Mot Due For Gen 2

[sushd]

Our 09 plate Gen 2 is due for MOT test next week.

Bit unsure if I should get the MOT test done from a Toyota dealer or is it okay to get it done from anyone authorised to do so. Since we have no service contract with a Toyota dealer (and next service not due for another 4 months), an MOT at Toyota will cost us full 54.85 odd quids but there are plenty of other places offering good discounts (e.g. Kwik-Fit @ 29.95).

What do you suggest?

[Chris Dance]

I would recommend your Toyota dealer. The cheap MOT offers can turn out more expensive they only give you a cheaper price if they can do any repairs. If they fail your car and they do repairs I doubt they would use genuine Toyota parts. I would not let Kwik Fit anywhere near my Prius, I doubt they would even know how to start it. Kwik Fit were failing cars locally for shock absorbers; they said the absorbers were leaking. It was found out they squirted oil on the shock absorber and showed customers it was leaking. Lots of local people were conned. That was some time ago and they may have changed!!!

A while ago my wife had her Mazda fail an MOT at a garage which had cheap MOTs. They failed her car. She refused to let them do the repairs and took the car to a Mazda agent who passed the car. Cost more than if she had gone to Mazda in the first place.

[Bibsy]

Agree with using the Toyota dealer, but has to be worth haggling the price in the current climate. Whatever my car has gone to the dealer for, services, consumables, whatever, including MOTs, I don't think I've ever paid the initial asking price.

My Gen 2 MOT I had done in January at the local dealer and from memory I think I paid them £40 or a few pence over. Just make them an offer - they can only say no after all.

[sushd]

Thanks for the advice.

Have booked the test with the local Toyota dealer ... a bit of haggling did help ... @ 34.99! ;)

[Bibsy]

Blimey, you're better at it than I am. Want to book my next service for me and I'll give you 10% of the saving? :)

Actually, there's the germ of an idea in there...wehaggleforyou dot com...hmmm...

[johalareewi]

When haggling with Snows at Hedge End for the Yaris to have a service and MOT, we were offered £99 and free MOTs for life. On the other hand, many years ago when haggling with a local garage they told me to clear off!

[sushd]

Blimey, you're better at it than I am. Want to book my next service for me and I'll give you 10% of the saving? :)

Actually, there's the germ of an idea in there...wehaggleforyou dot com...hmmm...

Just got lucky, I guess! Am terrible at it .. usually!!

[MSHasan]

Not to defend KwikFit or Halfords corner or anything (some of them really are terrible) but I just had my 2007 in for its 2nd MOT at Halfords in Barking for £27.99. They were great and passed without any problems.

The only reason I took it there though was because I knew my car was in good shape and that they wouldn't really have anything to go on to fail it. I would never take the wife's aging polo there!

If you know your car is in tip top condition then I'd say go for it if they're significantly cheaper than the dealers.

At £34.99 you've got a very good deal though!

[phantom2]

Don't know exactly what rules apply to MOT (beeing a non UK resident), but it seems wierd to me that you need a garage to present your car at a technical check.

I have owned 3 Toyota's before and I always went to the inspection myself (as most of us do) without passing any pre-check at a garage and I never had any problems, even if all of my cars eventualy had over 300.000 km.

Our inspection is also "notorious" for beeing quiet severe, but if you know your car is ok, you don't have to worry I guess...

Having a Toyota hybrid now, I wonder how the inspection checks the exhausts : with a "normal" car, they put the engine through high revs and measure the exhaust fumes, but since pushing the throttle without being in drive-mode doesn't rev the engine, how exactly can they measure it?

Greetz

[Hybrid Harbour]

All hybrid vehicles are exempt from emission tests for the UK MOT.

[johalareewi]

Don't know exactly what rules apply to MOT (beeing a non UK resident), but it seems wierd to me that you need a garage to present your car at a technical check.

In the UK, the garage is the one that performs the technical check.

There are a few government check centres which are not garages, but the vast majority of the test centres are normal garages.