Can a garage tell you that your car has failed an MOT but still let you take it away?

annie0000 | 22:59 Wed 14th Mar 2012 | Motoring

29 Answers

as above and in this thread: http://www.theanswerb.../Question1115397.html

the Mot is not due until Monday but they told me on the phone that a fuel system component was leaking and that was an MOT fail, yet, they said it was okay for me to pick up the car and bring it back tomorrow - seems a bit fishy to me.

Bushes

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welshlibranr

I personally would stick with your local guy!.......he has a reputation to protect!.....

annie0000

Question Author

...not doing a great job of it the way things are looking welsh. He needs an awfully good explanation as to how he knows I have a fuel leak when there is no visible sign and he doesn't know where it is but it'll take an hour to look for it :o/

annie0000

Question Author

that has always been my view too though, go with the local guy with the repuation. Think it was running so well after the last services cos the dealership who was paid to do the last two did nothing more than hose it down and hand it back!

SlackAlice

If your not happy with the garage, see if you can find a local one on here

http://www.goodgaragescheme.co.uk/home

I haven't used it myself because my own garage is already on it. I've heard of a couple people that have used it with success.

annie0000

Question Author

thanks for that Slack, when I put in my post code, the garage I am dealing with came up as the closest one and has excellent feedback - I have been happy in the past, but this just smells a bit.

welshlibranr

annie, I would still stick with your local guy!.......he's less likey to rip you off!..he wants your future business!..........

annie0000

Question Author

I think I am going to start by phoning them in the morning to see if they can explain to me how they know there is a problem.

alavahalf

Sounds as though you are whipping up a posse to lynch the MOT station.

Are you aware of what a fuel leak will look like .. it does'nt have to be fuel spraying out from under the bonnet. It could be just a a damp patch below a fuel pump. Most fuel leaks are seen from below the car ... when you have had a look from below yourself ... then you can decide as to whether you have a leak or not.
It may only be a dribble of fuel that only shows when the car is running and the fuel sysyem is under pressure.
... and the garage may possibly need to investigate further to positively identify the exact location of the leak. I dont think it is unreasonable to say it may take an hour for this purpose.

annie0000

Question Author

thanks alavahalf - it is difficult to describe the feeling i got from the woman on the phone, she seemed surprised that i hadn't noticed but then said it could be coming from anywhere and maybe was leaking into the filter, then she said it'll take an hour to look for it it may need a part etc and then i said I'd need to phone her back once I decided whether to leave it there overnight etc. I did that about 10 minutes later at which point she said - oh we think its on the pipe so we'll be able to sort that without a part.....it was the way she was saying things it just didn't make me feel comfortable.

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