DannyBoy Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 ...that the new-style MOT now includes a thorough test drive by a 17 year-old spanner-monkey? This wasn't something I was aware of until yesterday, when I saw my own car drive past the house (at some speed) with the work-experience kid behind the wheel. I took it to the local indy garage just for an MOT as it's walking distance from my house, and I even said during a conversation about the HFCs that if they needed properly warming up to pass emissions (the only possible reason for driving a car during an MOT) then they should ring me up and I'd take the car out for a spin and do it myself. I always reset the trip odometer when dropping it off at garages just out of habit, and so after seeing the car go past my house I was expecting to see a few miles when I got the car back; nine miles, NINE frickin' miles of joyriding WTF would make someone think that that was OK? If you can't trust the village indy anymore who can you trust? On another note the car passed with flying colours except for low tread advisories on all 4 tyres which are only about 15,000 miles old, do RE050s wear this fast? DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Bar Kid Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 WTF??? That's so wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 That's pretty good for a set of tyres on the Zed. I quite like it when a garage takes my car out for a bit to make sure there's no problems, but that's just me. Also there's no point resetting the odometer as they can just reset it again after they've driven it, you need to be writing down the actual mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cragus Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Did you not pull the garage up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gball1973 Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Completely wrong but the Zed can't be tested on rollers for the brake testing, so should be tested on the road Stongly worded letter the the garage owner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R35LEE Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 No good Danny, but they all do it especially the likes of kwikfit etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Completely wrong but the Zed can't be tested on rollers for the brake testing, so should be tested on the road Exactly. How would you like them to test it? 9 miles is nothing, gives the car a decent shakedown too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Completely wrong but the Zed can't be tested on rollers for the brake testing, so should be tested on the road Stongly worded letter the the garage owner? Why can't it be tested on the rollers? Had mine in April and brakes were done on the rollers like any other car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 The tyre tread has probably been worn due to wheel spinning off lights and over zealous cornering. I'd ask for a fresh set as they were new when you put them on He's probably been caught speeding too via a camera or two. I'd rather trust a grown adult driving my car but not the sweeper come tea boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Completely wrong but the Zed can't be tested on rollers for the brake testing, so should be tested on the road Stongly worded letter the the garage owner? Why can't it be tested on the rollers? Had mine in April and brakes were done on the rollers like any other car. It screws up your LSD or something like that. I believe it's in the handbook! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyBoy Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Completely wrong but the Zed can't be tested on rollers for the brake testing, so should be tested on the road Exactly. How would you like them to test it? 9 miles is nothing, gives the car a decent shakedown too. I wasn't aware the Zed couldn't be roller-tested, but a 9 mile round trip is hugely excessive given the location of the garage. You could do a trip to the next village through a bit of 60 limit and back again inside 4 miles (I used to do the trip on my bike pretty regularly). I reckon I know exactly where he went; there's a new bypass road a few villages away (it's the fens, there are villages everywhere) which is wide and straight for about a mile, so basically a drag strip. That would be about a 9 mile trip. I didn't actually say anything to the garage. When I picked up the car I made a point to ask if the cats needed a spin to warm them up or if they passed ok (giving them the chance to own up) and the guy said they just let it run for a bit and they were fine. Given that they were happy to lie about it and i had no proof, I didn't see the point in kicking up a fuss over something that had already happened when I have several mutual friends with some guys who work there (neither of whom were there yesterday) and it could potentially cause awkwardness in a small village. I just won't be going there ever again. If it was something like Jez doing a shakedown run after doing some actual work on it I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest, but you just know this wasn't the case. It always seems to come back to a lack of respect for other people's things these days. DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I reckon I know exactly where he went; there's a new bypass road which is wide and straight for about a mile, so basically a drag strip. That would be about a 9 mile trip. I didn't actually say anything to the garage. When I picked up the car I made a point to ask if the cats needed a spin to warm them up or if they passed ok (giving them the chance to own up) and the guy said they just let it run for a bit and they were fine. Given that they were happy to lie about it and i had no proof, I didn't see the point in kicking up a fuss over something that had already happened when I have several mutual friends with some guys who work there (neither of whom were there yesterday) and it could potentially cause awkwardness in a small village. I just won't be going there ever again. DB Jeez, fook that mate, I'd have gone through the roof. Especially if they fibbed as you say - and you'd already made it clear that you'd be the one warming the cats When my garage did the MOT brake test they asked me to drive as I was sat waiting anyhow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cragus Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Completely wrong but the Zed can't be tested on rollers for the brake testing, so should be tested on the road Exactly. How would you like them to test it? 9 miles is nothing, gives the car a decent shakedown too. Firstly, I would expect the MOT tester to road test it as it is him who is qualified to decide on the road worthiness of the car in question. Secondly, I would expect them to do it within the constraints of the law - not the YTS lad whoring it past my house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gort Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Completely wrong but the Zed can't be tested on rollers for the brake testing, so should be tested on the road Stongly worded letter the the garage owner? Why can't it be tested on the rollers? Had mine in April and brakes were done on the rollers like any other car. It screws up your LSD or something like that. I believe it's in the handbook! viewtopic.php?f=9&t=42203 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I would expect them to at least let me know they are taking it out. Whenever I hand my car over for any reason to a garage or the like I always take a quick snap of the dash readout with my phone, mileage etc. you could always reset the mpg readout too to see if they are thrashing it! But shakedown? I can do that myself, I would be annoyed if a garage handed it to some kid to thrash about town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 A guy i know who works at a large chain of garages managed to write off a customers' M3 when he lost it on a roundabout after hooning around. He was telling me about it like it was a funny story and that he was proud if it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 As asked, did you ask the garage why this had been done? I would have of gone BANZI....... NO spanner monkey has a "go" in my car, only Jim...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 My MOT tester always asks me to take the passenger seat for brake testing, plus they have a route they use for the shakedown and to listen for any unusual noises Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 As asked, did you ask the garage why this had been done? I would have of gone BANZI....... NO spanner monkey has a "go" in my car, only Jim...... But not any more eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 As asked, did you ask the garage why this had been done? I would have of gone BANZI....... NO spanner monkey has a "go" in my car, only Jim...... But not any more eh? Thank god....eh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 As asked, did you ask the garage why this had been done? I would have of gone BANZI....... NO spanner monkey has a "go" in my car, only Jim...... But not any more eh? Thank god....eh Oi I am still here .... albeit a little distant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 As asked, did you ask the garage why this had been done? I would have of gone BANZI....... NO spanner monkey has a "go" in my car, only Jim...... But not any more eh? Thank god....eh Oi I am still here .... albeit a little distant Ermmmmmm.........wheres Wally...... You know we love you Canadian Freaks eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 My REO50As lasted about 25k I think, the rears were getting a bit excitable by then mind you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stretch Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 My mum worked at the local Nissan dealership from the mid seventies until the mid nineties and if a 300ZX came in the mechs would be queuing up to test drive it, bet it's the same now with the 350/370Z. When my mate was an apprentice mech many years ago one of the desirable cars of the time was a dolomite sprint. One of his colleagues eagerly sped out of the yard taking one for a test drive and crashed into a stationary lorry which had just arrived for inspection. He said all you heard was an almighty crash accompanied by a wheel trim rolling round the corner closely followed by an ashen faced mech asking 'who left that lorry there?' Unfortunately mechanics love driving customers fast cars, an age old pastime I'm afraid. Another pal who used to man a signal box next to a level crossing rang me to say my old 200SX had just raced past his box and thought it'd been nicked. Funnily enough it was at a garage up the road have the remote locking fixed, didn't realise that particular fault required a test drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 nine miles VOSA recommends 2 miles, but that isn't a hard and fast rule unfortunately. As far as the rollers go, 4wd definitely a no-no, 2wd with lsd, well a lot of garages will run the test with both rollers running rather than taking them out on the road, saves time apparently I asked about this at my last MOT. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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