Check your MoT status please!

[pje16]

I have always (well for over 20 years) used Kwik-fit
Price between £30 and £35

see for yourself
https://www.kwik-fit.com/mot

[Mike4]

Also IIRC (probably from MM) there is actually a requirement to test the vehicle as presented so the DVLA know what sort of state cars out there are actually in.

Ob and £40 for an MOT???

Paul

Correct, however there is nothing to stop the garage doing a couple of quick fixes before the test anyway!

Acksherly we charge 45 quid for a ticket - still cheaper than the £54.85 maximum though, and is roughly in line with other mot stations in our area.

MM

There is one near me with a sign outside saying "MOT £34".

I often wonder if they are cutting corners and not checking stuff properly, and issuing passes on cars other test centres might have failed. Which of course highlights the curious tension in mandatory safety testing. What individual drivers actually need is a "pass", so a test centre with a reputation for a high pass rate tends to get more of business. But at the same time, there is a collective public need is for faulty cars to get failed. So the responsible motorist should actually be pleased if their car fails an MoT test as something dangerous has been found.

We have something similar the same in the world of canal boating. The boat 'MoT' creates a lot of debate as boats can fail the test on a number of really trivial things that have little or no 'real world' impact on safety. Things like missing labels on fuel and water tank fillers, and fuel return rails on diesel engine injectors must be made from metal, not from the plastic tube as fitted to the same model of engine in millions of road vehicles perfectly safely.

[Gersemi]

There is one near me with a sign outside saying "MOT £34".

I often wonder if they are cutting corners and not checking stuff properly, and issuing passes on cars other test centres might have failed. Which of course highlights the curious tension in mandatory safety testing. What individual drivers actually need is a "pass", so a test centre with a reputation for a high pass rate tends to get more of business. But at the same time, there is a collective public need is for faulty cars to get failed. So the responsible motorist should actually be pleased if their car fails an MoT test as something dangerous has been found.

We have something similar the same in the world of canal boating. The boat 'MoT' creates a lot of debate as boats can fail the test on a number of really trivial things that have little or no 'real world' impact on safety. Things like missing labels on fuel and water tank fillers, and fuel return rails on diesel engine injectors must be made from metal, not from the plastic tube as fitted to the same model of engine in millions of road vehicles perfectly safely.

I was under the impression that these things were monitored. These days MOTs are all registered on line and the authorities can see how long is being shown as spent on each MOT (of course they can't tell if they are actually spending the time checking the vehicle, but they can't issue too many in a set length of time) and they can see how many passes and fails there are, so if there are suspiciously few that can be seen. MM can presumably tell us if that is correct.

[richlist]

The guy employed to carry out the £34 MOT is perhaps being paid far less than the one working in the garage that charges £54.85.

Like most things, is it a race to the bottom ?

[Mike4]

There is one near me with a sign outside saying "MOT £34".

I often wonder if they are cutting corners and not checking stuff properly, and issuing passes on cars other test centres might have failed. Which of course highlights the curious tension in mandatory safety testing. What individual drivers actually need is a "pass", so a test centre with a reputation for a high pass rate tends to get more of business. But at the same time, there is a collective public need is for faulty cars to get failed. So the responsible motorist should actually be pleased if their car fails an MoT test as something dangerous has been found.

We have something similar the same in the world of canal boating. The boat 'MoT' creates a lot of debate as boats can fail the test on a number of really trivial things that have little or no 'real world' impact on safety. Things like missing labels on fuel and water tank fillers, and fuel return rails on diesel engine injectors must be made from metal, not from the plastic tube as fitted to the same model of engine in millions of road vehicles perfectly safely.

I was under the impression that these things were monitored. These days MOTs are all registered on line and the authorities can see how long is being shown as spent on each MOT (of course they can't tell if they are actually spending the time checking the vehicle, but they can't issue too many in a set length of time) and they can see how many passes and fails there are, so if there are suspiciously few that can be seen. MM can presumably tell us if that is correct.

I'm sure there is, but there must also be quite a big envelope of acceptable stats as areas probably vary quite widely in the quality of the public stock of cars owned and the standard of maintenance. Also, there might be staff shortages in the stats admin dept so even test stations passing too many still get overlooked!

[pje16]

The guy employed to carry out the £34 MOT is perhaps being paid far less than the one working in the garage that charges £54.85.

Like most things, is it a race to the bottom ?

it could also be a "loss leader"

[pje16]

I go to the cheapest I can find,

Pay peanuts, get monkeys ....

as it's tick box exercise

Really? You know this how exactly?

I do keep the car fully serviced though

So does the chap we did the new discs and pads on (as mentioned above). His car would still have failed an MoT.

MM

OK argue if you want
cheap and easy jibe about monkeys
however
anyone doing MOTs has to be registered and comply with the law

The MOT does NOT fix anything it just checks your car for road worthiness ON THE DAY

Not sure what your discs point is about... "does the chap"... what exactly?

[AF62]

There is one near me with a sign outside saying "MOT £34".

I often wonder if they are cutting corners and not checking stuff properly, and issuing passes on cars other test centres might have failed.

I always suspect the opposite!

And if they are a tyre and exhaust business that also does brakes and suspension, that it gives them an awfully big selling opportunity to push some unneeded and overpriced repairs to the naïve.

[Mike4]

There is one near me with a sign outside saying "MOT £34".

I often wonder if they are cutting corners and not checking stuff properly, and issuing passes on cars other test centres might have failed.

I always suspect the opposite!

And if they are a tyre and exhaust business that also does brakes and suspension, that it gives them an awfully big selling opportunity to push some unneeded and overpriced repairs to the naïve.

The place I had in mind is a testing centre only, and they need the volumes of tests to drive through the door. Test centres that also carry out repair work have a different set of needs/pressures on them. For them, the test bay generates work for the repair bay. I prefered to use the 'test only' centres when I did my own repairs. Nowadays I give it to my trusted garage that does not do MoTs, they take them to the 'test only' centre a couple of miles away.

[MonsterMork]

I was under the impression that these things were monitored. These days MOTs are all registered on line and the authorities can see how long is being shown as spent on each MOT (of course they can't tell if they are actually spending the time checking the vehicle, but they can't issue too many in a set length of time) and they can see how many passes and fails there are, so if there are suspiciously few that can be seen. MM can presumably tell us if that is correct.

Correct, DVSA see the stats for time taken to test, pass/fail ratio, what areas are getting passed or failed (tyres, brakes, lights, wipers, everything), etc etc. Any "significant" variation against the testers previous numbers and/or the national average gets flagged for further investigation.

DVSA can also find out where a vehicle actually is in relation to where it was actually tested, example being one I know of that was "tested" in Birmingham, and then arrived back in Blighty on the ferry from Spain three weeks later .... *

MM

* 'twas not I before anyone asks!

[MonsterMork]

I always suspect the opposite!

And if they are a tyre and exhaust business that also does brakes and suspension, that it gives them an awfully big selling opportunity to push some unneeded and overpriced repairs to the naïve.

Perhaps in the national chain name-brand places there may be such pressures, but very rarely in the small independant garages. If a boss tells someone to "massage" the results of a test then the tester should (and in all likelihood will) ignore them and do the job properly anyway. There are severe penalties for a tester who starts being naughty, anything from points on your testers licence and a 28 day suspension through to the most severe cases which can be five years in prison and a fine of 25 thousand quid.

MM

[redsturgeon]

Thanks MM, it's always good to hear the facts from one who does the job rather than assumption, supposition and urban myth.

John