December 2004
My girlfriend got a big MOT bill today, I think there's something fishy afoot. Here's the background:
She used to have her 1999 1.3 Fiesta serviced and MOT'd all at once by a small one-man garage. Now I service her car, so she just goes to him for the MOT. He doesn't do MOTs himself, he takes it to a garage up the road. So I can see that there's not a lot in it for him just doing her MOT - she pays him the fee and he passes it on to the place up the road, wasting some of his time in the process.
The bill is over £180, and here's the breakdown:
Brake shoes £31.09
Brake cylinder £27.40
P???e gas £12.00
Brake fluid £6.00
MOT £35.00
Labour 75.00
TOTAL: £186.49
Could anyone identify what this 'gas' might be? His handwriting is terrible! He's also included headlamp alignment in his labour rundown.
The MOT sheet shows failure on parking brake performance. Had shoe and cylinder renewal been necessary, then surely it would have failed on service brake performance also? Is my logic correct that if it passes on service brake but fails on parking brake, then the problem lies in the parking brake actuation mechanism and not in the brake itself?
He didn?t call her before doing the work on the brakes, and she didn?t say ?Do whatever it needs to pass the test?. Does this mean that legally we could remove the parts he fitted, return them to him, and refuse to pay for this part of the job? Incidentally, the bill hasn?t been paid yet but the car has been collected and and MOT certificate issued.
Secondly, the MOT failure sheet has been doctored. There is tip-ex in the pass column next to 'headlamp aim' and a tick has been made in the fail column. This tick, and the comment 'HEADLIGHT AIM NTRS' are in a slightly different hand to the other ticks and comments on the sheet. Can anyone enlighten me as to what NTRS means? My understanding of headlamp adjustment is that it is done on stiff-threads, and it would take some sort of impact or disturbing of the headlamp mount to affect the beam alignment? The car hasn?t suffered anything like this in the last year, so I?ve no reason to suspect the headlamps would be out of alignment.
I already plan to call the garage who did the MOT and ask what their copy of the failure sheet says next to 'headlamp aim'. I'm assuming these are carbon copies from a pad, with the customer copy being the top one?
I think he's yanking her crankshaft? What do you people reckon? All advice gratefully received...
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Today I have been looking round a few motor dealers with regard to buying a nearly new run-about car. I've had a look at the whole range of makes and models but do have a new style Ford Fiesta in mind. Anyway the car the caught my eye out of all of the dealers I visited was a shiny looking 54 plate Fiesta, and just making a casual enquiry with the salesman (because there was no spec sheet in the window) it turned out that it was a 'brand new' car but pre-registered. Now I'm not bothered about whether it is brand new or not, but what are the pro's and con's of buying a pre-registered car such as this? The price and spec of the car seemed like a pretty good deal (it is at a main dealer/official UK car) and I also understand that it is at the time of year where car sales dealers are at one of their slowest times of the year. So if I decide to buy a car in the next few weeks whether it be this or something else, what are the recommended 'tricks' to get the best deal/lowest price that I can? It will be a straight cash deal, no finance or part exchange. Read more
ABS became mandatory on volume small cars recently, some of the pre reg cars around were registered just before this law came into being
Warranty lost is biggest negative
Also if you take delivery towards the end of the month u cannot have tax disc start in next month like i think u can on brand new motors
my turbo diesel is making a whistling noice after a hour motorway journey .....also loss of power and black smoke at high revs.....turbo is not kicking in atall ,,no turbo light(the bulb is ok )
should kick in around 25oo revs but doesnt atall........been told only a vacuum leak is there a easy way to find a leak or is it search and strip job....toyota estima 2.2td ,sleeping engine Read more
found the oil filler cap was missing from engine........
my car is fitted with an auxiliary heater which is supposed to come on when the engine temp is below 70 deg and the outside temp less than 6 deg. Now that we have had some cold mornings I am of the opinion that mine doesnt work as the cabin does not seem to be getting warm particularly quickly, I would have expected warm air to be wafting out within a minute or so but it takes about 4-5 mins/ 2-3 miles.
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!! Read more
Mine works only when the auto climate control is activated, and starts warming within a minute after driving off.
slip on your anoraks.
www.channel4.com/4car/ultimate-car-quiz/index.html
My first go gave the rather poor score of 7.
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oo oo oo, I just got 15.
Someone said last night that I can declare SORN by post, only problem is that the V11 doesn't give any details of it!
Anyone any idea if its possible & if so the number?
Jim Read more
A poor imitation of a Commer, not that I'm biased or
anything!
doesnt compare to the real thing!!!
I,m due 60K service and the Cam Belt change time. Any recommendations from PASSAT owners for a good local/independant garage to0 do the job. Area: Edinburgh/Fife or even South Scotland. Read more
Don`t know about Passats, but my wife`s Subaru was about the same - £300+ at 48000.
Got the job done outside main dealer system for £120, plus they fitted a new tensioner at another £30. This is probably wise; the days when German cars were fitted with first quality parts is long gone - now they are buying the cheapest they can get like everyone else, to keep costs down on new cars. After 3 years, you pick up the bill yourself.
Regards
AS
Several people seem to have cold stall problems, mine won't start from cold, once running it's fine.
I have checked there is fuel getting through and spark and it has just been serviced, the garage found no problems.
Is there a cold start sensor? Read more
The comments in the following thread might help you.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=21817
I word of warning for anyone needing to travel between Leeds and Bradford using the A647.
I left work at 4.30pm yesterday for my usual 20 minute drive home and it took me over an hour. I found out this morning that this delay was caused by temporary traffic lights serving just 100m of road.
The lights are located half a mile from a roundabout, which in turn is half a mile from another roundabout on the Leeds ring road and a retail park. This one set of lights caused the first roundabout to clog, plus the four roads leading to it, the main ring road island was also gridlocked and the queue on the ring road in one direction was 2 miles (no doubt it was the same the other way). I would estimate 10 miles of traffic jams were caused by these lights and this was before the main rush hour.
I know water mains need replacing and there is probably never a good time, but is the week before Christmas really the best time?
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What gets me is when they put up these lights when
the road is not actually being dug up. Ex the Farnham-Odiham
road had lights for weeks and all the work was being
done on the verge laying pipes. Traffic backed up and up,
ok, the working guys needed some safety but a speed restriction
would have done this and avoided the congestion.
Infuriating isn't it?
However, if you fancy working on an uneven verge with traffic roaring past at 70mph+ (just when was the last time you saw everyone obeying a temporary speed limit?) within a few feet of your unprotected body, trying to park vehicles required for loading/unloading without obstructing one direction of traffic, manoeuvring large pipe sections without endangering people/objects on the verge or road, you're welcome to come and see why this is the safest way of working.
Is there anybody out there with an unreliable golf? I've been a VW owner for about 20 years and have always been quite happy with the build quality and reliability of the previous 5 vw's we've owned. My wife's three and a half year old 1.6 Golf (26k) has broken down twice in the last 4 or 5 months - both times a coil was the culprit, I've had the remaining two replaced now (£20 ea.) to lessen the risk of it happening again, are Golfs, or any other VW's, losing their reliable reputations?
Other "problems" have included the central locking malfunction, and an element in the rear window heater not working. We've had the car from new, serviced every year and the car was manufactured in Wolfsburg, are we just unlucky, or is there a new trend starting? Read more
As I keep saying, not in my case...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I used to work at a small garage in Birmingham, amongst the usual mechanicing, I was doing all the MOTs. Before I started the boss used to look at the day's work and if it was low would tell me to fail a few cars.
Nuff said