mike@mjpauto Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Now that we are in the month when the first UK cars are heading for MOT time, take heed of the experience of a Scottish customer of mine - Having taken his car to the local main dealer, he got a call to tell him it had failed on pad wear and disc rotor thickness. They quoted in excess of £1000 to carry out the necessary work. Slightly bemused, he took the car away and sought second opinions. The pads were found to have plenty of life, the discs, although slightly ridged, were well within specification and an MOT was obtained elsewhere without trauma. To add insult, he discovered that the retail price of the discs had been bumped up by almost £100 a corner on the quote from the main dealer and that on his service they had charged him £36 for the general purpose mineral oil supplied across the Nissan parts counter for about £12! It is my opinion that Nissan will be looking to generate some return on their sales from MOT work, so make sure what you are being told is really necessary. My own MOT is tomorrow morning - NOT with Nissan, suffice to say... Quote
stevie_350z Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 I also have no intention of using Nissan for future work - My dad took his micra in for a service... one dealer quoted 800, then next one...wait for it... 2000! Two grand to have his micra sorted (half of that was labour) when a local garage did the lot (well, the work that really needed doing like "replacing a washer") for 250. Arse! Edit: and before anyone says not using Nissan might affect "future value" - how much difference will it be, and will that difference cover the ridiculous dealer fees. Quote
lomoto Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 took mine for an MOT yesterday, had well run out (forgot all about it ) needless to say no probs... mind you the guy was a little suspicious about the number plate bolt postion Quote
Stew Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Name and shame the Nissan dealer! It'll save anyone else going there! Quote
mike@mjpauto Posted November 3, 2006 Author Posted November 3, 2006 Stew - I can't comment, but I can tell you that you live in the same area as my customer!! Quote
Kuro Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Don't most dealerships just farm the MoT's out to other testing stations..? Subaru did this all of the time, and I can't remember seeing the MoT logo in any of the dealerships I've visited... Quote
AndyC Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Depends on dealerships own view - whether they want to go to the expense & training of being an MOT testing station. I'm pretty sure my dealer are Quote
Stew Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Stew - I can't comment, but I can tell you that you live in the same area as my customer!! Well I'm guessing that'll be the same dealer that I will no longer let work on my car after a falling out and jut generally being crap! Always nice to know though thanks. Quote
mike@mjpauto Posted November 3, 2006 Author Posted November 3, 2006 Passed my MOT this morning BTW - no emissions problems with high-flow CATs and headers, no requirement for working headlamp washers... Quote
lomoto Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Passed my MOT this morning BTW - no emissions problems with high-flow CATs and headers, no requirement for working headlamp washers... yep same for me Hi flo's Nismo system, CAI and kinetix plenum.. no issues with emissions Quote
Stew Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Passed my MOT this morning BTW - no emissions problems with high-flow CATs and headers, no requirement for working headlamp washers... I thought with Xenons you had to have working washers.... Excellent that the mods didn't cause a problem. Quote
lomoto Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Passed my MOT this morning BTW - no emissions problems with high-flow CATs and headers, no requirement for working headlamp washers... I thought with Xenons you had to have working washers.... Excellent that the mods didn't cause a problem. no, not an MOT requirement on any car... see here http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic ... s&start=15 Quote
M13KYF Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Now that we are in the month when the first UK cars are heading for MOT time, take heed of the experience of a Scottish customer of mine - Having taken his car to the local main dealer, he got a call to tell him it had failed on pad wear and disc rotor thickness. They quoted in excess of £1000 to carry out the necessary work. Slightly bemused, he took the car away and sought second opinions. The pads were found to have plenty of life, the discs, although slightly ridged, were well within specification and an MOT was obtained elsewhere without trauma. To add insult, he discovered that the retail price of the discs had been bumped up by almost £100 a corner on the quote from the main dealer and that on his service they had charged him £36 for the general purpose mineral oil supplied across the Nissan parts counter for about £12! It is my opinion that Nissan will be looking to generate some return on their sales from MOT work, so make sure what you are being told is really necessary. My own MOT is tomorrow morning - NOT with Nissan, suffice to say... Name and shame the dealer! Quote
Dan Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 It is my opinion that Nissan will be looking to generate some return on their sales from MOT work, so make sure what you are being told is really necessary. Nissan won't benefit from MOT work ( other than parts sales ) and it's not down to Nissan what fails and what doesn't - this is entirely the opinion of the MOT tester who is most likely an employee of the dealership and not connected with Nissan at all. It is possible he has been instructed to be very strict by his employers, but it's his neck on the line if he gets caught out failing things unecessarily or passing things which should fail. It's also a bit of a grey area as MOT testers are only human and opinions differ. What we have to bear in mind is that main dealers are used to looking at nearly new cars whereas most independent testing stations are used to looking at much older cars. To the main dealer an 80% worn disc is nearing the end of it's life and needs replacing, whereas to the other guy it still has 20% left and might last a few more months. On top of all this is the compensation culture we now live in where the customer would have the dealer in court if his brakes failed a couple of months after the MOT test... I'm not defending the dealer, I'm just giving another point of view. Quote
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