Re: MoT
Groan, time for the old Girl’s MOT again this afternoon. Not looking forward to it. Two years ago we exchanged our trusty 3-year-old Hyundai Tucson for a used 3-year old Ford Focus Estate from a Ford dealership because it was a beauty, in pristine condition with very low mileage and one owner. Also, it was far easier for me to get into and out of, and plenty of room in the back for the pooches.
In all the years we have had a car, we have never had a failed MOT, as again, like most of us, we have always done our best to look after our vehicles with regular servicing and necessary repairs when needed,
However, last year when the Ford was booked into a well-known national MOT centre on the afternoon prior to the MOT being due, it actually failed its MOT!! When my open-mouthed significant half requested to know what was wrong with it,(we had never had a moment’s trouble since buying it) he was informed that it needed new brake pads, new brake discs all around, plus a new suspension coil. Total bill £600 plus with everything included.
And to make matters worse, because the new MOT was actually due the following day, there was no way under present law that we could drive it away to get a second opinion because the new law says that if the MOT date is up and the failed points deem the vehicle a danger to drive, the only way we could take the car away was on a low-loader!! Fair enough,we would not want to drive a dangerous car anyway. So instead of driving our car home with us as we fully expected, we had to catch a bus while they went ahead with the repairs before giving it a pass.
We did ask the MOT centre why all these faults occured as we didn’t use the car very much, (we also have a campervan which we use all through the summer months) We explained that the car is only used locally and to drive to and from our holiday destination in the UK once a year, so we couldn't understand how all the brake discs and pads should have deteriorated like that, (Neither of us knows anything about the suspension)
The mechanic said that it can happen even if the car is standing still and hardly used! which puzzles us to this day. (perhaps someone knowledgable on here can confirm that is so).
Anyway, we are more prepared this year. We have the car booked in for today, two weeks before the MOT is due, so if it fails, Grrr, unless a dangerous fault, we can at least drive it away and have two weeks to put faults right (2nd opinion) before a further full MOT is carried out.We were thinking of first putting her through a Pre-MOT but the only person who does this locally carries out the pre-MOT and then drives it to a local MOT Centre for repairs required. So, being the cynical pair we are,and not trusting him to be in cahoots with the repair garage, have decided to just go ahead with the full MOT and hope for the best.
Hopefully, she will sail though it but still nervous though. We love our car, she is still pristine, always well looked after but never having experienced a failed MOT before, I still can't help being suspicious of some of these 'repairs' being a ploy by the garage/MOT centre to try and get more money out of customers for the repair jobs.
I know this is perhaps an unfair and unwarranted accusation but how do we know whom we can trust? If it fails this time, we will get the necessary repairs done once again to get her MOT pass, but she will have to go. At least the repairs carried out last year on the MOT still have their warranty, and we are using a different MOT centre this time, so we will know one way or another if the new MOT centre picks out the same fault(s). Sigh, when did I become so cynical?
Does anyone else get nervous when their MOT is due?,