Halfords - MOT

G

gannet

Lifer
 Surrey
MOT due on the Mazda shortly...

Halfords are currently offering them half price... just wondered if anyone has prior experience with them?

Alternatives would be kwik-fit @ £30 or national tyres @ £35..

Thanks in advance :D
 
My local tyre shop, who i have used for 5+ years charge £28.50, up from £27 last yr!!

I know ranski used halfords, didnt pickup his aftermarket hid kit!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The official MOT fee is currently £54.85

We had our previous car MOT'd at a local tyre dealership last year, as they had an offer on. This was the car's first MOT and they failed the car on the side lights not being bright enough, even though we had replaced the OEM bulbs with much brighter LED ones. They wouldn't compromise on their failure decision and also told us that we needed new rear tyres and front brake pads, when there was over 4mm left on the rear tyres and the service report from the main dealer showed that there was plenty of life left in the brakes from a service a month earlier.

I'm now even more cynical of the likes of Halford's and Kwik-Fit and would be wary of them specifically finding the tiniest thing to fail your vehicle on the MOT with a view to generating extra work/revenue for themselves.

We now take both of our cars to a local independent test station which has a great reputation and pay the full fee, knowing that they are not going to screw us over.
 
I use a local small tyre/exhaust/repair place who only charge £35 for an MOT - really looks after me and labour charge is around £30 an hour - passed the zed recently with no advisories , serviced our Fiesta for £99 including plugs ,air filter, oil etc , just passed our 23yr old campervan again today - if you have a trustworthy local garage I'll stick to them! Bought two front tyres for the zed a month or so ago from National Tyres - did a brilliant job and not a mark on the alloys so would trust them although I suspect all their centres vary depending where they are.
 
I would never use a Halfords or Kwik fit type organisation to do my MoT's. The reduced rate is a loss leader from which they will generate business.

Call me cynical, but there is too much temptation to seek a fail for the new business opportunity of fixing it, be it just wipers, tyres, bulbs, pads, etc. where innocent public just have it done whileon site and end up with a bill and MOT certificate.

Trusted my local garage at normal rates and probably put 30-35 MOT's though him in the last decade without issue.
 
Use a local that's recommended , def not some kid that should b working in McDonalds (no offence if anyone does)
 
Guess that's why I asked - loss leaders etc.

Having said that I took the Z4 to national tyres last year and it passed even though one of the horns wasn't working...

andicole0 said:
We've been using http://www.justmots.eu/ (South east only though). No fear of dubious repair requirements.
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actually that'll work - Crawley is only 6.5 miles away :thumbsup:

they're offering £38 too ;)


Just one other question - date required for 1st MOT is 3 years from 1st registration rather than 1st of the month it was registered?
 
I've used the JustMOT's place in Crawley in the past and as has been said above, there is no incentive for them to "find a fail" as they don't provide any repair services.
 
cj10jeeper said:
I would never use a Halfords or Kwik fit type organisation to do my MoT's. The reduced rate is a loss leader from which they will generate business.

Call me cynical, but there is too much temptation to seek a fail for the new business opportunity of fixing it, be it just wipers, tyres, bulbs, pads, etc. where innocent public just have it done whileon site and end up with a bill and MOT certificate.
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I'd agree with that 100%.
 
gannet said:
Just one other question - date required for 1st MOT is 3 years from 1st registration rather than 1st of the month it was registered?
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Yep, 3 years from Date of First Registration. If you don't know the Date of First Registration , plug your details in the dvla site here - click on the vehicle enquiry option, and then enter your reg and manufacturer.
 
markeg said:
gannet said:
Just one other question - date required for 1st MOT is 3 years from 1st registration rather than 1st of the month it was registered?
Click to expand...

Yep, 3 years from Date of First Registration. If you don't know the Date of First Registration , plug your details in the dvla site here - click on the vehicle enquiry option, and then enter your reg and manufacturer.
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here I was thinking I'd have to wait until I get home :)

So if I was to get it done before that date, does the next due date become a year from date of MOT or from the date of registration...

eg, 1st Reg 5th Sep 2009
MOT done 1st Sep 2012
next MOT due: 1st Sep 2013 or 5th Sep 2013...

not that it matters much, just like to know :D

thanks :thumbsup:
 
Year from the date of the MOT usually. There is meant to be agreement that you can get it done up to one month previously, and it preserves the anniversary date. However, you will need to speak to the MOT centre about it as they can 'forget' :roll:
 
I use my local Halfords for the MOT offer on three of my cars of MOT age including the Z4 with no failures and only a couple of very reasonable advisories in two years. I do maintain my cars and prep' them for the test making sure any points are done beforehand e.g. changing the discs & pads, replace wipers etc on the Z4 (I tend to mention these points when I leave it with them) and I think it helps when they see this.

Halfords Bridgwater Somerset :thumbsup:
 
markeg said:
However, you will need to speak to the MOT centre about it as they can 'forget' :roll:
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Not any more they can't, since it all became electronic. The renewal date will automatically take into account any unexpired time on the old certificate.
 
rhys4 said:
There must be somewhere better than Halfords
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Better in what respect? It's not a service, they are inspecting a limited range of components against a published spec, the vast majority of which are visual and could be done by the owner. I'd guess most MOT failures on these cars are going to be tyres, bulbs, wipers, light adjustment, brakes or a suspension bush none of which is high-tech rocket science.

Why pay someone twice the money to do a check-box inspection? The outfit I referred to are straight in my experience which is good compared to some BMW dealers etc mentioned by Forum-ists in the past.
 
gannet said:
markeg said:
gannet said:
Just one other question - date required for 1st MOT is 3 years from 1st registration rather than 1st of the month it was registered?
Click to expand...

Yep, 3 years from Date of First Registration. If you don't know the Date of First Registration , plug your details in the dvla site here - click on the vehicle enquiry option, and then enter your reg and manufacturer.
Click to expand...
here I was thinking I'd have to wait until I get home :)

So if I was to get it done before that date, does the next due date become a year from date of MOT or from the date of registration...

eg, 1st Reg 5th Sep 2009
MOT done 1st Sep 2012
next MOT due: 1st Sep 2013 or 5th Sep 2013...

not that it matters much, just like to know :D

thanks :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

If done on the 1st your MOT renewal date will become the first there after for it's first MOT IIRC from mine.
 
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