MOT check, WTF???
 

I got my car inspected for a blue slip (same as MOT basically) as I moved states.

Anyway it's an Audi 90 2.3E MY92 - So I'm looking at the paperwork the mechanic filled out. Bracketed notes is it's real spec

Make and Model - Audi type 89 (fair enough it is a type 89 but so is an Audi 80, it's model is really an Audi 90 2.3E)

Engine Capacity - 1885 (2309)

No. Cylinders - 4 (5, the Audi 80 all had 4)

Tare Weight - 1040kg's (1170kg's)

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I mean c'mon, he is a mechanic, surely he could see the engine had 5 cylinders. Instead he must have looked up the vin, saw it was a type 89, went straight to the Audi 80 specs and just copied them down.

Funny thing is one of the things it failed on was the seats moved when he shook them - how very observant and thorough of him [rofl]

Uh its an inspection, what did you expect.

One place I got inspected just removed the sticker off the windshield and put a new one on. Parts my truck didn't have were working fine on the printout (smog pump, I can't remember what else).

A trick on another vehicle was in this state you are supposed to have the front window tint checked if they are tinted. Has to be above a certain percent, I forget how that is rated. The inspection due date was late spring so I'd just go with all the windows down and no one thought to check the front ones....

No. Cylinders - 4 (5, the Audi 80 all had 4) 2.3l engine had 5 cylinders.

Believe it or not the inspection went for an hour http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/wacko1.gif

When I was checking the oil one day, my mum walked past and to my surprise said "Oh it has five cylinders" - even my mum only took a 5 second look and new it had five cylinders [rofl]

True, but it came later on with the type 8C or B4. Not the Type 89 or B3.

Yeah you're right.

Don't worry I had to check myself [surrender]

It all depends who you go to. Some dont care and will take your money for a quick inspection. Some will find so many false problems just to make more money from you to replace parts that arent even faulty.

I bought a used car 8 years ago, took it to a place for a quick inspection and was told i need new ball joints and tire rods because they were 0.40mm over the recommended by state wearing point, and it will cost close to $1,000. Other wise they wont pass me.

Later that day i took my car to a place next to my house, it was inspected with in 15 min and my car passed with flying colors.

Too bad i lost $60 at the first place.

Yeah I have very little trust in any places I go to, so I do everything I can myself - and prey like hell that no major work needs to get done [rofl]

In February this year i took my car to Kwik Fit for a free break and tyre check, they told me i needed new discs and pads on the front as one of them was below the legal limit, i was quoted £200 (give or take a few pennies) so i walked away saying i would talk to the wife about it.

Anyway i did not get the discs or pads changed (as they felt good to me) and only just this week my car had its MOT and it passed on the brakes, the very same brakes that some 4 months earlier were apparently illegal and needed changing according to Kwik Fit.

For the record my car failed on a few non-related things, which im working on.

One mans failure is another man advisory note, where stupidity and common sense collide!....welcome to the wonderful world of mot testing http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/laugh1.gif

I don't own a car so I don't know, but are the people who do the tests the same as the people who fix the faults?

More like; Welcome to the world of "who i will screw over out of their money".

As the saying goes. A fool and his money are soon parted.

Point is, find a mechanic who you can trust and wont shaft you with a long steel rod. Unless you like long rods in your bum.

Yes true, thats why i always take mine to an independent testing station that only does tests, so they have nothing to gain by failing the car...well unless they charge a small retest fee.

We dont have that in US. Every inspection shop is also a regular shop that does repairs at the same time. So its hit and miss finding a trust worthy place. And if you are a women, you get double shafted half the time.

I remember a dealership was trying to screw over my step father out of his warranty repair do to faulty breaks. Good thing i was there with him and i called their bluff. Since he was an attorney at the time, he escalated the issue and the dealership sent a engineer from one of their main headquarters to look at the problem with his vehicle.

The one thing that great in US, even though people abuse it. When you tell them you full of **** and you need to take care of the issue or ill sue you, people will cave in and take care of the issue when they are wrong and are trying to shaft you.

They may well have been below the legal limit and still perform well enough for the test - if I were you, I wouldn't ignore it but check for myself. If there's a problem and someone gets hurt, you'll be feeling pretty bad, won't you?

That said, there are a LOT of dodgy testers and garages/mechanics around. Fortunately I was a mechanic in a previous life so tend to do my, and my families, cars.