My girlfriend is convinced that if I don't go to a council-run MOT centre, where they don't carry out repairs themselves, and go to a local garage/the likes of Kwik-Fit instead then they're likely to fail my car so they can make some money charging me for work my car doesn't really need. Does she have a point or is she being rather paranoid?
She has a point. With a non-council MOT centre, you're basically gambling on their scrupulousness. Going to a council garage guarantees that you won't get ripped off. Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert recommends using a council garage, for what it's worth.
>>2956 It is a known scam, but her suggestion is over-cautious.
Avoid specialists - if a garage advertises themselves as an exhaust centre and has exhausts lined up on the wall, don't be surprised if you fail on something to do with the exhaust. This is particularly nasty as IIRC you can't appeal against specific failure points, only on the overall failure.
Avoid big names like Kwik-Fit or Halfords, as they charge the maximum test fee (currently £54.85) even if the going rate locally is lower (£40 on my patch).
Otherwise, if you have a garage that you trust and they have testers, you can use them. I've been with the same garage for six years, and they've not taken me for a ride. In my area, the motor business is small enough that everyone knows everyone else, and the same names come up time and time again. If you're really stuck and don't have a relationship with any local garages, ask the local taxi drivers - anyone who rips off a cabbie will soon find the entire local fleet knows their game.
>>2959 I'm new to the area. There's three garages in my town, one of them looks better than the other two so I was planning on giving them a ring tomorrow to see if they're open weekends.
>>2963 I reckon it's a familiarity thing - the same reason why people will go to a McDonald's over a cafe, a Starbucks over a local coffee shop or a Wetherspoons over local pub grub when they visit a different city. It's uninspiring shite, but at least you know what you're getting.
>>2962 I don't know if they're legally required to do it, but it certainly makes sense for them to do it anyway. You need certain qualifications before you can do the Nominated Tester course, and offering it to the public means the council can keep their NTs busy and recover the costs.
One of the things you need to do in life that nobody tells you about is find a decent garage you trust and stick with it. It's difficult, but do-able. Ask friends/family and check the reviews online. Eventually you'll find someone who might only rip you off a little bit. If you're repeat business, they generally don't take the piss unless you're absolutely clueless.
All that said, ATS are generally pretty good in comparison to Kiwk Fit and Halfords. There might even be one in your area:
MOT booked for tomorrow, went for a local place. £40 but he deemed like a decent bloke on the phone.
I need to clean the inside of my car, but there's a thunderstorm going on. It opens at half 8 in the morning, would vacuuming outdoors before 8am on a Saturday be cuntish? I certainly wouldn't trim my hedges at that time.
>>2978 I was a bit surprised last time I took my van for an MOT. They asked if i could move the crap in the back forwards by a few feet, so they could forklift a 2 tonne block of concrete in to help with the brake test. Fair enough.
I have never cleaned a car for an MOT. It's not as if they touch any part I'd clean anyway. Then again, I don't clean cars when it's not MOT time.
I moved town last year, which means I've got to go through the whole rigmarole of finding a trustworthy garage again.
The head gasket blew on my car last week so I tried a local garage on the recommendation of my neighbour as he owns about a dozen vans through his business. It's taken them a week to fix that and fit a new timing belt, they mentioned about replacing the battery but I'm not sure if they've done that so I'll have to look under the bonnet later, and they kicked up such a fuss about paying by card because they blatantly wanted to dodge tax with a cash in hand payment. They've also given us both copies of the invoice, which doesn't actually specify the work they've done, so they won't have anything on their records.
