OldSock
>>I always use the same testing station, and they always charge the full prevailing fee.
Me too for your same reasons.( not cos its full fees)
They have always stocked wiper blades and bulbs to fix the odd easy fail items.
With the newer regs re number plates now in force they have now got an embosser but that is only useful if you go equiped with the docs required.
A large sign saying "We do not do repairs" is on full view.
I consider the 20 mile round trip to my MoT place worth it for peace of mind.
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where do you go Henry K?
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Just had my MOT and was charged £45 and they do not repair any issues unless it is a bulb or wiper.
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I go to www.berkeleymotandtyres.co.uk/page/berkeleymot
They have been there for 30 + years and are a happy friendlly team who are always helpful to me and will point out / advise on anything else that they notice while doing the job.
I have been going to them for decades due to their reputation amonst the Heathrow area population.
It is only recently they have started to stock just a few common sized tyres.
I chose my tyres and they ordered them for next day delivery.
Refreshments = Coffee machine and sometimes Quality Street chocs.
Oh and of course a loo if you are concerned about the outcome of the test :-)
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for the benefit of anyone who is interested when the new system on computer came out all participating mot stations were upsold the business opportunities that it was an ideal time to charge full price to everyone including trade customers
this rubbish nearly worked until people like me took business elsewhere and then the whole pathetic thing collapsed to an open field again and market capilisation
im currently paying £35 trade no retest fee if needed and to be honest i think thats enough,i could get it done for less still but i know the setup where i go and im confident in their abilities to keep us all away from corporate steak sandwiches with extra mustard.mm dinner
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The current MOT fee is £54, which is the price I paid on Friday at an independent garage I've used for some years as the family owners have never attempted to "pull a fast one".
By the way, IIRC, the VAT figure goes back to 17.5 per cent on January 1st. If you buy goods before that date but they are not delivered or available until afterwards, then you still pay the current temporary rate (actually 2.31 per cent less).
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>>..have never attempted to "pull a fast one".>>
I've just been on the Which? Local website and, surprise, the garage to which I refer is listed and the same comment about the owners providing an honest appraisal with regard to MOTs, as well as routine work, is made.
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NC said >> Only a foolish or rural main dealer would waste space on an MOT bay. >>
Well since my main dealer is anything but rural, he must be foolish. He does the MOT and discounts if it's done with a service.
I suppose some MOTs must generate work to go into the costly service bays or even, in the extreme, something for sales.
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I did testing for about 10 yrs until my local indy sold up and was demolished for flats. It was quite handy being able to do your own cars.
I did recovery work for the owner and he put me through the course so I could stand in as a relief tester. I still hold my ticket but I think technology has zoomed away from me now.
When the garage closed I found a local indy, he doesn't do repairs and is old school sensible.
I pay £45 trade with no retest fee.
And...I can nip round and use the lift when he's got one on the rollers !
Ted
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If you do some basic maths it makes sense:
62/1.15 = 54
Hence the clerk who ever issued the invoice or worked the till probably mistakingly applied VAT when they should not have done.
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>>Only a foolish or rural main dealer would waste space on an MOT bay.
I'll explain a bit more.
The MOT station can work to get in extra trade if you're an independant garage, but, for a main dealer, the workshops are only able to charge what they do because people are locked in by warranty. Most of the cars in the dealer's workshop probably aren't even elligible for MOT.
For an independant, an MOT at full price isn't such a loss when compared to their hourly charge out rates.
A dealer adding an MOT bay is unlikely to get any new work because of it - someone with brand X car isn't going to take it to brand Y's dealer just because they have an MOT bay.
A dealer also isn't likely to turn very much work away by not having an MOT bay - they'll just send them round the corner, driven by a low waged car cleaner or parts apprentice, to an independant MOT garage, get the MOT at trade price, and charge some commision on the price for the certificate, and sell any required work on to the customer in the usual manner.
I can imagine that if the dealership works with very expensive or exotic cars, there are good arguments for having an MOT bay to keep the process entirely in-house and under your own control.
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...but for a main dealer the workshops are only able to charge what they do because people are locked in by warranty. Most of the cars in the dealer's workshop probably aren't even elligible for MOT.
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You obviously have a much wider view of this than I do, my experience being limited to the local area, but the only dealership I've come across which didn't do MOTs was a Renault dealer.
All of my various makes of company cars, which needed an MOT before end of lease at 3 years, and the private cars I look after, have been MOT'd at the franchise dealer at 3yrs old. I like to get that MOT done there in the hope that it might throw up warranty work. In practice the only car that ever failed at 3yrs was a Peugeot with a tyre fault that neither the service manager or a tyre fitter could identify (the MOT tester had gone home).
One of my cars is a Mercedes and they, and BMW, have made a big push into offering discounts to service older cars as their own workshop loadings have dropped for a variety of reasons. Mercedes owners, particularly, are keen to keep hold of the Mobilo cover, although it's of dubious value.
I've found it impossible to identify an independent garage that I would trust (in a competence way). I use the village garage for MOT on our older cars - I can walk back and to and I'm putting the £50odd quid into the local economy. I'm happy with that. But I know the guy who runs it and I'd be nervous about letting him even change the oil. It's very hard to argue with someone you know too - whereas I have no such qualms about laying into the faceless organisation that is my local MB dealership.
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Same principles with a recovery rig...I did recovery work for lots of garages around the area. I couldn't make others see that it was better to make a phone call and have a car delivered to them for repair, then write a cheque out.... rather than having the hassle of storing a truck which wasn't out very often and taking a man off a repair for a couple of hours.
Bit like me buying a spray booth and equipment to do a couple of wings a year .
They could still advertise a 24/7 breakdown service if they wanted to.
Ted
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You cant beat having your own truck as it means you are independent and also remember till about 15 years ago you had recovery road tax which was cheap and no annual mot as these trucks were kept immaculate by workforces that cared.
Now we have cowboys everywhere who think they can do as they wish if they put their flashing lights on, i had a blazing row with the police preferred recoverers in my area a few years back,they were recovering a car from a tree some woman had managed to put it in after failing to get round a blind bend i saw her do it ,anyway they were winching the car out without even warning cars coming round the bend with even a few cones.
Minimum wage ruined this country and the better you get paid by results or your out, the better........
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SQ
Minimum wage ruined this country and the better you get paid by results or your out the better........
In reply to Bellboy:-
Rose tinted glasses on. Been in this business 35 years and there have always been some right bandits. And since when have recovery drivers been anywhere near minimum wage, doesnt make sense. Insurance companies screwing everyone right down and bankrupting good repairers is whats ruined it. Dont use their approved repairers.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 27/11/2009 at 10:28
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>>Insurance companies screwing everyone right down and bankrupting good repairers is whats ruined it>>
I can vouch for that as it's been discussed on several occasions with a friend who has an independent body repair outlet. I was staggered at how comparatively little even the largest insurance companies part with for work done by his and other repair shops.
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>>Insurance companies screwing everyone right down and bankrupting good repairers is whats ruined it>> I can vouch for that as it's been discussed on several occasions with a friend who has an independent body repair outlet. I was staggered at how comparatively little even the largest insurance companies part with for work done by his and other repair shops.
Right on. Our site used to be split 50/50 mechanical and bodyshop. We packed up the bodyshop about 6 years ago. We had approval from more than 10 ins co's and did recovery but in the end couldnt make any money. When we finished we were getting £21/hour from the ins cos. Nearest approved repairer to us is now 9 miles away, and we are in a busy urbanised area. They get paid peanuts, dont have all the equipment they should and have to rush the jobs. Drivers get hustled to used them by the ins cos. If you have a car repaired in this manner get it checked before you sign to accept the repair, because the workmanship is offten a bit on the shoddy side.
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My Mazda 6 has had its front end repaired this week by my insurer's approved bodyshop in Reading (Sprayworks). I am delighted with the job, the repair is utterly flawless. And they turned it around in 36 hours. The car needed a new front bumper and a replacement cross beam behind it. They had the parts delivered and sprayed the bumper up in advance of taking the car off me.
Very happy to recommend them.
On the day I got my car back, my wife managed to scrape the side of her car down a lamppost at the corner of our drive way (grrrr). It will be going to Sprayworks shortly to be patched up without the involvement of the insurance company.
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>>Mercedes owners, particularly, are keen to keep hold of the Mobilo cover, although it's of dubious value.
All these warranties are just a fear, uncertainty, and doubt marketing tool, carefully designed to lock you in. The companies don't offer a warranty beyond the legal minimum for your benefit, it's for their benefit.
Even with their discounts for older cars, dealers still tend to represent awful value for money for having work done.
Getting an MOT done before the 3 years are up is a shrewd move - but, a fail sheet concerning an item covered by the warranty from any MOT station will enable you to begin a warranty claim.
Edited by Number_Cruncher on 26/11/2009 at 18:58
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Getting an MOT done before the 3 years are up is a shrewd move - but, a fail sheet concerning an item covered by the warranty from any MOT station will enable you to begin a warranty claim.
>>>
>>>>>a very good point that can save customers oodles of cash
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Thanks for all the posts on this, in particular the one from Bill Payer linking to the VAT note.
It did turn out that £54.00 was the fee for the subbed out MOT, to which 15% VAT was added.
So it seems £54 is the maximum fee, but the main dealer is right to charge VAT on top. Just a bit annoying that HM Treasury essentially gets a free gift.
Edited by JamesH on 27/11/2009 at 00:31
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They are wrong to have added it - read the postings above and the appropriate links to the HMRC webstie there is no VAT chargeable to an MoT - so they are either mistaken or lying to you.
Edited by Pugugly on 27/11/2009 at 08:28
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They are wrong to have added it - read the postings above and the appropriate links to the HMRC webstie there is no VAT chargeable to an MoT - so they are either mistaken or lying to you.
No. They won't have paid £54 for the MOT - they'll have got it "trade". So the only way to not charge VAT would be to itemise out their actual cost, and then charge VAT on the difference.
No way they're going to do that, so they charge VAT on the whole lot instead.
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We are charging £30 and £27 to trade and make money at that. MoT is good way of bringing work in, although we are always fair. In truth a bit tighter on trader cars since you never know when purchaser will find find fault and appeal, so I always cover my back, or at least put on advisory.
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