AIBU to be angry with garage over Dangerous MOT fail?

[User10204842]

I took my car in for its mot yesterday, I’ve been with this garage for a couple of years and they’ve been brilliant up until now.
I thought it was strange when I dropped it off, the lady asked me when I wanted it back? I said I wasn’t sure how much work needed doing so whenever.
AIBU that when you take your car for an mot (at a garage that does your other repairs) you expect them to fix any minor issues and advise you about majors? This is what all garages I have taken my car to have done in the past.
Usually they call you and explain what work needs doing, you agree on it and they do it.
Anyway, yesterday I got a call saying my car was ready but it needed some work. They can’t fit me in until next week, so I agreed a date and set off to pick it up.
When I get there she only charges me for the MOT, £30, and sends me on my way. No one explaining what work needs doing, so I shoot off to get daughter from nursery.
I completely trust this garage, they have been brilliant in the past so had no reason to question them.
When I get home and look at my certificate I see I have a dangerous fail on the brake pads. I’ve not had a dangerous before so I look it up and see I shouldn’t even be on the road!
At this point I am absolutely livid, I could have been fined £2500 if caught.
Anyone else had this situation, and AIBU to be angry with the garage for giving me the impression the car was safe to drive.

@chocolateorangeinhaler just for the mot?

@Sirzy

Bald tyres don’t work perfectly at all! Hence them being dangerous when bald and their being legal limits. Just because they go round and round (until they go pop!) doesn’t mean they are working perfectly

Bald tyres actually work better than new tyres in the dry - more rubber in contact with the road. It’s when is starts raining the problems start.

Maybe they need to rename it to "lethal fail" or "you might kill someone fail" seeing as some people don't realise dangerous means dangerous.

[quote User10204842]@chocolateorangeinhaler how much do you pay for an mot?[/quote]
The max anyone can charge is £54.85 for a car with up to eight seats. Cheaper MOTs are out there but some find lots of defects that you have to have rectified with them. So end up paying more. That's why I said £30 seemed too good to be true.

I just realised you only paid £30 - that is really cheap.

My car passed its' MOT in July and I paid £54. It was only in there about 30 minutes!

@BadNomad I would say ‘illegal fail’ or explain to someone that dangerous means illegal if it’s their first one.

I run a garage and I disagree with most posters. We have a duty of care to let people know. You all think people are okay understanding these things but really they are not (not necessarily you Op).

Major fault fail = you can carry on driving until your current certificate runs out.

Advisories or minors - not a fail at all, just something you need to keep an eye on. DH has had "advisories" on his shock absorbers for 3 MOTs in a row.

@KingsleyShacklebolt
Also untrue. If your vehicle has faults that make it unroadworthy, and if stopped by the police you could be prosecuted, regardless of your mot status. It even says that in the article you linked.

The problem is you don't get to decide what is and is not roadworthy. For example your dh has received advisories on his shocks for 3 years now. Not sure exactly what the advisories are but let's just say it's a "light misting of oil". If the police pull him over, notice the shocks are damp and notice the 3 years of advisories, there's a good chance they'll deem the car to be unroadworthy. Heck they don't even need to consider the advisories, if in their opinion the car's unroadworthy you'll get prosecuted.

Now in reality that doesn't happen very often, but it can make a bad situation worse (accidents, speeding etc). It's always worth remembering that MOTs are just a snapshot of roadworthiness at the time of the test, it's your responsibility as the driver to ensure roadworthiness everytime you drive on the road.

@sirfredfredgeorge

he’s only doing it as the alternative is hiring a low loader to take to garage or risk a £2500 fine!!!

How are you going to get it to an MOT station after the fix though? Just fixing the brakes isn't enough is it? It needs to be given an MOT before you can drive it on the road again?

If the brakes have been fixed the op can drive the car to the garage for its MOT. If the necessary work has been done and the brakes are no longer dangerous this is allowed.

I'm with you here, OP. They should have told you very clearly that the car has failed the MOT and they should have told you it's unsafe to drive.

I would really have expected them to keep it until they could fix it as well, but at the very least they should have warned you.

"Needs work" doesn't mean anything, my car needed work because the headlights wouldn't turn off, passed the MOT just fine. I had a broken windscreen wiper as well, I would have been thoroughly unimpressed if they just failed the MOT and didn't even attempt to fix it.

I think best practice would have been to flag the fault to you. However the responsibility for driving it in that state is with the driver. Most garages can’t do major work at the drop of a hat no. If you totally break down they’ll squeeze it in ASAP but you still generally wait days. Did you not notice your brakes were worn? I certainly noticed mine and they were still at the ‘advisory’ level. I think you should be a bit angry with yourself rather than the garage

Working perfectly but classified as dangerous on the MOT? Hmm something doesn’t add up there!

There's a minimum thickness for pads, below which is deemed dangerous but you won't notice any difference in performance during normal driving.

You are being incredibly unreasonable.

If your car hadn't had its MOT yet you'd have still be driving around in a dangerous car with a potentially lethal defect. But yet it's their fault that you're driving a dangerous car today?

It's your responsibility to make sure your car is safe every time you drive it. Not the MOT tester's job to check it once per year and declare it safe until next time you come back.

The MOT doesn't even cover some things that could be potentially lethal if they went wrong, so you can't rely on that.

@Bucanarab

Working perfectly but classified as dangerous on the MOT? Hmm something doesn’t add up there!

There's a minimum thickness for pads, below which is deemed dangerous but you won't notice any difference in performance during normal driving.

Well mine were definitely making a squealing sound at the worn point! The performance was also reduced but because it happens gradually I probably didn’t notice that until I got them changed! If the pads are that low doesn’t it mean that the discs will probably need replacing too?

if your car fails an MOT for any reason then it can not be driven (unless for MOT purposes) until it passes, minor or major. Even if there is time before the old one ran out. Once it has failed it no longer has an MOT. Its all computerised now too

You’re talking shite. It’s only dangerous fails where there’s an issue. The MOT remains valid until its original expiry date.

@ichoosewinetoomuch

I run a garage and I disagree with most posters. We have a duty of care to let people know. You all think people are okay understanding these things but really they are not (not necessarily you Op).

Completely agree. And that's certainly my experience of my local garage.

And they have always called me to say if it needs any work before it's mot (usually get it serviced as we) and work normally carried out that day.

This time round I didn't service it first as it had been in about a month before to get brakes and suspension done and they checked it for any likely issues. Still technically failed the mot as a bulb was out 😂🙈 but replaced and therefore passed.

A garage wanting the repeat business wouldn't let a customer drive off without explicitly saying that the car is unsafe to drive. It does very little to its local reputation.

@Shade17

if your car fails an MOT for any reason then it can not be driven (unless for MOT purposes) until it passes, minor or major. Even if there is time before the old one ran out. Once it has failed it no longer has an MOT. Its all computerised now too

You’re talking shite. It’s only dangerous fails where there’s an issue. The MOT remains valid until its original expiry date.

Even for dangerous faults this is shite. So long as the dangerous fault is fixed, you can keep driving until the MOT expiry date without getting it re tested.

@BungleandGeorge no, no unusual noises or rubbing. I have had worn brake pads before and I know what it sounds like. Plus I got it sorted immediately.
Everyone on here saying I was driving with faulty brakes and I’m a terrible person, can I ask how often you check the thickness of your brake pads?

[quote User10204842]@Nocutenamesleft so you must have passed your test in the last 3 years, I’m an old gimmer who passed over 20 years ago, dangerous fails didn’t exist![/quote]
I passed 30+ years ago when common sense and personal responsibility existed.

Update, husband and mobile mechanic have been sorting it tonight. It’s not finished but will be by the weekend.
Lesson learned, if a garage says come and collect your car and bring it back in 2 weeks I will ask is that actually legal? 😂

Even for dangerous faults this is shite. So long as the dangerous fault is fixed, you can keep driving until the MOT expiry date without getting it re tested.

Yep. There’s no way of nullifying an MOT, it remains valid until it expires.

[quote User10204842]@BungleandGeorge no, no unusual noises or rubbing. I have had worn brake pads before and I know what it sounds like. Plus I got it sorted immediately.
Everyone on here saying I was driving with faulty brakes and I’m a terrible person, can I ask how often you check the thickness of your brake pads?[/quote]
Did you have an MOT last year, what did the thickness say? Do you do lots of miles? Seems a bit odd. They don’t wear down that quickly although does depend on type of driving. I just scan the MOT take note of anything low and recheck when appropriate. Anything ‘advisory’ I’d replace ASAP. I also stick to the service schedule so car gets a routine garage visit about twice a year. I don’t do MOT and service together unless they happen to be due together

Glad you’ve already got it sorted. I presume the mobile mechanic has confirmed the wear? I think there have been surveys that have shown garages are not always 100% accurate

@BungleandGeorge just checked last years mot, passed first time with 2 advisories: steering rack slight free play and suspension arm pin or bush worn but not excessive movement.

[quote User10204842]@BungleandGeorge no, no unusual noises or rubbing. I have had worn brake pads before and I know what it sounds like. Plus I got it sorted immediately.
Everyone on here saying I was driving with faulty brakes and I’m a terrible person, can I ask how often you check the thickness of your brake pads?[/quote]
I agree with you. If my car was driving normally and no strange sounds etc, I'm not sure I would be worried about my brakes.

As another poster said, I would have expected them to be on an advisory in the previous mot if starting to wear.