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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be angry with garage over Dangerous MOT fail?

250 replies

User10204842 · 28/09/2021 16:22

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.

OP posts:
Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 19:25

@BungleandGeorge they were low so he agreed with the result.

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Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 19:26

Also mechanic thinks there’s something else up with the brakes, they shouldn’t have worn that much so getting that sorted (at a different garage who can fit us in this week!)

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BungleandGeorge · 28/09/2021 19:26

[quote User10204842]@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]
Perhaps might be worth asking the mechanic iv to measure them to verify? It usually gives you the actual measurement on the report with the MOT.
I think officially the life span is about 50000miles but mine lasted significantly longer

BungleandGeorge · 28/09/2021 19:28

Sorry cross post, yes sounds like something odd is going on, hope it’s not too expensive. At least you can drive there

Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 19:31

@BungleandGeorge yes fingers crossed but even if it is I don’t mind. It’s just one of those things, it’s painful isn’t it haha.
The good news is I got a new job and start this week (worst timing ever!) which is working from home and will be a massive boost so can hang my delivery driver hat hopefully for good. I’m sure our car will thank me 🙂

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NoSquirrels · 28/09/2021 19:32

Sounds to me like a new front-desk receptionist role who hasn’t been trained properly.

Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 19:45

@NoSquirrels yes she was definitely new and inexperienced, can’t blame her we’ve all been there.
I thought it was strange when she asked me what time I wanted the car back for.

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Duchess379 · 28/09/2021 20:06

Did your car pass the MOT with advisories or was it a fail? If it failed, you absolutely should not be driving it at all. If its advisories, you can drive but be mindful under heavy braking, your car is not going to react as quickly as it should.

Doris86 · 28/09/2021 20:14

@Duchess379

Did your car pass the MOT with advisories or was it a fail? If it failed, you absolutely should not be driving it at all. If its advisories, you can drive but be mindful under heavy braking, your car is not going to react as quickly as it should.
If it’s a dangerous fault then it not going to be an advisory.
ETPhoneHome19 · 28/09/2021 20:21

I work on a service desk and will say “what time would you like your car back” so we know whether the customer is needing it back for, we will move things around if they’re not in a hurry. For example a waiting customer might get they’re wash and vac done before the MOT customer if they don’t want the car back until later on? Does that make sense?
They should have told you it had failed. We usually ask customers to leave the car overnight or 2 days in order to get the work done, even when fully booked.
Oh and a mechanic doesn’t do customer handovers, that’s what we are paid to do.
Was it a local garage or a main dealer?
Some customers are completely oblivious to MOT status, even not realising it’s expired.

Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 20:21

@Duchess379 that’s not true. You can drive your car home after a fail and rebook it for fixes, you can drive it back to the garage. There are 3 categories of fail: dangerous, major and minor. Dangerous has only been in place last 3 years

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Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 20:22

@ETPhoneHome19 can I ask how you deal with a dangerous fail? Do you just book them in two weeks later and hand them the paper work?

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ETPhoneHome19 · 28/09/2021 20:24

[quote User10204842]@ETPhoneHome19 can I ask how you deal with a dangerous fail? Do you just book them in two weeks later and hand them the paper work?[/quote]
We ask them to leave the car overnight or for a couple of days so that we can get the car fixed. If the customer wants to take the car away we can’t stop them, they may want to get the work done elsewhere, might be cheaper. We always say a car has failed it’s MOT and what it needs.

ToykotoLosAngeles · 28/09/2021 20:26

I also think this is down to the receptionist, partly because if she knew it was supposed to only be collected by low loader there'd be some organising to do on both sides? I feel like she's so new that she's just treated it as if it's had a fail instead of a dangerous one, possibly due to lack of comms internally.

Shade17 · 28/09/2021 20:27

Perhaps might be worth asking the mechanic iv to measure them to verify? It usually gives you the actual measurement on the report with the MOT.

The MOT fail is under 1.5mm of pad remaining which is around 15% of the total new thickness. As they can’t actually measure the pad thickness during the test they have to be virtually metal on metal to fail.

Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 20:27

Do you tell them the difference between a dangerous and a major? Like in my situation where I had a dangerous fail on the brake pads. Would you say it was just a fail or a dangerous fail?
I got told I’d failed, I needed my brakes doing and she booked me in for 2 weeks later.
I didn’t find out it was a dangerous fail til I got home. To be fair I didn’t read the paper work as I assumed it was not breaking any laws.

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BungleandGeorge · 28/09/2021 20:36

Congratulations on the new job! I read an article the other day about what a big backlog garages have at the moment so perhaps they couldn’t get you in sooner without bumping someone else. However, the mechanic does generally pop out for a word if there’s much work to do, or they give you a call. Perhaps they’re just not a particularly good garage.

Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 20:41

@BungleandGeorge they have always been so good in the past but will possibly go back to a dealership now. We were with one originally but went to this private one on a recommendation, they have been great so far. But they are really busy. No appointments for month and a half now, and given what people have said about MOT backlog this makes sense.
Just gutted cus thought we’d found a decent garage who were honest with us and looked after us as they always have done. I’m not going to complain to them but I’m not going back.

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BoredZelda · 28/09/2021 20:52

I think you are getting it right here for no good reason. I have never once had a garage tell my “car is ready you can pick it up” if it failed its MOT. What they say is “car has failed, do you want us to do the work or to take it somewhere else to have it fixed” - which is legal. And I’ve had a fair few cars fail many times over my years of driving.

The only thing I might have done differently to you is, if they didn’t actually state it was a fail, I might have asked. But all this “they gave you the paperwork” po face stuff is typical of the perfects on MN.

Doris86 · 28/09/2021 20:57

Always worth checking the MOT history website in future. Put in your reg, and you can immediately see if it passed or failed, what it failed on and whether they were dangerous faults.

Also a handy tool to use when checking out potential used car purchases:

www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

LostInTheColonies · 28/09/2021 21:01

Did they say "It's ready, and needs some work" or "It's failed, and needs some work"? Big difference.

I'd expect to be told that it had failed, verbally, and on what. But I go to a small garage where the the mechanic himself always speaks to me.

Saying "it's ready, and needs some work" implies that it's OK to go and also needs some work, which may or may not be connected to the MOT. Hope you get it sorted out.

BoredZelda · 28/09/2021 21:03

Always worth checking the MOT history website in future. Put in your reg, and you can immediately see if it passed or failed, what it failed on and whether they were dangerous faults.

She had the bit of paper, the website wouldn’t have given her any more information. You shouldn’t have to check a website when the garage is telling you your car is ready to be taken away.

Doris86 · 28/09/2021 21:10

@BoredZelda

Always worth checking the MOT history website in future. Put in your reg, and you can immediately see if it passed or failed, what it failed on and whether they were dangerous faults.

She had the bit of paper, the website wouldn’t have given her any more information. You shouldn’t have to check a website when the garage is telling you your car is ready to be taken away.

It takes seconds to check, can be done from the comfort of your own home, and gives you time to take in the information, rather than just being hurriedly handed a piece of paper when you collect the car.

I’m sure some people will find it useful, if not you.

Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 21:16

@LostInTheColonies they said ‘it’s ready to collect, it’s failed and needs the brakes and the bulb sorting’ I asked if they could go ahead and do it and she replied ‘yes we can fit you in on the 8th’.
That’s why I really thought it would be a minor or something that was still road legal, plus I had never heard of this dangerous fail before. I’ve had major fails before but they’ve either been sorted there and then or it’s been legal to drive to and from the garage.

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Original poster
User10204842 · 28/09/2021 21:22

@BoredZelda yes I knew posting on here you’re open to anything, especially from people who have never made an honest mistake in their lives 😂

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