[JD6]

I took my car in for its end of warranty check and MOT recently. I knew they had to do a couple of minor bits including replacing a tyre (with a minor defect) for it to pass, but what I hadn't realised is that it is recorded online as a fail (with details of the failure) and then a pass.

This seems a little odd to me. They knew about at least 2 of the items before they put it through the MOT it failed. I would have expected them to examine the car, rectify the problems and then MOT it when it would pass.

It is just possible that this is a requirement of BMW's 'MOT Protect' - it has to fail before they can fix something? Not a big deal, but I would prefer not to have the failure recorded unnecessarily.

I expect I would get a BS answer from the dealer if I asked about it - they're not a bad dealer, but just making stuff up seems to come naturally to them. Any views?

[Wolverine]

I'm led to believe that its a requirement of an MOT test station to test the car as presented and then to rectify anything that leads to an MOT failure (with the customer's consent, of course).

But I'm not expert...

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Wolverine

I'm led to believe that its a requirement of an MOT test station to test the car as presented and then to rectify anything that leads to an MOT failure (with the customer's consent, of course).

But I'm not expert...

I always put mine in to see what it would fail on then rectify the fails - but mine are older and the history doesn't bother me!

[ronime]

Test start and end times are logged with DVSA. The days of the 5 minute MOT test are long gone.

If the pass rate at your testing station is significantly higher than the national average then you are likely to have a DVSA inspector turning up unannounced.

[robbiep]

The only way you'll avoid getting an MOT failure recorded is if you ask (and pay) for a pre-MOT check to be carried out.

[PaulT_M5]

My horn failed two days before my service and MOT. I said when I booked it in that it needed the horn replacing before the MOT. They failed the MOT on a faulty horn, replaced it, then passed the MOT.

My wife's Fiesta had it's MOT, there were no problems before it went in, but checking online a few weeks later it said that it failed with a faulty rear brake light and then passed. They never mentioned the faulty brake light, nor charged me for fixing it, so I just put it down to going towards the garages quota of MOT failures.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by PaulT_335i

My horn failed two days before my service and MOT. I said when I booked it in that it needed the horn replacing before the MOT. They failed the MOT on a faulty horn, replaced it, then passed the MOT.

Sounds very similar to my experience. It seems a bizarre approach. Next time I book the car in to sort a fault and to get an MOT, I will book 2 separate appointments 1 day apart, although they'll probably mix them up and do the MOT first

[JD6]

Originally Posted by robbiep

The only way you'll avoid getting an MOT failure recorded is if you ask (and pay) for a pre-MOT check to be carried out.

I had thought that they would simply apply some common sense if the car is booked in for a specific fault (which would be an MOT fail) and an MOT. Doing the MOT first seems ridiculous to me. Now I think back, I recall them doing something similar with my X5 a decade ago.

I appreciate that if anything new crops up in the MOT, that will be a fail, but to fail it on a known fault which you have been asked to fix seems bizarre.

If this is some sort of quota thing then they can record these fails on their own used stock, not on my car...

However I may let them off as I had a brand new loan 335d for the week which gave me the chance to see what launch control does

[Hooded]

Can I ask what these 3 year old cars are failing MOT's on (ignoring things like tyres)? I've never had a BMW less than 10 years old fail an MOT I've only ever had advisories (note I always sort things like bulbs, tyres, brake pads etc before the MOT).

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Hooded

Can I ask what these 3 year old cars are failing MOT's on (ignoring things like tyres)? I've never had a BMW less than 10 years old fail an MOT I've only ever had advisories (note I always sort things like bulbs, tyres, brake pads etc before the MOT).

Mine failed on an issue with the anti-roll bars as well as the tyre defect. However I had booked the car in to to solve the ARB issue, as well as doing the MOT, expecting them to do it in that order!

I was also attempting to sort stuff out before the MOT, as you do, but I was relying on the dealer applying a little common sense in choosing the order, which is clearly where I went wrong!

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by JD6

I had thought that they would simply apply some common sense if the car is booked in for a specific fault (which would be an MOT fail) and an MOT. Doing the MOT first seems ridiculous to me. Now I think back, I recall them doing something similar with my X5 a decade ago.

I appreciate that if anything new crops up in the MOT, that will be a fail, but to fail it on a known fault which you have been asked to fix seems bizarre.

I've heard it reasoned, "We do the MOT first and then any work in one visit to the workshop". Makes sense if anything else has to be done, just one slot for a ramp.

Not too sure on quotas driving the failures, workshop flow makes for a more logical argument to me.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Hooded

Can I ask what these 3 year old cars are failing MOT's on (ignoring things like tyres)? I've never had a BMW less than 10 years old fail an MOT I've only ever had advisories (note I always sort things like bulbs, tyres, brake pads etc before the MOT).

Track rod end on my E91, at the first MOT. Only 35,000 miles and the ball joint was worn out. MOT tester called me in to show me, as he was surprised at the wear.

F11, first MOT, adaptive lights were out of spec. Garage had a difficult job getting them aligned to MOT specification. BMW's rig showed them in spec, the MOT rig (the more recent calibration) said no.

[robbiep]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

I've heard it reasoned, "We do the MOT first and then any work in one visit to the workshop". Makes sense if anything else has to be done, just one slot for a ramp.

Not too sure on quotas driving the failures, workshop flow makes for a more logical argument to me.

And that makes perfect sense. Joe Bloggs books the car in for a couple of jobs at the same time as the MOT. If they do the jobs, THEN do the MOT and it fails on something else, they've got to wait for workshop space (because another job will be underway), and then get it back into the workshop, and THEN get it back into the MOT bay. And the customer probably wanting his car back.
Putting it through the MOT first, and finding out ALL the work that needs doing, makes far more sense.

[PaulT_M5]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Not too sure on quotas driving the failures, workshop flow makes for a more logical argument to me.

Maybe you can reason that argument against why my wife's Fiesta would be failed for a faulty bulb which was fine when we dropped the car in (I check bulbs when I drop the car off for is MOT), not mentioned when I picked the car up, not on the paperwork, nor charged for at a main dealer.

The car was out of warranty, the bulb has a cost (I know its not much, but it's still a cost) and I would estimate around 15 minutes to change the bulb due to having to remove and refit some trim pieces and the light unit. Dealers generally don't do jobs for free and, if they did, surely they would want to tell you they had as it would make you feel like you got excellent service?

[moonshine]

Originally Posted by PaulT_335i

Maybe you can reason that argument against why my wife's Fiesta would be failed for a faulty bulb which was fine when we dropped the car in (I check bulbs when I drop the car off for is MOT), not mentioned when I picked the car up, not on the paperwork, nor charged for at a main dealer.

The car was out of warranty, the bulb has a cost (I know its not much, but it's still a cost) and I would estimate around 15 minutes to change the bulb due to having to remove and refit some trim pieces and the light unit. Dealers generally don't do jobs for free and, if they did, surely they would want to tell you they had as it would make you feel like you got excellent service?

Maybe it was a faulty indicator bulb.... It was working, then not working, then working, then not working.....

[Lynxi2k]

Originally Posted by ronime

Test start and end times are logged with DVSA. The days of the 5 minute MOT test are long gone.

If the pass rate at your testing station is significantly higher than the national average then you are likely to have a DVSA inspector turning up unannounced.

I have lots of friends who work/have worked in garages, cars need to fail to avoid raising suspicion and getting unnecessary checks. Had my cars with good friends failed a re-tested for the above reason, small things usually, then replaced and re-tested.

If a garage knows of a failure before hand they will prefer to test/fail/fix/retest to get the numbers looking right, doesn't mean you're a bad owner!

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Lynxi2k

I have lots of friends who work/have worked in garages, cars need to fail to avoid raising suspicion and getting unnecessary checks. Had my cars with good friends failed a re-tested for the above reason, small things usually, then replaced and re-tested.

If a garage knows of a failure before hand they will prefer to test/fail/fix/retest to get the numbers looking right, doesn't mean you're a bad owner!

Good to know. It sounds like I will have to change my instructions in future to make sure the known work is carried out before the test. Now that it is available online, I don't want an unnecessarily chequered MOT history just so my garage can meet its failure targets.

They can always fail their own used stock to make their numbers add up...

[PaulT_M5]

Originally Posted by moonshine

Maybe it was a faulty indicator bulb.... It was working, then not working, then working, then not working.....

[ronime]

Originally Posted by Lynxi2k

I have lots of friends who work/have worked in garages, cars need to fail to avoid raising suspicion and getting unnecessary checks. Had my cars with good friends failed a re-tested for the above reason, small things usually, then replaced and re-tested.

If a garage knows of a failure before hand they will prefer to test/fail/fix/retest to get the numbers looking right, doesn't mean you're a bad owner!

It's a particular problem for a friend of mine. He has the maintenance contract for a large ambulance fleet. They are on a 3 monthly inspection regime so most of the faults are caught and rectified at the most 3 months before he MOTs them. The fleet represents a significant part of his annual MOT throughput.