Civic failed its mot today :(

[mkb90]

Took my civic in for a mot today and unfortunatley it failed!
It failed on 3 things no advisories.

I fitted a rear tie bar and they are saying there isnt enough thread out and under pressure it could release and let go. But surely it would of flagged up before and these bar kits would come with longer bolts. Plus on my old civic i had the same bar and it passed no problems.
Anyhoo there taking it off then thats not a problem.

But do i need to find longer bolts or just stick it back on? It had alot of turns before it really tightened so i thought it was fine. And my last one was.

Another was a dust cover which is fine they already have a replacement.

The other is the bonnet cable clip. Now this is a common thing and i was going to fix it but never got round it before mot. Its still easy to open but they said no it needs to be as it should be.
Another point i would like to make is my old one had this, same garage, mot time. They passed it! So why now are they failing it.
They now say they have no knowledge of passing my last one and cant even remember the car.
It did go there a few times but tbh im not too bothered as there cheap fixes and it will be ready to collect passed tomorrow or saturday morning.

Im just wondering if anyone else has had problems like this or are they being arsey.

i have had problems with this garage from cars i have sent there but not my own.
And i havent found a garage i really trust honestly yet and this one is 9 times out of 10 spot on.

 

[NYA]

Take it somewhere else bud, the Tie Bar bolts is total BS! How the hell do they know how much thread is through? The bonnet cable clip is of no matter at all, it's not a safety issue, so that's another load of crap. Yes the MOT test has got tougher, due to more and more government regs, but when garages get silly like this, it's time for a reality check. Just IMO.

 

[mkb90]

I thought the tie bar was a load of rubbish.

As for the bonnet catch they reckon if theres a fire it needs to be right for emergency services to be able to open it.
I get were there coming from but i told them i was changing it soon and they have passed my work van on things it should fail from knowing me snd me keeping my word. If i say im fixing or changing something, i will. But they have got attitude about this one and have said all 3 things has to be done before they will pass it and if i take it away they will charge me £25 for a retest!

Im definatley contemplating picking it up tomorrow and going somewhere else. All it should fail on is the dust cover

 

[NYA]

As far as I know they are not allowed to charge for a retest within a certain time period. They're basically trying to get you to let them do the work and then charge you. Tell them to do one and take it somewhere else man, just cut your losses and go with any old random. TBh most MOT places now are much of a muchness.

 

[Scousefella]

As for the bonnet catch they reckon if theres a fire it needs to be right for emergency services to be able to open it.

What a crock of sh*t.

If the car was on fire the emergency services would keep a safe distance until it was easy to tackle - they would then use a fluckin big crowbar to pop the bonnet to dampen down the engine bay.

I expect the bonnet release handle/cable/catch would be pretty flucked after a fire. :lol:

 

[Hazz]

I'd never go back to a garage that wanted to charge for an MOT re-test. Utter thundercnuts.

 

[eptrois]

They've probably got a quota to fill but they sound like a bunch of complete morons either way!

Name and shame them mate to save any one else from this ridiculous trauma.

 

[cowboy573]

You cant take it to a new garage and get a complete MOT on it without the new garage knowing that the old place failed it and on what. As it's all put into a computer database now. However by law, you are allowed to tdrive the car home, Even if it has no MOT to carry out the works at home and then return for a free re-test if it's done on the following day. If it's after 10 days that you have returned the car then they will charge a partially re-test fee. I personally would take the car away, fix it yourself (you already have said you would anyway) Then take it back for a partial re-test. Then never go there again, and make sure they know it.

Check out it all here
http://mottesting.org.uk/mot-retest-information-fail.html

 

[Andy83]

My old fiesta failed on a couple of things and as said above you do have a week I think to get things sorted and then they give you a free re test or part re test. Trying to charge for it is wrong and as other people have said, get it sorted and don't go back there anymore

 

[mkb90]

I rang them this morning to say i would come and collect it this morning and go from there, they said oh we have taken off the rear bar and put a tie on the bonnet pull and in the middle of changing the dust cover. So it will be ready to collect later today and we will just charge you labour.

I never said for them to do this, it was put to me to ring at 9 to discuss prices or if i want to repair it myself.

Even *** it will be all sorted im not happy that they started working on it removing that bar without speaking to me first.

Can i do anything about this as im sure when i get there they will be trying to charge me over £100 for labour
other than getting the keys and just leaving

 

[colinrc]

I was a bit confused as in your first post it sounded like you had already told them to do the work as you said
"im not too bothered as there cheap fixes and it will be ready to collect passed tomorrow or saturday morning"

If you didn't tell them to do the work you definitely don't need to pay, but I would be ready for war when you tell them your not paying. You will never be able to go back to that garage again.

How did they even know about the bonnet catch? I have watched a few MOTs and I can't remember anybody opening the bonnet.

 

[eptrois]

I think you can appeal but I do not know the ins and outs. Do a bit of research and see if you can appeal. Maybe someone else here has been down this road and can give some advice?

 

[mkb90]

As long as they dont rip my arm off i will pay.

My last converstation i had with them they wanted to change the cable so it had the proper handle on it, so they said they would get prices in the morning then when i ring we can go with the best option.

I didnt say to do anything with the rear bar and the dust cover they had in stock but i didnt say for them to fit it

 

[mkb90]

Picked the car up they charged me £152
the bonnet cable was actually a advisory but they told me it was a fail and had to be changed so i thought that was strange
they told me not to put the rear tie bar back on untill i get new longer bolts

not overly happy as my total spend this month on the car is mega
but at least its done. There labour cost is rediculous so im not going back anyway.

 

[Chris1987]

Sorry to here that mate, sounds like they was just out to rob you.

Make sure you never return ! Name and shame that garage, so no one else makes the same mistake.

 

[mkb90]

They did the same with my girlfriends car
it failed so quoted to be fixed and was reasonable so said yeah
went to pick it up,
instead of replacing it they spent hours freeing up the part
ended up costing more and no new part.
Went mental, since they have new moters but it must be the owners

the guy before that was brilliant. Since he left its been a nightmare im never going back.

Its woods commercials aylesham.