was:

Failure on
NSF Suspension Arm Pin/Bush
Front Brake discs Worn.
Rear Brake Discs Worn
Flexypipe on CAT deteriorated.
Excessive Play on NSF Steering Idler.

[hotel21]

Suspension arm is about £25 delivered from e-bay but can be got for less.
howtoo here - http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152986949
Front discs and pads - about £70 for genuine VX on Trade Club.  There will be someone close to you with a card, if needed.
Howtoo here - http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1171805208
Rear discs and pads are about £70 on Trade Club, as above.
Howtoo here - http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152564750
steering idler is about £20 from e-bay
howto is here - http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1158598664

Unsure about the cat flexy pipe.  May be worth getting a pair of cats from one of the cars being broken on here rather than pay VX?

Not that bad after all then, assuming all need replacing???  

If you are unsure as to worth yourself, no doubt a clever member near you will cast a beady eye over the car, just to reassure.

The VOSA rules are the same throughout, remember.  Its just the interpretation by the testers thats open to some doubt sometimes......  

[dtnorth]

Surely the fact that an MOT can be gained at 1 retailer and failed at an other bellittles its use.

Thanks for the advice on all of the parts needed.  I actually bought some of  them via E-Bay
I just dont know how to fit them.

Front Discs and pads cost £40.00 from Germany.
I got a full exhaust for £120 but It sounds crap, will last 6 months
but at least it got me over a hurdle.. ( MOT )

Rear Discs and pads £49.00

[hotel21]

Have a skeg at this.....

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm

As stated, one persons 'good' fit is anothers 'excessive'.  It seems unfortunate that you encountered both extremes on the same test vehicle.

If you feel that something is amiss (and quite possibly is) contact VOSA direct and they will have a VOSA tester check your car.  It could easily be that the one who failed your car is the good guy and the one who passed it is the baddy.  Its worth getting to the bottom of these things as lives are, ultimately, at stake.

Good luck on the parts find, by the way.  Hope it works out OK.

B

[dtnorth]

I must admit.

Its a 51 plate thats done 20 220 mile drives each way this year between Scotland and and South Wales
given a relocation. and never let me down... Now at 99300

I avoid VX like the plague.   Last time cost me £2000 after they sheerd the manifold bolts in the engine.

£650 that cost.   Hence the mistrust.

[davlad22]

2000/650 squid!!! WTF!?!  

If it's their negligence and bad workmanship THEY should be paying to put it right, not you. It didn't go into the garage like that did it.

On a more positive note, our cars are MOT'd at our (friendly) dealers at the same time as a service and we invariably receive excellent service & don't get completely ripped off like so many seem to do.

[Bo Bo]

I had the same a last year. I took it to one place & it failed on loads of things, decided to take it to another 'cos I knew some of things they failed were OK & it passed without even an advisory  :-?

[DaveL]

Take my fleet to a local place who know that I service my own. I look upon the test as a safe guard to my and others safety. Also more like a check on my workman ship.

Must admit I am very, very miffed if any of my cars fail upon presentation to the MOT. If the car is well maintaned then it should not fail. There is talk about the change to a 4 yearly MOT to bring into line with Europe, it does seem a step in the wrong direction, why do not they come into line with us? :-?

Have seen some shocking vehicles that have 12 months MOT on them and the only place they should be is in a breakers, so if in doubt contact the inspectorate for a check.
 8-)
DaveL

[Danny]

when it passed, did you get any advisories and if so, do they correspond with the reasons it failed at the first garage?

just think about the unsuspecting member of the public who's actual non-roadworthy deathtrap has passed its MOT and they might have no idea how dangerous it is!

[stevief]

Have a skeg at this.....

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm

 It could easily be that the one who failed your car is the good guy and the one who passed it is the baddy.  Its worth getting to the bottom of these things as lives are, ultimately, at stake.

B

In too many cases it is the other way around in that the MOT is used to generate funds as people with little or no experience trust the testers.

It is always quoted that the MOT certificate is only valid at the time of testing as components can fail as soon as you hit the road again and I was always under the impression that anything which was still fit for purpose on the visual inspection was a pass with anything which looked as though it needed replacing soon being covered on an advisory. Were there dimensions given for the brake component wear or did it fail the brake test and as far as the flexi joint was concerned was it leaking or just rusty.

Steve

[Jay w]

Take my fleet to a local place who know that I service my own. I look upon the test as a safe guard to my and others safety. Also more like a check on my workman ship.

Must admit I am very, very miffed if any of my cars fail upon presentation to the MOT. If the car is well maintaned then it should not fail. There is talk about the change to a 4 yearly MOT to bring into line with Europe, it does seem a step in the wrong direction, why do not they come into line with us? :-?

Have seen some shocking vehicles that have 12 months MOT on them and the only place they should be is in a breakers, so if in doubt contact the inspectorate for a check.
 8-)
DaveL

I was under the impression it was going to be every 2 years, however that was about 3 months ago when i read that......

Personally i think it is a bad move to change from annual test, in a year i can travel 30,000 - 40,000 miles, in 4 years i could run a car into the ground and effectively not have to worry about any for of major work on it as its not really going to be inspected on a regular basis.
However i take the safety of me and my car seriously, that is why i would never allow it to get that bad, but i know there are others out there who wouldn't think twice about buying a car with a fresh ticket and then neglecting it for 4 years

a badly thought out idea by the DOT.....if they ever implement

[Bourne]

Personally I think that the whole Mot scheduling is wrong . How can it be that a taxi which does thousands of miles a week bumping up & down kerbs only needs checking once a year the same as an old mans car which only does 2000 miles a year? I think it should be like your servicing. Perhaps 12000 miles or  1 year . Whichever comes first.

With regards to the 2 different mot's (1pass 1 fail) unfortunately there are a lot of unscrupulous garages who'll tell you work needs doing hoping that you'll get them to repair it.These are usually the ones who discount the price of the actual test, offering a free re-test as long as they do the work. If in doubt get it checked independantly. - just my thoughts.....

[ians]

it would be interesting to log on here  - should show both the fail (and why) and the pass, plus any advisories
http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp

it's actually a very useful resource for checking mot history on a vehicle, esp now the computised system has been running for a couple of years