Hi all. 

 

Cars failed mot today. Leaking rear shocks. 2016 2.0d with 93000 miles on clock. 

 

Skoda have sent me a visual inspection with the prices attached saying 

 

	£627.14
			N/S/R Shock Absorber - Leaking to excess, advise as a pair

 

 

It don't have the adjustable suspension. I can't help but feel that's steep. The skoda dealership says I can't really drive it due to changes with the mot system. I thought if the existing mot was still valid I could drive it. So at the moment it's with them. 

 

I have a 3rd party warranty that says they'd look to cover it but want to see the last 2 years service history. So I assume they are gonna tell me its wear and tear and not covered. 

 

Has anyone had rear shocks changed and how much did it cost you and was that main dealer or Independant. 

 

Thanks

Adrian. 

Have done several on Octavias, never paid more than £30 each, add on another £3 for the foam bump stop which is usually decomposed, 15 minutes a side for me to fit on a good day.

 

£627 presumably is for just one, sounds about right for a main stealer.

 

Your mistake was having an MOT done by someone with a very vested interest (AKA robbing lying barstewards), no MOT station would have told you that unless it had been flagged as such on the failure certificate.

 

If the car was under warranty and you had it MOT'd elsewhere & it had failed on leaking shock absorbers the main stealer would have called it "slight misting" and said it was completely normal.

 

I would ask to see the MOT failure certificate and inspect the dampers visually myself, if I had any doubt I would get a second opinion from an MOT test station that did not have a vested interest, one that only does tests & not repairs.

Over £600 sounds about three times what it should cost!!! 

For the record - they CANNOT legally withhold your car whether an MOT fail or not. The most they can do is report you to the police for driving away but they won’t.

 

If you can drive the car with failures depends on certain factors.

 

if the mot is still valid and the fail wasn’t dangerous you have 10 days to return for a retest I believe.

 

chances are it’s lightly misted and the dealer wants to pull your pants down.

 

I personally would change a shock for you at a much much lower price if you’re In the north London area.

On the MOT fail front, I think if you have a fail then the old one is void. Maybe just safety fail actually.  Depending on how a shock fails it could be seen as a safety issue.

 

In the price, yes sounds steep. If you can somehow get it home or to another garage you should be able to save some money. Not sure what the rules are with getting somewhere else to test it after a fail.

 

Edit: need to type faster!

Edited 25 February, 20224 yr by MarkyG82

20 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

On the MOT fail front, I think if you have a fail then the old one is void.

I think that’s the situation too.

Maybe something relatively new but it is what it is.

Unless the fail is marked as dangerous on the MOT test sheet, you can drive it away and the old MOT is valid until it expires.

 

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

 

In the case of a leaking shock absorber no matter how bad, it is classed as a major fail, not dangerous. see section 5.3.2. Shock absorbers

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/5-axles-wheels-tyres-and-suspension#section-5-3-2

 

I recently had both rear shock absorbers and bump stops changed on our Octavia Estate with Bilstein branded shocks at our local independent specialist. £180 inc vat

Car was 10 years and 150k hard miles, shocks were still ok no leaks but rusty, bump stops almost none existing and dust covers stuck down so the rods were exposed. For the labour involved I thought might as well change them.

 

Many Skoda dealers will exaggerate misting as a leak. Misting is not an MOT fail.

Edited 25 February, 20224 yr by xman

some garages have been known to spray the shocker with wd40 etc then have you believe that it's leaking  😑

 they'll then tell you better to replace as a pair, so one spray = plenty ££££ for them

bit late this time, but in the future, take your car to the local council mot place where they dont do repairs, so no incentive for them to fail the car 

51 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

if the mot is still valid and the fail wasn’t dangerous you have 10 days to return for a retest I believe.

 

The 10 day rule is for partial retests, where only the failed item is checked. Usually a lower or free fee at MOT test centres.

 

Otherwise a full MOT will be required

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

OK thanks. I'll have to try and see if I can get the car back as I don't want to pay that. Typical being the weekend and I'm working so it's gonna be Monday before I can get it. 

 

These are a couple of screen shots from the video. 

It’s hard to tell based on the photo but I would say they are very damp yes.

 

Just go take the car, they can’t stop you but I bet they will try.

If they are say at least one of the rear shocks are genuinely gone you will be able to tell by the old bounce method. Open the boot and push do e as hard as you can in either side of the car and you'll see how it returns. If there is any damping at all then it's safe to drive home/somewhere else.

Retrieve your car, then find an independent that will change the rear shocks (and get bump stops done at same time).  I would think it should be nearer £200 tops.

 

Might be easier to let place fixing it do new MOT (will cost more than retest at original place, but might be less hassle).  Actually might be better seeking out someone with good price and just booking it for repair and MOT.  This has the advantage of a clause that allows you to drive a car to a pre booked MOT, so could just drive it direct from where it is now.

 

Not unreasonable to need new shocks at 93,000 miles.  But mileage is bad indicator, the quality of road surfaces you use will affect deterioration rate.

 

£600 is daylight robber, get it picked up by the AA or similar and dropped at kwik fit and have a weekend away with the £300 you will save

Why have it picked up by the AA (not that they do that), the OP drove it there and he can drive it away, his old MOT is still valid and the failure was not marked as dangerous.

£600 is daylight robber, get it picked up by the AA or similar and dropped at kwik fit and have a weekend away with the £300 you will save  sorry reading original post I wasn’t sure if it was marked as dangerous, if  it’s still got a valid mot happy days just take away

43 minutes ago, Joebloggs67 said:

£600 is daylight robber, get it picked up by the AA or similar and dropped at kwik fit and have a weekend away with the £300 you will save

Why would the AA pick it up it’s not broken down and it’s in a place of repair !

Would the aa pick it up from a mot station not a garage if it was a dangerous fault and take it to my chosen garage

1 minute ago, Joebloggs67 said:

Would the aa pick it up from a mot station not a garage if it was a dangerous fault and take it to my chosen garage

No it’s not broken down yes it has a fault , your membership is for road side assistance not for transporting vehicles from one garage to another 

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

Why have it picked up by the AA (not that they do that), the OP drove it there and he can drive it away, his old MOT is still valid and the failure was not marked as dangerous.

I still think it's down to some new regulations that may be incoming or have just arrived. Need someone with CSI time to investigate!

 

As an MOT is based only on that day, any subsequent failure would say that the car is not safe to drive from then on. Booking in to a different place for a repair and re-MOT was a good suggestion.

In this instance it's similar to low tread tyres - okay () to drive with - but in reality you wouldn't.

23 minutes ago, john999boy said:

I still think it's down to some new regulations that may be incoming or have just arrived. Need someone with CSI time to investigate!

 

As an MOT is based only on that day, any subsequent failure would say that the car is not safe to drive from then on. Booking in to a different place for a repair and re-MOT was a good suggestion.

In this instance it's similar to low tread tyres - okay () to drive with - but in reality you wouldn't.

 

As far as I am aware, the situation is crystal clear. The OP can drive the car away if the fault is not marked as dangerous. It appaers that the law changed fairly recently to make the situation perfectly clear. It is always wise to take your car for a test well before the old one expires, as it gives time to sort out issues like this before the earlier MOT expires.

1 hour ago, Joebloggs67 said:

Would the aa pick it up from a mot station not a garage if it was a dangerous fault and take it to my chosen garage

Are you a member?

3 hours ago, Joebloggs67 said:

Would the aa pick it up from a mot station not a garage if it was a dangerous fault and take it to my chosen garage

Even if they did (and it’s not broken down so unlikely) you would probably need to be there to give them the car key, so if you have to be there, may as well drive it a short distance yourself to another repairer. 
 

The shock absorber fault means handling is limited, so you don’t want to be whizzing down winding roads in bad weather.   But you drove it there in current state, so driving it a few more miles is no worse than when you took it for MOT

 

I'll wait to see wether the warranty company will cover it and then I'll see I can do. My main issue is I'm short on time. The old mot expires Wednesday. I won't get the car until at least Monday afternoon due to work so that gives me a day to find somewhere. I need the car back ASAP as I use it everyday for work. 

 

Thanks for all the input though. A big lesson for next time. 

Got it all sorted. Took the car back and a mate who works for Peugeot did the shocks and thrn got it mot'd for me. Cost me just under half what skoda wanted. So bit of a result. 

 

Thanks for all the input and suggestions. I'll certainly think before taking it to skoda for mot again.