They see you coming

Turning into the lane leading to my garage, I heard a click which seemed to come from the front wheels. Got out my old "spider" brace to check the wheel nuts but all seemed ok. Because of my advancing years and therefore loss of strength, I decided to take the car to my local tyre man and ask him to check with his torque wrench. Now, I expected him to do a quick check at no more than £10 cost but he insisted putting the car onto the lift where a mechanic did a lot of thumping with a mallet and prising with some levers to then declare that the shock absorbers were worn costing about £500 to replace, even though the car has only done 20K miles. Not happy I left to investigate further.

Over the next few weeks, I experienced a number of these "Clicks" and thought that it then came from closer to the steering wheel with the thought that it could be something wrong with the indicating switch. Then one day as I turned into the supermarket car park, I heard a loud ping. When I later went to reverse out of the parking bay, the steering felt heavy and I felt something move under my feet. I got out of the car and found that the car mat had moved forward and somehow had become tangled in a pinch bolt on the steering column. After a bit of giggling, I managed to release the mat to find that the end was shredded as if chewed by a playful dog.

Straight back into the supermarket where I purchased a new set of mats costing £8.99. Job Done and a few weeks later, the car passed the MOT without fault.

Not good design. There should be a guard around that bolt to prevent it happening again. I wonder what make and

model of car it is?

I've yet to see any car that has a shroud around the pinch bolt.

The safety feature that should be fitted is a restraining peg over which a hole in the rear of the mat is placed to stop the mat from sliding forward.

Some mats that I have bought in the past have come with a metal fitment which the customer is expected to slip under the seat mounting whereupon the matching hole in the mat can be secured.

Jim

Edited By Jim Nic on 04/09/2021 22:59:25

Toyota had to secure the mats in my car after an event where the floor mat kept the accelerator pedal depressed. I was told that the car was fitted with after market floor mats and Toyota was not responsible. I pointed out that the driver side mat had the official Toyota emblem on them . Toyota NZ did a recall on my model car where they supplied the mats with the retention pieces to stop it sliding forward and ever jamming again.

We always used to buy tires from a local chap, but when he retired he sold out to a chain. #2 son took his car for some tires. They announced that there was something wrong with it (can't remember what) which would cost £200+ to repair. Fortunately he rang me and I told him to tell them he couldn't afford it and would bring it back after payday. They then announced that they wouldn't let him take it away as it was unsafe. After he threatened to call a policeman if they tried to stop him they insisted he sign a waiver. Took it another small garage who confirmed nothing wrong, and didn't charge him as it only took a few minutes. It has since passed 2 MOTs without needing any attention. Needless to say we don't buy tires from them any more, and I tell anyone who will listen.

Same issue with local Ford dealer. Brother in law kept taking his car for service MOT and they always came up with 'advisories'. Problem is that the next year they came up with a different set, even tho' nothing had been done about the current ones.

We always used to buy tires from a local chap, but when he retired he sold out to a chain. #2 son took his car for some tires. They announced that there was something wrong with it (can't remember what) which would cost £200+ to repair. Fortunately he rang me and I told him to tell them he couldn't afford it and would bring it back after payday. They then announced that they wouldn't let him take it away as it was unsafe. After he threatened to call a policeman if they tried to stop him they insisted he sign a waiver. Took it another small garage who confirmed nothing wrong, and didn't charge him as it only took a few minutes. It has since passed 2 MOTs without needing any attention. Needless to say we don't buy tires from them any more, and I tell anyone who will listen.

Same issue with local Ford dealer. Brother in law kept taking his car for service MOT and they always came up with 'advisories'. Problem is that the next year they came up with a different set, even tho' nothing had been done about the current ones.

I don't think there's any rocket-science about this. If you simply asked him specifically to check the wheel-nut torque, then that's all he should have done and charged you for.

However, if you coupled that with "funny noise coming from the front end" he may very well feel he has a "duty of care" to ensure the car is safe (for you and others on the road). And he might well be right, legally. Not to mention his own liability if you went from his establishment to the underside of a truck.

Whether the actual charges are reasonable is another issue.

Edited By Peter Greene on 05/09/2021 01:36:33

Please forgive the digression, but I must share this:

circa 1973, I left my car at the local main-dealer for an MOT test, whilst I travelled by Train to a meeting.

My wife contacted me to say that it needed an extensive rebuild of the front suspension

… This was a Singer Chamois [a Hillman Imp in fancy clothes] with de-cambered front suspension; which they insisted putting back to standard.

I was in no position to argue, but deeply grieved and much poorer !

A little while later, I was reading ‘Tuning Hillman Imps’ and realised that the modifications to my Chamois were exactly as described therein … So I wrote to Rootes, asking what they thought of the book.

I received an excellent reply, assuring me that all the modifications discussed were valid improvements.

The letter was signed by T.C. Millington

[ interested readers will presumably recognise the name ]

MichaelG.

.

P.S. __ The car handled like a dog after it was returned to standard.

Years ago my boss acquired a newish Vauxhall from his father who couldn't stand the rattling it made any more. The agents couldn't find anything wrong so in desperation he bought a different car and handed it on to my boss for a suitable cash adjustment. My boss didn't like the noise much either so did some delving and found the loose spanner left under the back seat....

I am always wary of discounted MOT offers, I have seen some as low as £25 in my area, because I suspect that there will always be something that will be found to have failed the test as a way of recouping the discount and gaining business. Therefore, I always pay full price for an MOT at a reputable manufacturer's dealer's service facility. However, if I entrust them with the annual service at the same time they usually discount the MOT fee by about fifteen-quid anyway.

Hi, no one has the legal right to withhold your car unless they have completed repairs that you have authorised them to do so, however if your car is unroadworthy, it is illegal to drive it anywhere, but of course you can have it transported be legal means. If you have an MOT done in the month before your current one ends and it fails, your car will no longer have a valid MOT, but you will be able to drive it away as long as it hasn't been classed as unroadworthy, but of course it will be illegal if it remains on any public road and you would have to drive it from the MOT to private property without any other deviation.

Regards Nick.

A few years ago when we were on holiday in our Austin Allegro we damaged a tyre and had it replaced at a national chain. Whilst we waited a lad came in and informed us that the shock absorbers were leaking and needed replacement. We told them to go ahead and waited with a sense of amusement and annoyance. Those of you who know the suspension on the Allegro will know why.

Ian

My sister in law took her car in for an MOT but was told after testing 'we can't let you have the car back until x thousands of pounds was spent on it as it was in a dangerous condition', a swift visit from her scary husband quickly released the car

Tony

As an ex MOT tester I am ashamed at the retail trade as they treat the test as a cash cow. I was lucky as we only did in house tests so there was no point in doing anything other than what was in the book. After all it’s only a basic safety check.

A long time ago I had a Montego Estate. I can't remember the exact details of what happened, but I ended up going to a national chain who were advertising a free brake check. This was whilst on holiday. As others have stated, I was eventually presented with a list of repairs amounting to a large sum of money. After a discussion, in which they said it's all or nothing, I said "ok, nothing, please reassemble".

Shortly after that I took the car to my local independant for its MOT which it passed. So I started asking questions, eg, "What about the leaky brake cylinders?" Answer: "It's not showing outside the wheels and we are not allowed to dismantle to check"." Well what about the thin brake discs?" At which point the garage owner exploded and said "Have you been to <national chain>". To which I replied in the affirmative. The end result was that there was nothing wrong with the car other than normal wear and tear. The garageman then went on to state that he gets a number of people coming in who have been to <"national chain"> and all had been fleeced.

25+ years later, that independant is still in business; is still doing MOT's, is still doing all my routine servicing, and none of the subsequent three cars have ever failed an MOT! True, the cars have had some occasional remedial work done to ensure an MOT pass, and have had the occasional advisory (which don't remain as advisories very long as they get remedied pretty quickly, but that's just me).

The moral here is to find a good independant and stick with them. They will repay you by giving good, honest, reliable service.

Peter G. Shaw

A long time ago I had a Montego Estate. I can't remember the exact details of what happened, but I ended up going to a national chain who were advertising a free brake check. This was whilst on holiday. As others have stated, I was eventually presented with a list of repairs amounting to a large sum of money. After a discussion, in which they said it's all or nothing, I said "ok, nothing, please reassemble".

Shortly after that I took the car to my local independant for its MOT which it passed. So I started asking questions, eg, "What about the leaky brake cylinders?" Answer: "It's not showing outside the wheels and we are not allowed to dismantle to check"." Well what about the thin brake discs?" At which point the garage owner exploded and said "Have you been to <national chain>". To which I replied in the affirmative. The end result was that there was nothing wrong with the car other than normal wear and tear. The garageman then went on to state that he gets a number of people coming in who have been to <"national chain"> and all had been fleeced.

25+ years later, that independant is still in business; is still doing MOT's, is still doing all my routine servicing, and none of the subsequent three cars have ever failed an MOT! True, the cars have had some occasional remedial work done to ensure an MOT pass, and have had the occasional advisory (which don't remain as advisories very long as they get remedied pretty quickly, but that's just me).

The moral here is to find a good independant and stick with them. They will repay you by giving good, honest, reliable service.

Peter G. Shaw

Incidently, about costs and payments. I have found that by sticking with an independant, I am now in the position where I never have to pay when I collect the car - he sends the bill by email and I pay by bank transfer. Of course, I don't abuse that - I pay by return.

Going back to the beginning, the car in question is a Peugeot Partner Tepee, basically a van with seats and windows in the back. It does have small arrestors for the car mat but in my opinion are too small and on the list is a job to tie some string around the seat base and punch some holes in the carpet to stop it wandering.

On the subject of getting it wrong. When I was working, we had a number of contractors who supplied us with hire plant. In the agreements, we had an obligation to provide fuel and lubrication an a daily basis. On one job I hired a large diesel powered compressor and when we finished, it went back to the local depot. I later had a call from our transport supervisor to say that the engine on the compressor was seized and that I would be responsible for repair. The compressor was not a serviceable item but the engine was in my court. I asked to examine the engine and was told I could when they completed the strip down. I was amazed on entering the workshop to find the engine was stripped covering 2 large tables. I was then informed by the manager that the compressor had seized and there was no fault with the engine. I asked why they had not dropped the clutch out to see before removing the engine, no reply so I left them to put the engine back together.

A few years ago one daughter had bought a new smart car

first service she was presented with a bill for well over a thousand rather than the perhaps a hundred she was expecting ( car had done less than 4K on mainly motorways

the bill consisted of new discs and pads which they had fitted already

she rang me in a panic and i shot down to the dealer (main Mercedes dealer)

when i got there the service manager was saying to her it was a safety issue so they had fitted without informing her

the second i got there the service managers face dropped when i asked to see the old ones…

then there was a delay before they admitted that they had billed the wrong car..

Hi, * I should have added;- and have not paid the bill.

Peter Shaw, "True, the cars have had some occasional remedial work done to ensure an MOT pass, and have had the occasional advisory (which don't remain as advisories very long as they get remedied pretty quickly, but that's just me)."

Not just you, I'm have the same frame of mind, as it's my own life I think of as well as everyone else's that relies on my car being safe and any fault no matter how small will eventually fail, but you never know exactly when. I trust my local garage and they have never tried to push me for any work, anything that needs doing gets done ASAP, normally by myself, and retested ASAP without any issue.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 05/09/2021 13:04:12