Council MOT

[TimberWolf]

I tried one of the council run testing centres today. These places don't do repairs and charge the full MOT price rather than the heavily discounted price many garages are currently offering, but it was nice to be able to book a time and have it done while-you-wait without fearing fictional suspension/brakes/exhaust faults being found or wondering if they are stretching the truth somewhat in their own favour. My worn brake pads and discs of yesteryear seem to have healed up since last MOT for example.

My car failed anyway as it turned out, with an interesting fault. One of the tyres had a deep crack running several inches along the side wall, which looked nasty, I hadn't though to check that, as it's a new one on me. I suppose tyres have a shelf like like elastic bands and other rubbery things and mine were dated 2007, though still had plenty of tread and otherwise looked okay. The crack was very real though, as I saw as the mechanic levered it open a few millimetres. The guy at Kwik-Fit said they throw their tyres out aged 5. Anyway after fitting new tyres it was retested for free back at the centre.

Bit of a hassle if you want a service at the same time as the MOT or expect a fail, but otherwise might worth considering.

[Freamon]

I tried one of the council run testing centres today. These places don't do repairs and charge the full MOT price rather than the heavily discounted price many garages are currently offering, but it was nice to be able to book a time and have it done while-you-wait without fearing fictional suspension/brakes/exhaust faults being found or wondering if they are stretching the truth somewhat in their own favour. My worn brake pads and discs of yesteryear seem to have healed up since last MOT for example.

My car failed anyway as it turned out, with an interesting fault. One of the tyres had a deep crack running several inches along the side wall, which looked nasty, I hadn't though to check that, as it's a new one on me. I suppose tyres have a shelf like like elastic bands and other rubbery things and mine were dated 2007, though still had plenty of tread and otherwise looked okay. The crack was very real though, as I saw as the mechanic levered it open a few millimetres. The guy at Kwik-Fit said they throw their tyres out aged 5. Anyway after fitting new tyres it was retested for free back at the centre.

Bit of a hassle if you want a service at the same time as the MOT or expect a fail, but otherwise might worth considering.

I've found Kwik Fit to be fairly reliable with no "phantom" faults reported, even on a relatively old (10yrs+) car. It's the main dealers you want to avoid.

[Vanilla]

WTWS
Definitley worth considering, and for your local test centre check this out, Cheap MOTs: Beat repair costs, use council tests...

[DimPrawn]

How does this help the average IT contractor who buy a brand new luxury German car every 6 months to ensure the latest reg plate?

[KimberleyChris]

It's nice when the boss can't take the tester into the spares store to say "Right, I want that rack empty by the time that car has gone".

[KimberleyChris]

Just a point.

You are allowed to drive an untaxed car to an MOT test station for a pre-booked test, but as they don't do repairs at council stations, are you then allowed to drive it to/from a garage to have the repairs done and for the retest?

[Paddy]

Just a point.

You are allowed to drive an untaxed car to an MOT test station for a pre-booked test, but as they don't do repairs at council stations, are you then allowed to drive it to/from a garage to have the repairs done and for the retest?

yes

[Freamon]

Just a point.

You are allowed to drive an untaxed car to an MOT test station for a pre-booked test, but as they don't do repairs at council stations, are you then allowed to drive it to/from a garage to have the repairs done and for the retest?

You can drive a non MOT'd car to and from a pre-arranged MOT test. I don't think there's any proviso that you have to be driving it home after the test. There must be something in there about the test being booked in a garage that is a reasonable distance (i.e. not taking a car to an MOT 200 miles away so that you can give someone a lift on the way), and about the relative roadworthiness of the car (i.e. it's not a total death trap). Not sure of the exact rules on those.