Having given my car a bit of an inspection before it went for the MOT, I changed the rear pads as they were getting down to the limit. The front pads were still within tolerance at 4mm, and with them being out of stock thought I’ll get a set in the next couple of weeks as I was confident they would pass as the limit is 1.5mm. Having been fairly confident everything would be up to scratch I received a text from the garage that the work required would be £152. If you haven’t already guessed well it failed with the front brake pads apparently being less than 1.5mm. Thinking maybe I had possibly missed an inside pad wearing irregularly I gave them the benefit of the doubt. With the car now deemed dangerous to drive off the forecourt I had to bite the bullet and let them do the work. Luckily I requested for the old pads to be left in the car. Not taking this one lying down. Not happy. Rant not over. To be continued.
They cannot stop you driving your car away, it’s your property so you can take it wherever you want including home if you wanted to do the work yourself.
I think once its failed its not legally allowed to be literally “On the road”. You can take it away for repair elsewhere, but only on a trailer or such where all wheels are off the road.
Maybe but they still can’t stop you from driving it , what you do with the vehicle is entirely upto you, we shouldn’t speed etc but we do and if the garage wanted to get arsey I would definitely be pointing out to them the 4mm pad depth and reporting it to vosa, I think the form number for reporting it is vt17.
By rights you shouldn’t drive your car away if it’s deemed dangerous but the garage cannot stop you, if the garage has misdiagnosed the car as dangerous and you have proof as in the old pads then you can appeal and report the garage to vosa if you think they’re trying to con you, it’s all a bit of a grey area but personally i would drive it away, also you can drive your car away if it fails and still has some current mot remaining but again not if it’s classed as dangerous and if the pads had sufficient material which they had it’s not dangerous and you could report the garage. This is also a grey area and a mute point if you have already had the work done by the garage.
Did they not give a report saying what was actually left on the pad? Garages I use do that, may be total bollocks but at least they put a number against their claim that you can argue against.
as other have said you can drive your card away as long as you are confident it is safe. But it is technically illegal to drive afte ra failed MOT unless taking it for repair only. I didn't know the pad wear is inspected although braking efficiency and visual condition of the disc/ calipers is done. A little confused about your picture. Are you chalenging their measurement?
The issue is, I spoke to them on the phone and they replaced the pads so there was no problem driving it away. It’s when I seen the pads had 4mm left on them I questioned them on the situation and I was given a whole big story on why it had failed. It wasn’t until I got home I realised they hadn’t given me the original fail certificate, so I downloaded it and that’s when I realised it had been failed on one thing and that was the brake pads. I’ve been bull shitted and I have the evidence to prove it. I’ll give them the option to make things right, if not I’ll be contacting the DVSA.
They failed it on the front brake linings being less than 1.5mm (1.1.13 (a) (ii)), there’s 4mm left on them.
this makes it a lot easier to understand your situation. So they said the pad had less than 1.5 mm so failed MOT. You have the pads and they measur 4mm (plenty of life there). Are we talking about a full set (front/ rear)? Do they all have more than the min pass thickness? If so you have a clear case to challenge and disput the unecessary MOT failure and the repair cost. Not sure what options you are presenting them with. If you are happy with the pads they have fitted, maybe a refund on the labour cost??
It used to be the case that your MOT didn't fail but you were refused a new certificate, which if your old certificate was in date you were free to drive off. Guess they changed it to "dangerous defects" to stop that. They'll probably be a good garage for you once you've got all this sorted, they'll know not to try any funny business
I took my jaguar into the main dealer for a service about 5 years ago, they said they had done the ‘health check’ (begging for work) and the front brake pads had 1mm left. I said that was a lie as you can clearly see the frictional linings thru the alloys, my wheels where quite an open design. The lady insisted they are dangerous and need doing before you drive away. I went tits, I am not famed for my patience or polite nature! The manager rocked up and we went over it again. At this point a mechanic walks close by and gets called over. Manager: “You serviced the gentleman’s car yes?” Mechanic: “Yes” Manager: “You put the pads are 1mm, is that correct” Mech: “Yes“ Manager: Looks at me “there you are sir they are 1mm” I didnt even have to interject, the mechanic said “actually they are 1mm from the wear indicator coming on”. At this point I’m getting annoyed and asked how much is left on them and the mechanic said about 7 or 8 mm because the warning comes on at about 6-7 mm. I asked how thick is a new pad, 9-10mm? “Yes” So as you need to change them at a couple of mm as a rule wtf?? The manager looked at the mechanic and asked “if they are 7-8mm why did you put 1mm?” Sweet as a nut he said “you told me to, it’s company policy” and walked away. oh boy did the air turn blue!! I don’t trust main dealers, never did but that was my second big stir with a main dealer.
I took my car in for a service, was charged a fortune for the valves being set, I knew that most of the time this work will not be done so I put anti tamper paint on the cover after the service I checked the car, the seals had not been broken, I asked for the manager, he just said if it says on the paperwork they had been done they have been done and refused to look at the car, I then got in touch with trading standards they were not bothered
Went to speak to the garage today and was told I had to take it up with the guy that did the MOT, he is now off work with a problem with his eyes no shit. I’ve also realised that the DVSA would have to carry out there own test, and now that the work has been carried out it looks like I’m on to plums with this.
If you paid with a card I'd do a charge back or MCOL. You've got the proof the pads were not as they described. Bugger that he's off with "his eyes." The manager is presumably in charge and responsible. Maybe a review on social media. The effort may just help others miss the underhand practices.
I had a main mazda dealer (Mazda Motorlux Newbury) replace the seal on the petrol tank of an rx8 following a recall. It wasn't leaking but a recall is a recall. They did the work and gave the car back to me and, you guessed it, it now leaks. I called them and they sent a mechanic to pick it up as I refused to drive it as it was leaking fuel. The mechanic they sent didn't know it was leaking fuel and when I showed him he also refused to drive it. They then came and fitted a new seal on my drive and said it was good. I drove it and it still leaked. They came back and fitted another seal and this time it held. I missed a track day I'd paid for, had a car out of action for most of a month, drove a car leaking with fuel for several miles and lost fuck knows how much super. Didn't get so much as an apology from Mazda Motorlux Newbury. My advice would be to leave bad reviews for them everywhere you can, tell people what poor work they did on forums as often as you can including their full name (for example Mazda Motorlux Newbury) so that anyone who googles them finds the stories, never use them again and move on with your life. It's not worth arguing with this type of place... if they were going to acknowledge and take responsibility they would have done so immediately.
I would say ultimately the garage employs the worker so is responsible for the work done, When you pay, you pay the garage the bill says the garage name not the MOT'er,
My son works for a garage and all work / recommendations and MOT issues come with photo proof from the mechanic so there is no disputes about the work
I took my BMW in for it's yearly last year, I always take photos of the entire car outside the dealership before they get the keys since they don't do walk arounds anymore... Strangely enough I got it back with a nice gash in the paint across the front bumper. "Oh it was like that already".....glad I had pictures. Safe to say my shouting my mouth off in front of a showroom full of prospective customers got it sorted quickly, and the majority of the people looking left pretty sharpish after I accused the dealership of lying.
