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Car failed MOT on suspension, but there was no visible issue?

C

colinrc

Messages
62
OK now bear with me. Last year my car failed its MOT on suspension. They said the front was dangerous and rear they could pass but I certainly shouldn’t wait till my next MOT to get it fixed. They said it would cost about £1200 to get it all fixed. I told them where to go.

However I then realised that my MOT ran out a month earlier than I thought and I then knew I was driving around without an MOT and I felt like a wanted criminal and I was expecting Mi5 to turn up at my door to arrest me at any point. So I went back to the garage and asked them to do the front, just so I could get an MOT.

Now my issue is there were no signs there was anything wrong with the suspension. The dampers weren’t leaking, I did a bounce check on the car and there was no issue. There was no issue when driving. I have access to other EP3’s and there was no difference to mine, but the others passed the MOT.

So a year on and my car has just sailed through the MOT, no mention of the failed rear suspension, just like I thought.

So my questions are;

  1. Was I ripped off a year ago?
  2. Can suspension fail with no visible signs?
  3. In future if a garage is trying to pull a fast one, saying work needs to be done that doesn’t is there anything you can do?
  4. If you disagree with the MOT tester’s analysis of your car can you take it to another garage to get them to take a look? Will all MOT testers stand together as a band of brothers?
  5. Can the next garage see it failed at the first?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Did they tell you anything more specific then just your front suspension?
 
They said there was no resistance under pressure from the suspension. When I asked more questions they just kept saying its failed.
 
If there was no resistance then surely you'd be bottoming out on every speedbump and pothole and it'd be sat like a stancecrew hellaflush gimp car.

If you think a garage is pulling a fast one then take it elsewhere, explain to the other garage what the first one have said. Very much the opposite of a band of brothers, if one garage finds out another one is doing dodgy dealings they will most difinately let you know how much of a bunch of cowboys their competetors are in order to stop you going to them and to gain a customer.
 
Hazz said:
it'd be sat like a stancecrew hellaflush gimp car.
Click to expand...

That's how I roll.

This was a Honda dealer and the man on the desk just kept repeating what was on his piece of paper.

Does anybody know what the actual tests are on the suspension during the MOT to ascertain the suspension is still working correctly? Honda didn't accept me bouncing on my car as an accurate test.
 
1. No real way of telling now, potentially though. Do you know what components they replaced?

2. Yes potentially, could be a seal internally in the shock absorber.

3. If you think a garage is trying it on best thing to do is firstly ask them to explain to you and if possible show you what they are talking about, failing that go somewhere else. If you think you've been had over after you've paid you could potentially talk to trading standards etc but that to me is a worst case scenario. There's plenty of good reputable garages around though, where abouts are you from?

4. You can take it elsewhere easiest way is not to tell them you've been elsewhere, that way you get an biased report.

5. They probably could but I think they'd have to look for it, I don't think it would just ping up on their computers.
 
Thanks for all your replies.

1. They replaced the front struts. It made no difference to the way the car drove. I know for sure they replaced them as I marked the originals, but when the work was done they were obviously new.

2. If an internal seal had gone, then sure the shock absorber wouldn't work would it? Wouldn't it be like driving on a bouncy castle?

3. I did try asking at the time for better explanations of, how they test, the part that failed, symptoms of failure etc .... but the computer said no. I definitely won't be taking this any further such as trading standards. I really just want to be more prepared for future issues.

Thanks for the other information.
 
Yea you're right the shock wouldn't work and you wouldn't notice it.

sounds a bit suspicious to me, I'm a technician myself and if anyone has any doubt in what I'm reporting I'll explain to them in as much detail as possible and if nessercary put the car on the ramp and show them.

where abouts are you from?
 
Yea it was a year ago, I did inspect them while they were on the car. I didn't ask to keep them once they were changed as all I could do was visually inspect them some more, then I would have to get rid of them as well.

I will just put this down as a learning experience (that cost me hundreds of pounds) and move on.

Thanks for the help.
 
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