MOT advice....

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Sat May 07, 2005 9:06 am

tomt84 wrote:was the Â£270 cheap do you think?

Well, I paid Â£295 for mine and thought that was cheap, and mine's a 1986 mk2.. so yeah, I think you've done pretty well

lord_sharpy · Post by **lord_sharpy** » Sat May 07, 2005 11:16 am

i took my car to the garage yesterday for new rear flexi hoses (i supplied the goodridge ones) they charged 40 pound to fit them and bleed all four brakes and they even had to replace some copper brake line. i was well chuffed with the price!

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Sat May 07, 2005 12:41 pm

Â£50 an hour pffffffft! how many blokes did they have working on your car at once? Thats about 10x what i earn.... christ.

The trick with the MOT is to go have it done a few days before the old one runs out - you're still legal to drive it away and get it fixed under the old certificate that way, including fixing it yourself. It doesn't have to be done at a qualified mechanics or anything (....yet...). If you only go renew it on the day it's due, and there's something up with the car, you're a bit stuffed unless you can sort it sharpish, or afford to have it off the road at home whilst you fix it. (you can legally drive it from home to an MOT station if it has an expired certificate - but NOWHERE else)

toXXin · Post by **toXXin** » Sat May 07, 2005 1:32 pm

As I work at a garage, I have to make a few points.

There is actualy quite a bit of work in copper brake pipes. I watched our brake pipe guru do an Almera the other day, and I can see why it takes so long. Remember it's not a case of just getting the pipe and fitting it on. The old pipes have to be taken off with great care, the new pipes have to be shaped to match the existing ones, put on the required unions, replace x amount of clips that have broken, refit, realign the pipes that aren't 100% right, refit again, put in new fluid, bleed the system, do a road test, get the car back on a ramp to check it all over, and then once satisfactory, tell the customer it is ready.

I agree with the issue of the quote. If they quote Â£100, they are legally obliged to charge that. To double it is extreme!

I take it they are working on Â£50 an hour? We work at Â£70.50 an hour as we are a franchied dealer. I quoted Â£215 inclusive yesterday for 2 pipes to be done on another Almera, so I can see where they have got their figures from.

Fionadilston · Post by **Fionadilston** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:34 pm

I am sooo lucky then with my garage charging Â£35 per hour for labour and the mechanics care about my polo and are real and genuine people ....thought Â£50 per hour was robbery but Â£75 on your bikeski literally !!!
Got this garage thro word of mouth and talking to a dyed in the wool local here in West Yorks .....Murts Motor Company Hebden Bridge West Yorks if anyone is interested

optima21 · Post by **optima21** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 12:18 am

Fionadilston wrote:I am sooo lucky then with my garage charging Â£35 per hour for labour and the mechanics care about my polo and are real and genuine people ....thought Â£50 per hour was robbery but Â£75 on your bikeski literally !!!
Got this garage thro word of mouth and talking to a dyed in the wool local here in West Yorks .....Murts Motor Company Hebden Bridge West Yorks if anyone is interested

hey you're a neighbour, Im in Halifax. Yeah I know of Murts, they got an exhuast for me for my Triumph Herald about 7 years ago and I sold it on ebay last week, and they brought it to me, without charging me for the delivery.

Fionadilston · Post by **Fionadilston** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 9:07 am

indeedy they are the bizz ...so how do I recognice your polo to give you a wave???
mine is H reg facelift rectangular lights , tornado red with my positive stickers on drivers side back window
My mate in Scotland may well be looking for a vintage polo as she is on a serious budget ...any tips or hints for buying one as I am a biit of a novice aside from avoidng rust on wheel arches and the el basico stuff ...she will have a budget of round the Â£300 when she sells the shell of her silly 4X4 min monster eughy thing
cheers Fiona x

optima21 · Post by **optima21** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 1:53 pm

well my GT is metalic green and running 14" alloys, but its not insured at the minute so I cant drive it. MY mk2 is black and looks like it belongs in a scrapyard, as its battered and bent and very dirty and only has a drivers seat in it, and thats got teddy bear wheels on it now.

Fionadilston · Post by **Fionadilston** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 9:16 am

teddy bear wheels ??? translate for a novice here...thanks Fiona x

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 12:09 pm

^^ Teddy bear wheels.

Fionadilston · Post by **Fionadilston** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 3:22 pm

omigod what are you lot like !!!!

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:10 pm

Ronal Teddies > Everything

(they're actual bona fide alloy wheels dontcha know ... quite how the pattern came to be produced is anyones guess!)

Fionadilston · Post by **Fionadilston** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:20 pm

now if you could get bats we might just be interested !!!

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:12 pm

well they often get painted so you could make it into a goth zombie bear...

Fionadilston · Post by **Fionadilston** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 6:49 am

hmmm ...maybe the bears would go better with my fluffy stickers than the goth look !!!