2 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

What, you think the implication of a low rate of advisories suggests that the station is allowing to pass then? 

 

 

Could be the reverse, They could be failing to get work, when an advisory was suitable?

1 minute ago, Stonekeeper said:

 

 

Could be the reverse, They could be failing to get work, when an advisory was suitable?

Could be construed either way, We used to have a council run station whose main role was maintaining the ambulances so they took in MOT as well and were fair they could not do any repairs a car would only fail and or get advisories if it was not fit to pass the test on the day or it would not pass next time unless the advisories were attended to. I always used to use that service and always passed. The site where they were was redeveloped and it was thought that they were no longer doing MOTs.

 

Well after some digging on the old net today, it seems that are still doing MOTs but on the other side of the city, but as ambulances have been privatised, they now only do the council's dustcarts and MOT's for those in the know. I'll be taking my car there next time.

On 18/04/2024 at 11:51, 310golfr said:

i take mine every year to the local council mot place,  there's no incentive for them to fail you just for the sake of picking up work as they dont do repairs

 

In my country a garage doing Controle Technique tests is not allowed by law to carry out repair work, they can adjust headlights etc to allow a vehicle to pass but are not permitted to quote for or do any work on vehicles to avoid a conflict of interest.

47 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

What, you think the implication of a low rate of advisories suggests that the station is allowing to pass then? 

Or not checking them properly.

DVSA look out for MOT stations that have abnormal results.

 

Posted about here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=1822649

 

Thanks. AG Falco

2 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

In my country a garage doing Controle Technique tests is not allowed by law to carry out repair work, they can adjust headlights etc to allow a vehicle to pass but are not permitted to quote for or do any work on vehicles to avoid a conflict of interest.

is it expensive to get your car tested ?

in the uk testing stations are told by the government that they cant charge any more than £54.85 for an mot test,

so if they where only doing tests and no repairs they would end up working for a lot less  plus  they lose the mark up on parts etc

That's a good point, my Skoda garage charge £45 a test but the council charge the full amount but there is no conflict of interest. 

I've read this in the past about some countries having Government appointed/controlled/operated stand alone TEST CENTREs and many seem to accept "walk ins", ie you just turn up, car gets tested and you drive off. In UK, so far, I've always had to hand the car in by 08:00 and collect it by 18:00, okay that suits some people's way of doing things, but not very convenient.

So far I've not found out what the cost of doing things that way is, it sounds like it makes a lot of sense, but might end up costing the user or that country's motoring public, more than the way things are set up in UK

So, that is where checking the UK Gov MOT website comes into it's own - ie none of the waiting for the workshop phone to (not) get answered, or the promised "we'll phone as soon as it has been tested" that was offered without prompting, never happening - but, my small out of town local independent garage that also does MOTs, does what he said he will do, so he now gets my wife's Polo to MOT.   

My own car gets its MOT carried out by a VW Group Indie, and the guy at the desk tends to get a bit confused when I turn up to collect my car after it has passed its MOT - as the billing paperwork is hours away from completion! 

Sh1-t happens.  Which can be a problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, Rooted said:

Sh1-t happens.  Which can be a problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep...   The MILs car was due its MOT at the end of February from memory but when we tried to book it in well in advance at the govt test centre the earliest available appointment was late June...   Same test centre.

Edited 20 April, 20242 yr by skomaz

22 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

I've read this in the past about some countries having Government appointed/controlled/operated stand alone TEST CENTREs and many seem to accept "walk ins", ie you just turn up, car gets tested and you drive off. In UK, so far, I've always had to hand the car in by 08:00 and collect it by 18:00, okay that suits some people's way of doing things, but not very convenient.

So far I've not found out what the cost of doing things that way is, it sounds like it makes a lot of sense, but might end up costing the user or that country's motoring public, more than the way things are set up in UK

So, that is where checking the UK Gov MOT website comes into it's own - ie none of the waiting for the workshop phone to (not) get answered, or the promised "we'll phone as soon as it has been tested" that was offered without prompting, never happening - but, my small out of town local independent garage that also does MOTs, does what he said he will do, so he now gets my wife's Polo to MOT.   

My own car gets its MOT carried out by a VW Group Indie, and the guy at the desk tends to get a bit confused when I turn up to collect my car after it has passed its MOT - as the billing paperwork is hours away from completion! 

That has always annoyed me too, take AGES to ring, do they not know people get anxious 😬 

 

I’m always checking the website to see if it’s passed, I must admit I took my car to a different garage this year. I walked back which was around 30 minutes, had a cuppa tea and had a call to say it was all done.

 

I was asked if I wanted a print out for MOT as the government is trying to get it paperless, wonder if that speeds things up

9 hours ago, 310golfr said:

is it expensive to get your car tested ?

in the uk testing stations are told by the government that they cant charge any more than £54.85 for an mot test,

so if they where only doing tests and no repairs they would end up working for a lot less  plus  they lose the mark up on parts etc

 

No it was about the same price allowing for the £/€ conversion but half price when you consider its only done every 2 years.

 

Normally done by booking but they will write to you, write not e-mail which costs a Euro just for the stamp to remind you of your upcoming CT (after 2 years you tend to forget) which you can book online, the reminder will always be sent before the bookings get full, so you just drive up at the allotted time and are tested.

 

No road tax here its on first registration so people keep their cars a long time, the CT appointment is no different to my annual free health check, you dont even fall out of sync when buying a newer car as it has to have 18 months remaining on the CT, it's only people like me that imported vehicles pre-Brexit that needed a rendez-vous in a hurry, my old CT centre, the guy is now a friend, would let me drop the car off in the morning, offer to drive me back home but I would run instead, and squeeze it in during the day so I was never delayed with the registration.

 

They make a good living doing CT's and nothing else, typical place will be husband, wife or son and one employee plus a very large commercial building bigger than the typical UK MOT station, there will be two, possibly 3 in a medium sized town.

2 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I've always had to hand the car in by 08:00 and collect it by 18:00, okay that suits some people's way of doing things

Yes, drop the car in on my way to work, and collect on my way home.

21 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

What, you think the implication of a low rate of advisories suggests that the station is allowing to pass then? 

Or not checking, or not even seeing the car.

 

They can also get a visit for the opposite reason.

To many fails which can also be a bigger sign of upselling.

 

Thanks. AG Falco