MOT rant

minimeeze

minimeeze

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[Rant mode on]

I took my car in for its MOT on Friday and came home with a red, yellow and green piece of paper :shrug: :annoyed:

My official parking permit which has been in the same place next to my tax disc for the last 2 years (and has never been an issue before) apparently made my car fail the MOT so the bloody eejits issued me a FAIL certificate :bat: They then unstuck my parking permit, stuck it at the top of my windscreen and proceeded to issue me with a PASS certificate. Is this usual practice? Why couldn't they have just moved the offending permit before issuing me a fail certificate? Looking on MOT websites, official permits are meant to be OK as long as they do not restrict the field of vision (which mine didn't). If it was a problem, why did the same garage pass my car through the MOT last year? I am sooooooo P'd off.

The yellow certificate was an advisory for a chip in the windscreen which I'm getting repaired.

Whilst getting the MOT, my car was also booked in to have new rear brake discs fitted as Toyota mentioned at the last service that they needed replacing as they were 'ridged and corroding'. When I went to collect the car, the garage guy said 'oh, we didn't do the brakes as they're ok - they have 0.8mm to go before they need doing'. I told him what Toyota had said and was informed that Toyota 'are just after your money'. Grrrrrr

[Rant mode off]

Ahhh... I feel better now.
 
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What a load of crap! Someone on here said they appealled against a FAIL, wouldn't hurt you to look into it?
 
Although they are supposed to work to a "standard" some garages seem
to be a "law" unto themselves, I know there are good ones out there
but there are also still a lot of bad ones I hate garages NEARLY as much as estate agents :D
Glad you "passed" though Min
 
I believe they have to fail you if an item is an MOT failure. At least then it is noted down that the vehicle failed on that point that was later rectified. Maybe you just had the more strict MOT operator this time round? :p

A little different I know but they failed my car first time because of a slight cracked brake hose, a quick swap later and it was sorted. :)

With regards to the brakes, it could be that they don't need changing yet. I was told the wishbones on my car would need changing soon by a garage that fitted my new tyres to my rims. I even bought the replacement parts in anticipation. 2 years on and they're still fine...no need to change them.
 
What would have been worse is if they charged you for a retest.
My car passed it's MOT on Friday, I did get the same advisory note as last year though. :)
I always make a point of taking my car to MOT stations that don't do repairs though. They tend not to use it as a lisence to print money.
 
From UKMOT.com...

'Official' stickers which are not readily removable- such as vehicle licenses, parking and access permits- are only a reason for rejection if they seriously restrict the the driver's view. 'Official' stickers should be taken to be any sticker which is used in connection with 'road enforcement', 'security' or 'crime prevention' matters.

These include: Disabled persons badges/permits, Parking permits, Licences and vehicle Anti-Theft Scheme stickers issued by a police Authority.
Click to expand...

This is the annoying part.....

The vehicle presenter should be advised of and given the opportunity to remove any item likely to fail under Reason for Rejection 4b or 4e (window stickers) before a Notification of Refusal is issued.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got a pass certificate and wasn't charged for a re-test, but that's not the point... It's the fact that they failed it in the first place when they passed it last year. Plus they never gave me the opportunity to remove the 'offending' permit. My car record now has an MOT failure :( Not good imo when I'm trying to sell it!
 
minimeeze said:
Yeah, I got a pass certificate and wasn't charged for a re-test, but that's not the point... It's the fact that they failed it in the first place when they passed it last year. Plus they never gave me the opportunity to remove the 'offending' permit. My car record now has an MOT failure :( Not good imo when I'm trying to sell it!
Click to expand...

I don't think failing on the position of a permit in your windscreen will affect you selling a car. So long as a car has a long MOT I wouldn't really be interested what it had failed on.
Besides an MOT certificate is only as good as the second it passes. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
minimeeze said:
My car record now has an MOT failure :( Not good imo when I'm trying to sell it!
Click to expand...
I don't think that it matters TBH
All cars will fail at some point, you have the pass certificate to prove the
so called fault was rectified and that it was only a "minor"
You don't even have to show the fail, the buyer will only be interested in the "pass"
Still bloody annoying though. I would have had a few words at the time as well ;)
 
Min

You're right that official permits are not an reason for rejection. They shouldn't have touched it and providing it's not seriously obstructing the veiw of the road it should haven left alone.

The car will show as a pass......don't worry about the VT30, you can crumple that up and bin it.
 
digitalfailure said:
Min

You're right that official permits are not an reason for rejection. They shouldn't have touched it and providing it's not seriously obstructing the veiw of the road it should haven left alone.
Click to expand...

If the permit was within the area swept by the wipers it would technically be obscuring view and need to be moved.
 
nilagin said:
If the permit was within the area swept by the wipers it would technically be obscuring view and need to be moved.
Click to expand...

As quoted above

'Official' stickers which are not readily removable- such as vehicle licenses, parking and access permits- are only a reason for rejection if they seriously restrict the the driver's view. 'Official' stickers should be taken to be any sticker which is used in connection with 'road enforcement', 'security' or 'crime prevention' matters.

These include: Disabled persons badges/permits, Parking permits, Licences and vehicle Anti-Theft Scheme stickers issued by a police Authority
Click to expand...

I hold a current Class 4 and 7 testing licence.......I've never failed a vehicle for a parking permit
 
yup. testers vary. three bikes, three cars. all go to the same mot test centre. cos he rides a bike and ONLY does mot,s. so he doesnt want to fail em for the sake of it.
even lets me sit on the bikes while he tests em.
and always lets me under the ramp to have a look at the cars. and will point out very carefully, anything needing attention.
the disc in the window thing seems a bit much.
even if it had been technicaly , a fail, my tester would have just mentioned it, then passed it anyway after i'd removed it.
 
Betty said:
What a load of crap! Someone on here said they appealled against a FAIL, wouldn't hurt you to look into it?
Click to expand...

that would be me :)

you can go onto the VOSA website and download an appeal form

i was actually told by a rep from VOSA that you can actually fail your MOT for having your sat nav stuck on the windscreen
 
While I agree the MOT tester was silly to fail and then pass, I can't see any reason to think about taking this futher. At the end of the day the car passed and it didn't cost you anything extra so why worry about it?
 
Jeez! I'm so glad I'm not an MOT tester anymore. What a thankless task. :shrug:

In the 12 years I was, I was called every name under the sun for failing cars with faults which represented a potential danger for the owner or other road users. I've shown drivers dangerous tyres, imminent suspension failure, catastophic corrosion and then been abused for not looking the other way and passing it, while they pile their kids back into the car and roar off. All with the joy of knowing that if they kill someone because they can't see past the 8" tall "man who drops his trousers" on the dashboard, I can be jailed for my neglect.

If your permit was in the swept zone, it's a fail. It's no hardship to move it. The tester probably failed it so he had a written record that you'd been notified. That way, if you put it back and then squish a cyclist, he's covered.
 
JumboBeef said:
While I agree the MOT tester was silly to fail and then pass, I can't see any reason to think about taking this futher. At the end of the day the car passed and it didn't cost you anything extra so why worry about it?
Click to expand...

I was never planning to take it any further, just having a good old moan, that's all ;)
 
spannerdude said:
Jeez! I'm so glad I'm not an MOT tester anymore. What a thankless task. :shrug:


If your permit was in the swept zone, it's a fail. It's no hardship to move it. The tester probably failed it so he had a written record that you'd been notified. That way, if you put it back and then squish a cyclist, he's covered.
Click to expand...

My gripe is that my permit has been in the same place for over 2 years. My car has always gone to that same garage for its MOT and the permit has never been an issue before. My tax disc is also in the swept area of the windscreen but no-one has mentioned that!
 
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