Failed Mot On Emissions :crybaby:

[khammy]

Jan 2003 Toyota Avensis 1.8 clocked 47000.Failed MOT on emissions and brakes today(Not Mr.T) told it is the Cat and Lambda sensor.Have hardly done 5000 miles since the warranty ran out and it was all greens on last MOT.Also told of worn disks and pads and given a quote for 1100£.Cant afford that kind of money.Can manage the disks etc.Does the cat last for such a short time?Any ideas what might have happened? Is it a rip off?Any ideas how much the brakes should cost.Any help is much appreiated.

[T600]

Was this quote for the work from the company who did the MOT?

I'd seriously consider getting another MOT done; somewhere else. Either go to a Toyota garage you can trust, or else go to a test station that doesn't do repair work.

Sounds like the car doesn't get a lot of use. My MR2 doesn't either - about 2K per annum on average - so I always give it a tank full of Optimax and an a decent run - at least 5 to 10 miles at 70mph to get the engine and fuel system cleaned out a bit immediately before the test.

CAT should last more than 50K, but they're very easy to damage - for example a litre of leaded petrol will do it.

[uumode]

My cat and sensor on my old Audi 90 lasted 140k miles and 13 years, and on the original exhaust pipe (except the downpipe from the engine which was blowing, changed at about 110k).

My cat in my Mercedes has lasted 100k and 8 years so far.

[khammy]

all sorted.went to another garage got the diskd skimmed,pads replaced.The adjusted the sensor imbalance with the computer and that sorted the emissions.toatl cost 300 quid.went to the old garage for a re test(deliberately to et independent assesment) and passed MOT.Have lost in this country wide garge.Will never use it again.Is there a regulating body hat one can write to?

[T600]

Pleased to hear that it has now passed, and with much less cost than you were expecting.

Is there a regulating body hat one can write to?

I don't think you will get far with a claim.

Sounds like they were right to fail it on what they did - your only gripe is that their quote for the work was almost 4 times too high. Had they failed it on something that it shouldn't have failed on, then an appeal would have been in order and you could have written to the DOT about that.

Best to put it down to experience.

[khammy]

Sounds like they were right to fail it on what they did - your only gripe is that their quote for the work was almost 4 times too high. Had they failed it on something that it shouldn't have failed on, then an appeal would have been in order and you could have written to the DOT about that.

NOT REALLY.THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER OR THE LAMBDA SENSOR.THEY HAD ASKED ME TO REPLACE BOTH.WHEN HE GAVE ME A QUOTE,HE SAID HE HAD UNABLE TO FIND A LAMBDA SENSOR AND THAT WE SHOULD TRY TO REPLACE THE CAT FIRST.THIS HE TOLD ME ONLY AFTER HE WAS UNABLE TO FIND THE LAMBDA.AFTER THE RETEST WHEN I ASKED THE MECHANIC(NOT THE MANAGER)HE JUST SAID THAT THEY LACKED THE EQUIPMENT TO PINPOINT THE FAULT AND IT WAS STANDARD PRACTICE TO REPLACE THE PARTS ANY WAY.MY ONLY GRUDE IS THE LACK OF INFORMATION GIVEN TO ME OR SHOULD I SAY WITHELD FROM ME.HAD I REPLACED BOTH THE CAT AND LS IT WOULD STILL NOT PASS THE MOT. AND THEY WOULD OFCOURSE NOT REFUND THE MONEY.

[T600]

Don't shout at me

What I mean is, as far as the MOT is concerned they failed it on emissions and braking, and it would appear from the work that the other garage did, there were problems with those aspects of the car. Had they failed it on something the wasn't faulty then you could argue that the MOT test was incorrect.

Any diagnosis of the cause of the problem is not part of the MOT - there is no requirement for the MOT tester to explain why your car failed - he simply takes a reading and it passes or fails. So any diagnosis they gave you was not part of the MOT test.

Yes, had you let them then carry out the work to remedy that then you would have had a grievance but again that would be a greivance with the garage's services, not the MOT test itself.

If you do want to complain though there is info on the DirectGov website; who to ring or write to etc.

Your alternative is to take further advice on claims against the garage; but at the end of the day, you nearly suffered a loss. I don't think there are many claims you can make on that basis, you need to actually suffer a loss before any court will be interested.

Or just tell everyone you know to avoid that test centre like the plague.

[khammy]

Hmmm I see.I agree that the MOT fail was valid.The other thing I forgot to mention is that I went to another branch of the same garage and they were visibly unconmfortable when I told them that i had been advised to replace the cat and lambda.That is when I smelled the rat.Although i didnt suffer the loss the reason I wanted to write was not to get a compensation but to bring it to the notice of the authorities and prevent someone else from getting ripped off.I think when a grage does both the MOT and the repair there is a conflict of interest.Any advice/quotes regarding repair following MOT repair should be clear, well informed and in black and white.This can only be fair practice.

The take home point from my experience would be to get a second opinion if in doubt.

[T600]

The take home point from my experience would be to get a second opinion if in doubt.

Agreed.

I was advised to get MOTs done by test stations that don't do repairs so that they have no incentive to make up additional faults.

But the down side of that of course is that you don't have the convenience of getting them to fix any genuine problems that they find. Also, if you do take it somewhere else to get it fixed they can rip you off.

Best solution is a test/repair centre that you know you can trust to be honest. Not so easy to find though. I tend to get Mr T to MOT my cars these days, as I'm happy that my local Toyota garage is a very good one*

* Though even then, I did have a recent issue where they suggested something 'almost failed' and on further investigation that was nothing like the truth. I'm pretty sure that was just a misunderstanding, though rather than dishonesty on their part.

It's a lottery I'm afraid unless you really know your car yourself, or else know someone who does.

[nessienoo]

My '99 Avensis failed MOT last year on emissions. The mechanic took a GUESS! that it was the lambda sensor as he said it was going to be trial and error. I did have it done after doing a bit of research on the net and it passed its retest with flying colours at a cost of only £300+! It would have been a costly guess if it had made no difference. He also suggested that it might have been the cat, so do 1 thing at a time. Its a very risky business taking cars to garages, I am always wary of being ripped off.

[thomaslukewilson]

Jan 2003 Toyota Avensis 1.8 clocked 47000.Failed MOT on emissions and brakes today(Not Mr.T) told it is the Cat and Lambda sensor.Have hardly done 5000 miles since the warranty ran out and it was all greens on last MOT.Also told of worn disks and pads and given a quote for 1100£.Cant afford that kind of money.Can manage the disks etc.Does the cat last for such a short time?Any ideas what might have happened? Is it a rip off?Any ideas how much the brakes should cost.Any help is much appreiated.

i worked in an mot station and i can inform you that were not aloud to fob you off in the mot its hooked uo to a sun diognosic maching in the exhause and that tells us iff emithions are wrong and my car ive had from new for a year and the cat is totally dead so i would really think because we can loze are jobs if we lie on mots hope this helps

[thomaslukewilson]

Jan 2003 Toyota Avensis 1.8 clocked 47000.Failed MOT on emissions and brakes today(Not Mr.T) told it is the Cat and Lambda sensor.Have hardly done 5000 miles since the warranty ran out and it was all greens on last MOT.Also told of worn disks and pads and given a quote for 1100£.Cant afford that kind of money.Can manage the disks etc.Does the cat last for such a short time?Any ideas what might have happened? Is it a rip off?Any ideas how much the brakes should cost.Any help is much appreiated.