Mot - Before Or After The Service.

[Jennykenny]

I put my (8 year old) car in for its MOT recently, and major service, to a very reputable garage, (recommended by Which, and one I have used for the past four years of excellent service).
As I dropped off the keys, I mentioned that the front windscreen was very ‘smeary’ no matter how well I cleaned it.
A couple of hours later they phoned me at home to say that the car had failed its MOT, but, when they changed the windscreen wipers, it had passed.
Why was this not done beforehand?
They said the MOT had to be done on the car as it came in from the street.
Is this correct?
Why not do the service first?

[bednobs]

does a service check windscreen wiper anyway?

[roslyn251254]

Mine always do the service first then if there's anything wrong...
Hope you don't have to pay the failure/re-test fee... i would refuse....they should have spotted it.

[hc4361]

Usually, bednobs. My garage always checks the wipers as part of the service, anyway

[bhg481]

It doesn't actually matter as there is no re-test fee if the car doesn't leave the testing station.

[spathiphyllum]

I'd expect my service to be done before the MOT as it would highlight all of those issues.

If i sent my car for a service and MOT if i got a call saying it in any way 'failed' i'd tell them that they failed their service.

[spathiphyllum]

"It doesn't actually matter as there is no re-test fee if the car doesn't leave the testing station."

It is illegal for a car to be on the road after failing an MOT and you're not allowed to drive away.

[bhg481]

No it's not - only if it's classed as unroadworthy.

[Buenchico]

"They said the MOT had to be done on the car as it came in from the street".

Hmmm. I suppose if you only say to a garage "I want an MOT test" they're then correct in doing exactly that before anything else.

However I take my car into my excellent local garage and say "Please get my car through the test", which means that I expect them to check it over thoroughly first, and then correct any faults, before actually putting it in for its test. (They can't actually test it straight away anyway because they're not a test centre; they have to take it to a neighbouring workshop to get the test done).

You could reasonably argue that they should have done the service first but you'd probably have ended up VERY annoyed if they'd then found a major fault at the MOT stage, meaning that it was uneconomic to repair your car, as you'd then end up paying for a service on a car which was simply heading off to the scrap yard.

So, as I see it, since you didn't specify that you wanted a pre-MOT check carried out, the garage did the correct thing. It's not as if it cost you anything, since there's no charge for a MOT re-test (relating to a wiper fault) if it's carried out at the same garage before the end of the next working day:
https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/retests

[Jennykenny]

Thanks folks, but am still not clear if I can insist that the service is done before the MOT.
They didn’t charge for the second MOT, but somewhere, on record, is the fact that my car, at one point, failed an MOT, after 8 years of spotless records.
What is the legal point of view? An MOT must be done before a service???

[bhg481]

Of course you can insist but, as Buenchico said, how would you feel if you'd paid £a few hundred for a service and then be told it would need £thousands spending on it to get through the MoT?

[Buenchico]

>>> What is the legal point of view? An MOT must be done before a service???

Of course not. As I've explained above, I specifically instruct my garage to prepare my car for the MOT test before actually getting it tested. You're entitled to do the same, irrespective of whether or not you include a formal 'service' as part of that instruction.

[spathiphyllum]

service doesn't always cover absolutely everything for a MOT but it does cover windscreen wipers.

[spathiphyllum]

in my exsperience

[hc4361]

Jenny, it really does not matter that the MOT history will show a failure for such a minor thing especially as it passed on the same day.
It won't affect the future value of the car or put prospective buyers off.

[Buenchico]

If you want to read the exact regulations which MOT testers have to work to, see here:
https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/class3457/

(You'll see that there's nothing preventing work on the vehicle prior to the test being carried out).

As has been pointed out, it's annoying to pay for work on a car immediately prior to an MOT test, only to find out that the vehicle is a 'scrapper' anyway. It's similarly annoying to make the mistake that I did with my last car, of filling the fuel tank to the brim immediately before taking it in for its doomed MOT test! Oops!

[Buenchico]

You might actually find that your car has previously failed its MOT test but that the garage immediately corrected the fault and retested it straight away (without bothering to mention it to you). I've just checked on my own car's MOT history and found a couple of such failures mentioned:
https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

[hc4361]

That's happened to me, too, Buenchico. Headlights at the wrong angle, or something

[Jennykenny]

Thanks everyone.