For all those saying use a lighter on the seatbelt, wake up you bodgers , you can see it’s more than a small fray , the webbing is damaged. PAUSE AND ZOOM THE IMAGE UP . Put a replacement belt in job done.
June 2023 I bought an end of life, (near death?), Mazda 2 - 59 plate with 53,000 miles ,(an average of 4,000 miles p.a.) from you. Come MOT in June '24 and 17,000 miles later, we failed on a wiper washer pump which decided to cease about 3 weeks earlier and one tyre. No mention of corrosion. I feel like a winner.
I use our local council test centre here in Suffolk. They are very thorough and will talk you through and show you any issues. My 30 year old Punto recently failed its emissions test on fast idle. The tester suggested that fixing a couple of minor leaks in the exhaust might be sufficient to solve the problem. Found and fixed the leaking joints and it passed.
I used the council depot in Boston for years, but seeing as functions are contracted out now I suspect the depot no longer exists. I moved away fifteen years ago so I'm unsure.
I used to go to the council for the mot mainly because my van was class 7 but they were overly strict. I had a focus mk1 and although no sideways adjustments on the headlights I was told the headlights were cross eyed and he would fail it. I've driven other mk1 focus at night and they are the same. Also was made to weld suspension tops onto the bulk head even when they are not joined when manufactured originally. This was on a transit van.
I went to an MOT tester, it was a famous franchise. They tried to fail it on brake efficiency, but it’s an older car, a 2004 1.4 Rover 25. I took it to an independent MOT test centre/workshop and they said there was nothing wrong with the brakes. They are drum on the rears, so not as effective as discs anyway. I knew the brakes were fine as I had not long changed them. I would never use a franchise again, well, that particular one anyway.
I'd get a used belt off e Bay bud for that ka, people will be thinking it'll break, doesn't need anything to put folk off, especially if it's a dad purchase for their offspring, they go absolutely crazy.
Here in Spain we don't have ripoff garages trying to make work by failing cars on the test. The state organisation that does our test (ITV here) is very good and gets through them quite quickly.
I think or you are going to an ITV (Spanish MOT) Which is good at what they doing or your car is very well service. I’m Spanish and the is a very long wait in many of them and others are just not good at it, but I agree that been able to be in the car at the test is better than here where they can actually tell you anything they want and it will be recorded for the records.
In winter over here in Australia , ( we get snow ) they don’t salt the roads so corrosion isn’t as bad … it’s rusts because of the councils trigger happy with salt because of ice and snow in the uk.
I took a car to moors garage once, drove it there to have some carb tuning done and had to collect it with a trailer. I bought my own gas analyser after that and sorted it myself.
My wife's ten year old RAV 4 with 39k on the clock still goes to the Toyota main dealer and the last MOT it went straight through with no advisories. You would expect a main dealer to be trying to generate work but certainly not been my experience. They even give a discount labour rate for cars over ten years old. Perhaps they figure the repeat business is better business.
Mad to service any Toyota outside of the dealer network in the UK with the 10 Year 100k Warranty Available, Just had two rear hubs on a 7 year old 75k Yaris FOC 👍
@@-DC- Ours has just fallen outside of the warranty period now but with the discount labour rates and very convenient collection & delivery service, it still works for us - they treat you like royalty too.
I fully agree about the 1.0 Ecoboost. I have driven Fiestas and Pumas with that engine and they are impressive for performance and economy, but the reliability scares me. So, my son has been looking for a 1.5 diesel Focus despite only covering about 8k per annum. I may now look at the 1.0 Ecoboost again now that Ford have agreed to cover affected cars with service history.
Had a weird experience with a test-only no-repairs MOT station. Online I can see they failed it but then passed it during the same visit, for a "twisted brake line". At the time they handed me a pass certificate without telling me they'd also just failed it - "There you go, clean pass mate". The brake lines were new before the test and fitted correctly, and as they don't do repairs anyway I've no idea what happened. Nobody has commented since on the brakes. Following year, the same test station gave an advisory for indicators bulbs not being orange enough. I put new ones in and they look exactly the same. Leaves me wondering what the deal is these days - seems very inconsistent.
In Northern Ireland we only have MOT testing centres, garages can't do MOT's. It has it advantages and disadvantages. Advantages are the testers have no incentive to fail a car just to sell work that's not really required. Disadvantages are if it fails you have to take it away fix the issue and present it for a retest. So best to check your tyres and bulbs etc before hand. Also at present the waiting time for a test date is horrendous, you can be talking months at present
It used to be a problem here that garages would create work for themselves. Near me at the moment though I can't get mechanics who actually want to do any proper jobs or there is months wait. Most garages would rather do a load of mots rather than fix anything.
@@ChopsGarage The last MOT I arranged in Newtownards (Co Down) was set for 5 months away! A crazy system, although we can continue to drive on an expired certificate providing the test appointment has been arranged.
The EcoBOOM warranty is only valid if you can show a full service history at the correct time / miles AND it must show the type of oil used on the service invoice or any claim will be rejected. They just are not worth the trouble. The "problem" with these only MOT places is that if your car fails on a major fault you are not allowed to drive it away for repairs. It must be recovered. I've used an only MOT place for years, but I always go over the car prior to sending it down and head off any obvious issues, however, I've noticed them going mad on the advisories of late too. Things like brake ferrule corrosion, not rot, just surface rust!
Listen to what he said “FULL MAIN DEALER “service history, and with that they will have used the correct oil . Obviously if not main dealer then you may have a problem 😮
Yes, good luck getting Ford to replace engines- 99% either wont have been serviced on time or wrong oil used somewhere. Easy get out of jail for dealers.
You will get the best MOT results by using purely a test centre. Reason? They aren’t going to try and upsell advisories because they don’t fix them. Be aware though, simple thing like a bulb out will get a fail so, do your visual checks before you go. Used a pure test centre for years with several cars and never failed an MOT. Funny how many cv boots seem to have a tear in them at repair centre or other such things impossible to check.
@@ChopsGarage A garage that I went to for an MOT told me I had four shock absorbers failed and wanted over £1,000 to replace them I took the car to an MOT station that didn't do any work on cars It passed with an advisory free MOT
James, Northern Ireland (UK). There are no independent test centres, only 6 Government centres. The next guaranteed local test date I can get is 27 August. You can drive without provided the car is safe.
i have used a place that only does mot's for years. the 1 near me (kent) you only pay when it passes but make no mistake they do fail cars if it needs failing as i see then do it to a guy while mine was being tested once. salvage rebuilds have also been to the same 1 i use in 2 of their videos
James just a tip from me, if you develop a relationship with them, if something is going to pass with advisories then ask them to fail it on a wiper or sidelight bulb or something, it gives you the opportunity to get the advisories done and knocked off on the retest. Saves paying for another full test. Ive also done it before when I've booked it a day early by mistake and would miss the 30 day window if they passed it, but if they retest the following day then it gets the 13 month ticket. My fault when that happens but they look after me! Obviously some places may not be happy to do it illegitimatly so you may just need to remove a bulb or two :)
Hi James, geat to catch up with your world of car dealing. I think the issue is of MOT stations is down to the teaster as I have just successfully got MOT passes with no advisories for my 1997 Range Rover P38 and my 1989 Porsche 928.
My car has never been anywhere but the main dealer since it was new and it’s now 7 years old. One of the reasons is they video everything they do. And if the car needs anything you can pay in three interest free instalments for any work
Sounds like arnold shark which means your paying an extortionate rate for servicing and tyres and will look to replace than repair not mechanic just fitters
Just a quick comment about the Kuga battery light James. Have a look at the battery monitor (fixed to the battery negative terminal). For it to work, it needs a further connection to battery positive (often a single strand of wire with a ring terminal attaching it to the battery). If the connection to positive is accidentally left off .. when changing a battery for example .. the battery light will always stay illuminated. I see this quite a lot so it's worth checking before spending on a new alternator.
My 23 year old TT went through another MOT. 3 advisorys, rusty rear subframe, rear brake pipes frontto rear, corrosion? And a small oil leak. I was welll happy with it.
The good thing about mot only places is they don’t have any on selling incentives to advise expensive repairs to make some more profit. The best is a good garage that will do a mot and will advise only if necessary. I’m lucky I use one of those. Normally advisories free but this year failed on a bearing which to be honest I knew about. It sounded like a London bus.
It’s so hard to trust garages these days. We bought a car last year, nothing but issues from the minute we bought it, funny though it had an advisory free MOT, later found out the dealer own the MOT garage aswell under a different name 😂🤦🏼♂️ luckily got our money back and ran!
I use my local council authority test centre, completely strict but fair, i just want to know that the car is safe to be on the road. They do all the Taxis, Police and other emergency vehicles.
I remember using a MOT centre in Barnsley, back in the day. One man show and properly basic, but it was the perfect balance between common sense and compliance. Happy days. He knew the law, he wouldn't pass unsafe cars. No money to be made from advisories or fails though, how it should be. I'm convinced Halfords train the mechanics to find SOMETHING just to garnish the bill. It's business of course, got to net some dough...💷
Garage is use for MOT does repairs but the tester i trust. I changed garages when he moved due to old one shutting. Never once tried to get me to pay them for repairs
My neighbour took his Swift on an 08 plate owned from new no advisory's last 2 MOTS this time he had 8 mostly corrosion on suspension parts and brake discs.
I use a mechanic who doesn’t do MOT work. He sends the cars to a garage for MOT, this garage who MOT his cars, know they won’t get the work if they fail it on stupid stuff. I’ve never had an issue since using him to get my MOT done.
Give em a quick pre mot yourself bud, up on your ramp with a torch, waggle wheels, tyres, pads state, discs, all easy things to check, makes it look better than an easy fail, people are completely checking fails, advisory as you know, with that vehicle score thing it marks down previous fails, even when works been done, you can't beat a clear, non advisory pass straight thru, unfortunately that's all people are looking at, things like say tyres are obvious, I do them prior, when the job was easy people accepted stuff, they were glad to even get a car due to shortages, it's definitely not like that now.
Ive got a 64 plate Kuga it’s never had an advisory 92k someone prior to me done a cambelt at 47k so to keep the ethos I had it changed at 89k I only get my mot at a place that only does MOTs tyres and exhausts no other works done I prefer that
I appreciate it's a busy time but I'd have hoped a cursory check of the Kia Sportage would have saved an MOT fail darkening its history (as well as costing time and money). I know there are some who put vehicles in for MOT to find out what they need but I always think it looks better for straight passes. If I see cars with fails for tyres, lights, wipers, insufficient windscreen washer fluid, etc. it gives me the impression of neglect - i.e. if someone isn't paying attention to those little things, do I have confidence that bigger things will have been attended to? Having watched Chops for years I would have no hesitation buying a car there but if it were someone I didn't know then it's something I would have picked up.
Nice video James, enjoyed that one, some nice new stock there. I'm glad you're quiet too, thought my phone had broken 😂 I'm putting it down to people spending money on holidays this time of year.
I get my mot done at a dealership that is more interested in selling cars than doing repair work, it’s where I had the car from years ago and is the closest one to my house 😂 nearly all my mots have been advisory free and it’s a 2012 Fiat 500
So a bit late now but perhaps you should have sent one to the other mot place and the rest to the new place then you could compare even more as they were all around 2015/26 plates but good you have a few done quicky james👍
Dunno if it's the reason in car sales but in my experience in retail employees aren't spending money in April and May because they are waiting to see if a tax rebate has given them any extra cash and the self-employed don't tend to spend much at the beginning of the tax year and parents are about to pay for summer holidays.
Ford KA cambelt in 2020. Wasn't that belt due replacement last year? 3 years/36000 mile replacement on those??? One of the last few cars with low mileage cambelt changes.
I took my minor years ago to a guy near me with no drum on the front as i was waiting for parts.just cable ties holding the cylinders in place.😂 he passed it for me knowing id fix it. Few months later his garage got shut down by the ministry.. go figure🤣
South molton only has 1 option for motorbike MOTs, fortunately he's a good guy. Plus as I do my own work on the bike I know it's going to be a pass before I take it in.
Hi Chops. I see you've dipped a toe into the ev world. Don't expect too much range from the Kia Soul as the battery is fairly small. Good enough for pootling around town and charging overnight with a home charger. Advise customers to get an electricity tariff, which includes a lower rate at night for charging.
James, the seatbelt on the Ka should be replaced. I realise it could be used as a point of negotiation, but as a major safety item, it would put me off if I was the customer.
My thinking is do the ford Kia seat belt as its a 1 owner then it makes it looks a really nice car other wise that seat belt lets it down and spoils the car
Hi I've been on to my local ford garage and they say head nothing about ford coverage of eco boost engine extend warranty. Car you give me any advice, thanks
Hi james what would you recommend to underseal a mazda 2 baught my son one first car its a little bit crusty underneath so looking for something to do it with Cheers
Knew 2 mot centres that my van would pass with advisory s for a small fee.lol. It’s rampant and anyone who says different is a fool. Corruption is rife in every sector of society iam afraid.
Alternatively, call me cynical but an MOT tester who also has a repair business, could generate a second revenue from the cars going through for MOT .. 🤷
The one man independent garage who does my services uses a regular garage to do MOT’s and if booked in for service and MOT the mechanic drives my car there and uses one of their cars to drive back. This has been the situation for years. The MOT garage know if they fail the car my mechanic will do the work.
@@ChopsGarage not sold much for 3 weeks, been trying to get long stayers done, fiat 500 bought in 2019(!)punto bought 2020 and been doing house and gardens, seems very quiet tho, down to 28 cars now, obviously all needing work, determined to slim down to a dozen.
@@ChopsGarage yes bud, I paid 4k for a 66 plate mokka, retail said 6500,3 mths ago, I've had no look, wbac says 3 grand, had some poles (!) on it yesterday at 4295,trouble is I've spent 500 on it, anyway after a crazy test drive (fresh in the country) it was what will you take (!) jobs got hard in my view atm, I'm not expecting much profit in my stock tbh.
@@roystonvehicles9129 I think you will have seen the same over the years. There seems to be big shifts back and forth in demand and easy to get burned if you have bought at wrong time
