Kwik-Fit MOT roulet...
 

[Closed] Kwik-Fit MOT roulette! Place you'r bets!

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Dropped it off this morning for it's half price MOT.

Miss 'spoon has her money on indicator bulbs the wrong colour

Mine's on a dim (but not actualy blown) numberplate bulb or faulty seal and "your emissions were close, have you considdered (insert brand of expensive red-ex here").


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:16 am
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you most definantly need a new exhaust and your brake pads are 75% worn.

and that tires worn - but you need to replace all 4 to get even wear.....


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:18 am
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Brakes...your brakes are worn Sir. We need to replace them all.

(Well that's what they got my mother in law with. She paid them too and she was off on a long trip and thought it best to be safe 😥 )


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:20 am
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If say brakes too! They must have targets to sell x number a week.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:20 am
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Slight misting on one damper = trying to sell you a whole cars worth of suspension parts


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:21 am
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my bet is on faulty brakes, they tried that one on my rally spec mini that had just been rebuilt with new calipers, lines, discs etc etc. wouldn't let me take it away until they sorted it. All work was carried out by a very well know competition car specialist and could stop quicker than you could think about it.

Threatened them with theft and reported them to VOSA


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:21 am
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Brakes deffo they tried that on a friends car. I'd replaced them a month before. Needless to say they got told to rod off.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:22 am
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Never had any shenanigans with KwikFit with my old Honda, same guy did it at least five years in a row, nothing dodgy. Bloke called Froggatt at the Doncaster branch. He did have to fail it for a broken suspension drop link once, but gave it a free retest and pass when I brought it back two days later.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:24 am
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Front wiper fail - damaged rubber is very slightly scraping the screen. Also, a couple of headlight bulbs are intermittent and a timing belt is slightly out of whack.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:25 am
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OK I will take a gamble, they will be completely honest & only mention stuff that needs attention.

My local Kwik Fit is very good.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:34 am
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They tried to fail my wife's car for having an air fresher hanging from the rear view mirror!!


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:43 am
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Blimey, £20 for an MOT? That's cheap. I just booked the wifes into the local Halfords autocentre for £27.50 which I thought was cheap. Been using them for the last few years, they do try it on a little bit but they're not pushy.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:43 am
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Got me on the brakes - "The pads are very worn, and the rotors are worn also, so we need to replace everything"

"Sure, go ahead - you replaced them two months ago, so it'll all be under warranty"

Funnily enough, they decided they didn't need replacing after all.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:45 am
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It must be a bit depressing to work in a place where you're automatically and unfairly judged to be a crook. Sure, there's been dodgy trading practices at Kwik-Fit in the past, but ultimately I've never had a bad experience there and they've gone out of their way to help me (and others) at my local branch.

Perhaps you should wait [i]until[/i] you get it back and see what - if anything - they reckon is wrong with it before you start posting scurrilous statements on t'internet. All you need is a torch and 10 minutes and you can check 95% of MOT items yourself before you take it in.

And "you'r"? Really? http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:48 am
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brake pads, discs and shock absorbers.

It's £20 because they want to get you in there to be fleeced on the above. Same goes for "free safety checks".

I would say it's actually borderline fraud.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:50 am
 hora
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I'm going with rear brake light bulb needs replacing. I had this with Kwikfit (£10).


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:51 am
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They tried to fail my wife's car for having an air fresher hanging from the rear view mirror!!

Technically anything over 40mm in the swept area of windscreen should be an MOT failure die to it "obstructing the view"

some more info here [url= http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_830.htm ]linky[/url]


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:52 am
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Why on earth take it there then? To save £20? I'd rather take it to someone I trust who'll give it the proper going over and give honest advice. 🙄


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:54 am
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Why on earth take it there then? To save £20? I'd rather take it to someone I trust who'll give it the proper going over and give honest advice.

@ £20 that's clearly a loss leader. They are almost honour bound to find something for your fiscal attention! If you view an Mot as both a legal requirement and an opportunity to make sure at least some elements of the car are vaguely safe I'd rather pay full whack and have someone I can trust give me an honest appraisal.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:57 am
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BREAKING NEWS:

They won't test it as it has no rear seats in.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:57 am
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Been there years ago, new brake cylinders, old ones leaking, new seals also leking, worn brake pads and drums along with pads,serious corrosion on cills,dodgy clutch cylinder, leaking,worn bushes on suspension,and the bloody heap of scap wouldnt start, so we had to push it off the ramp and theres yor keys back.

Great customer disservice.

Took it to another garage and it passed with a failed numberplate bulb, tha\ts british leyland engineering for you, great car was the ITAL, had 4 of them.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:58 am
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I'd rather take it to someone I trust who'll give it the proper going over and give honest advice

Same here


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:59 am
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How much to put rear seats in? 😀 MG innit?


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 9:59 am
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Why no rear seats?


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:00 am
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I've got to go and ahve an argument with my local tyre place in a bit. They've managed to break two pressure sensors, despite me telling htem to be careful, and are claiming they were already broken ;-(


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:02 am
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did you ask him on what grounds they wont test if due to no rear seats ?

kwikfit policy - cause it aint owt to do with the mot....

or is it cause its no good to rag on the lunch run to maccy Ds with the lads ?


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:06 am
 hora
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They have to test all fitted seatbelts are fitted, inertia works etc. So its sensible to refuse to carry out a test if they are there and the seats aren't (ie incomplete).


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:11 am
 Gunz
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Technically anything over 40mm in the swept area of windscreen should be an MOT failure die to it "obstructing the view"

This would be good advice for those drivers who think sticking a massive sat nav in the window somehow makes it a heads up display.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:17 am
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BREAKING NEWS:

They won't test it as it has no rear seats in.

Then remove the rear seats belts as well. If no seats and rear belts then it is not classed as a seating position. Competition cars often have no rear seats and no rear belts but have to pass their MOT all the same if being used on the public roads.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:17 am
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"They have to test all fitted seatbelts are fitted, inertia works etc. So its sensible to refuse to carry out a test if they are there and the seats aren't (ie incomplete).
"

only if bits of the seatbelt are missing..... not the seat.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:18 am
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It's not just MOT centres... my local VW dealer has just tried to tell me my Passat discs need replacing, they have done 33,000 miles and are just beginning to show a visible ridge around the outside. I shall use the suggestion posted above and invite them to replace the discs under warranty as they are obviously sub-standard.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:26 am
 hora
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globalti I had a puncture not so long ago. The wheel would NOT come off. Full stop. The steel wheel was rust-bonded to the steel hub. In the end I refitted the nuts loosely and drove round in a circle until the bond 'cracked'. The strange thing is the car had been serviced the day before and I was told the front discs/pads were '70%' worn.

I said 'err no ta' and then wondered....how did they measure the wear?

The other front wheel? The tyre spanner people had a look- it was also bonded with surface rust but not as bad- they (and me) think neither wheel had been off since the car was new out of the factory..


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 10:41 am
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It's not just Kwikfit, my dad's local place are right scumbags, every year there's some shenanigans. Frexample I had a look through the past tests last time, every single time he's taken a car there it's "needed" new wiper blades, even though he barely drives these days...

hora - Member

I said 'err no ta' and then wondered....how did they measure the wear?

Front wheel? Turn the steering wheel to gain access. Doesn't always give you good access mind, depends on the car and wheels.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 11:37 am
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stick it on the ramps - youll be surprised what you see

especially on the cigarette packet on wheels that is the c1 and its derivitives with the castor wheels


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 11:38 am
 hora
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Ah right. Theres me thinking they took the wheel off to use a measuring device on the pads to be that accurate.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 11:55 am
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They have to test all fitted seatbelts are fitted, inertia works etc

i thought if you had car seats fitted they did not test as they were not insured to re fit them after the test and were liable...it could be a childs face etc...got told this a while ago though

My only advice is never go to the same place twice

if you are a one off they cannot be sure that you are not doing a spot check from VOSA i you go every year they can.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 12:04 pm
 hora
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Devils advocate- you've broken one of the seats in your car (it reclines etc so for the test you've simply removed it).

Another devils advocate, the car is listed as a 5seater on the vehicle information. Its got 5 seatbelts but only 2 complete seats.

Would you still test it? Using common sense alone.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 12:07 pm
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I took mine to a VW dealer, was told the rear numberplate light didnt work and it was not a bulb problem. Fair enough I thought, wasnt happy though because it had some aftermarket chrome on which I would need to replace. Took the old one home, put a battery across it just to check, one worked one didnt swapped the bulb over ooo now the other one worked.

Went back to the dealer with my 'test rig'to question their procedures, didnt have to pay for the new housing and they reimbursed me the cost of the new chrome.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 12:07 pm
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just on the seatbelt thing, I alway's get a note on mine saying they could not test the rear seat belts because they have kids seats fitted. They never fail it because they didnt test them.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 12:08 pm
 hora
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Weird their own site says nothing about the rear seats: http://www.kwik-fit.com/mot-test.asp#sea


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 12:15 pm
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"Devils advocate- you've broken one of the seats in your car (it reclines etc so for the test you've simply removed it).

Another devils advocate, the car is listed as a 5seater on the vehicle information. Its got 5 seatbelts but only 2 complete seats."

yes and id use the option for entering how many seats it has to enter 2 seats - id then test it with 2 seats and id hand back a cert that states it only had 2 seats at the time of test - bit like the cert my land rover has - used to be a 7 seater - its now a 3 seater


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 12:15 pm
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Vehicle is tested 'as presented' on the day. Fitted seats must have seatbelts (unless exempt), seatbelts don't have to have seats. Seatbelts tested where possible, advisory given where not able to test, eg child seat fitted.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 12:46 pm
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Took the wifeys car for a MOT recently at National and it failed on dipped headlight bulb blown.

Fine I said can you replace it and thats it sorted ,
errr sorry no you will have to bring it back as we dont keep bulbs in stock,so will have to order 1 in.

Bear in mind the same place does servicing,exhausts and tyres why would you not keep bulbs in stock (It was a bog standard H7 bulb by the way nothing fancy).

Lesson learnt, only went there as it was a half price MOT deal like the OP.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 1:26 pm
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Leaking shocks (after they've sprayed a bit of WD40 on them.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 1:37 pm
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To be honest I've used my local (shoreham-by-sea) Kwik Fit for MOT and servicing for the last couple of years with no problems. Any issue they've ever come up with have been something I suspected before I put the car in. I'd much rather use them that the local official dealer which has a, shall we say questionable, reputation when it comes to servicing costs from a lot of my friends who have used them.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 1:42 pm
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Vehicle is tested 'as presented' on the day. Fitted seats must have seatbelts (unless exempt), seatbelts don't have to have seats. Seatbelts tested where possible, advisory given where not able to test, eg child seat fitted.

Was what they said last time (the car never has rear seats in)

Annoying, but another 12 miles in the legs and every little helps.


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 2:22 pm
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It passed*!

*with a long list of advisories


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 3:00 pm
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[i]It passed*!

[/i]

I feel really quite let down...........


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 4:00 pm
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We love a good list lets see it 🙂


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 4:23 pm
 DezB
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tinsy is your winner!


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 6:15 pm
 hora
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Saying that a kwik passed a Avensis no advisories whereas the Toyota main dealer on a 99 inc vat service the next day classed so many items as critical in their 'free safety report'


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 6:39 pm
 DezB
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My brother works for a Toyota main dealer. Does my MOTs at trade price with a free valet thrown in. Won't have anything said against Toyota dealers 🙂


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 7:34 pm
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VOSA mantra is 'Pass and advise' - As the lecturer on our course as fresh MOT'ers put it 'If servicing standards are at nose height, then MOT standards are the skirting board' Done correctly, your car really shouldn't be on the road if it fails*

*My opinion as an Authorised Examiner and tester


 
Posted : 13/06/2013 8:07 pm