BM08

(Sorry bit of a read)Basically took my car to be MOT'd on wednesday and it failed on emissions, very odd for a car that runs sweet and is well looked after(i thought).

So the garage that looks after my servicing etc got to work to see what the problem was, they changed the CAT and checked all the sensors etc, could not find anything wrong, so he said i should take it into Honda because they have better diag machines, so fair enough i thought(even if it was a ball ache for me) so i take it to Honda and they tested it and it passed with flying colours, emissions are great and everything is spot on.

So ive now paid however much it was for an MOT(didnt pay yet) at the garage, and then £75 for Honda to simply tell me your car is spot on and it didnt fail.

For your interest the garage said it failed badly with a reading of 3 point something, and Honda told me lambda 0.970 and co reading of 0.002.

Oh yeah and it was tested by the garage 4 times and each time it read WAY over(apparently)

So what do i do? am i within my rights to complain and ask for my test money back(at the least)? or cant i ?

Thanks

BM08

Ps. the garage who failed it are NOT the people who look after my servicing and changed the CAT.

cossie4i+

iTrader: (15)

You said you had the cat changed after it failed the 1st MOT

Steve

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

Tell the MoT place what Hondas findings are, and if they contest it complain to VOSA 0845 600 5977

H7 CYA

iTrader: (3)

I don't see why not i mean you've got the proof that its passed at reputable garage, although they might argue that you have fiddled with the car since taking it from the garage?
I would just go in there with your proof and say look its passed here at a main dealer i cant see why there's a problem here?
Maybe there machine is on the blink?

H7 CYA

iTrader: (3)

Oh i missed the bit about the cat being changed, they will argue that's why its passed now

foxy06

Bit confusing mate, you say it failed then your mechanic chaged the cat and checked sensors etc, if he changed the cat i would think this is why it now seems right?

Spiky

iTrader: (1)

exactly

why change a cat if it ISN't faulty?

BM08

Yeah the CAT was changed and retested, it still failed just as badly

BM08

Sorry guys there was alot of info to add, it was long enough to read as it was

BM08

as above mate, all was checked/changed and it still failed...............

Nothing was changed from when it went(in its failed state) to Honda and they passed it

H7 CYA

iTrader: (3)

So the garage that failed it changed the cat and it still failed on their machine?

It's Czech Mate

Is it Fwd?

foxy06

Ok mate, so it went for a retest after the cat was changed and your mechanic checked it, i see now, didnt mention that earlier.

If this is the case and Honda passed it where Garage X didnt, as stated earlier you can contact VOSA to report the incident as the machine may be over calibration period etc.

BM08

I took it to my usual garage, and then they take it to the MOT place round the corner, so basically if anything needs doing the mechanic will take it back and sort it for me and then go back and retest.

The two places are a different business

BM08

Yeah ill do that for the sake of you and everyone else who gets an MOT test on their cars BUT Honda want £75 for work which i didnt even need, and its the MOT stations fault. Im not happy at all

I wouldnt mind but im away from 2pm today until monday so the hissy fit will have to wait until then

matts1

You got of lightly.

I took an escort for an mot and it failed on:

Leaking exhaust
tyres
welding in one small spot - imo not required was hammer proof solid and non structural
Back brake pipes - not added until AFTER the mot and hand written on before i left?

Miffed at the break pipes and welding picked up I replaced the tyres, sealed the exhaust and took it elsewhere and it failed on:

4 area's of apparent major corrossion - NONE in the area picked up before?
wishbone
front spring fractured
exhaust
emmissions
Front brake pipe - NOT a mention of the back ones?

When I collected it the guy seemed put out that I didn't want them to do the work??!!??

Two places and tow very different lists of things wrong, can't remember everything but you get the gist from the above lol!!

Not to say this was the case, but both places seemed to want to try and keep the car there for work and had asked if it had mot before it was taken down and had told them it did not. Meaning it had to be pre booked in and driven by someone with the correct policy or trailored so may have thought it would be easier for me if they did the work and passed it.

BM08

What a load of bollocks



Also i forgot to mention it also had some fuel/injector treatment in aswell(whilst it failed)

I just spoke to the guy and he said he reckons i cant do anything about it because he put the injector treatment etc and he said its possible that could have cured it and is the reason why Honda passed it the following day?

But would the reading go from really bad to spot on just by sticking some injector stuff in?

DALE 77

The garage that failed it on alot compared to the other, did it seem empty & quiet by any chance?? You will prob find they were pulling a fast one..

the garage i used to work at yrs ago did that when buisness was slow near all cars booked for mot was to fail.. needless to say the got shut down..

KWICK FIT is another one.. I do all work on my motors But the one time i was working away and my mrs punto sporting had a bad crack in the ex manifold,so she took it to kwick fit they charged her over £100 for a replacement when i came back home i thought id take a gander and found it had been welded & not replaced as the bill said..

St3V3_C

I've had a car that had been sat on idle for the whole MOT test, then failed emissions by a lot. Took it for a rant around the block and it dropped to a 10th of the allowable.

Cat's need to be proper hot to work - this could be the trouble you have had?

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Sounds as there trying to pull a fast one, what was the MOT place like, not Kwik whip?

So you have a new CAT which it seems you didn't need.

Martin

ajamesc

vosa can only do anything if u leave the car there when they say its failed and take an appeal from if u remove it from the test station u will not get anywaer

matts1

The garage with the big list was a so called mate of mate, and so get the impression that he thought the work would just get placed with him.

He even started to go on about 'only a few small bits, I have parts here blah blah"

The first place added the break pipes when I said I would be taking it away to get the bits done saying 'those brackets will break off when you try to change them and need welding so will need to get all the work done in one place"

Shites, gave it to a local chap in the end who did everything on it and got it passed.

saph4be

vosa can,t get you a refund any way seems to me the injector cleaner worked think you just gonna have to suck it up this time mate

kosman

my emmisions are fucked,told my mate to kick fuck out the car before he takes it in

GAZ W

Get mike brewer or ed china on it , get them to change the gear linkage it may have something to do with that

Pob

Same happend to me years ago, i didnt report them f''kers though

They claimed my cat was fooked, so i took it to another garage who checked it free of charge (told them what happened) Emissons were spot on, so i took it back for a retest....failed it again. They still claimed the cat was kyboshed. I was young and an idiot so i didnt contest/report em.

nicksaph

mot computer will not let you log on a mot if any of the tools/machines are out of calibration.

you are allowed to remove the car from the mot station and vosa will look at any appeal as long as the car hasn't been repaired, so having the cat changed would deem the car to be repaired,

BM08 have you took the car back for its retest since honda rechecked the emmissions?
and like other people have said make sure the cat is red hot befor the retest

BM08

sorry not been at a pc until this evening.

Nope the car will go back for a retest on monday, and im going to be there to see the result, should be interesting

jammerrs

as said probally just the cat not being hot enough.

you drove it to a local place, and i guess steady because its going for its mot, then you went for a long drive to a main dealer in which time its warmed up

studabear

First decent reply

OP, can you put up your emission readings from the failed emission test?

mozzy

I took my mums old k reg vitara for an mot a few years back, emissions failed miserably yet everything was spot mechanically bar a very slight blow in the exhaust, the tester advised changing the exhaust as this could be the cause, 4 hours later i went back and it failed again, I was stood chatting to the tester while he was disconnecting the emissions detector and noticed he had clicked on the "1992> suzuki vitara 1.6i cat" when right above it was, "1989>1992 suzuki vitara 1.6i NON cat"

I asked him why he had clicked on the CAT option as ours did not have a cat as it was manafactured in march 1992 which was before it was compulsory to have one, he said anything from april 91 had to haver a cat byn law and i argued and said that im sure it was like april 92 and that ours is as it left the factory and i a, sure a manafacturer would know a fair bit more about was legislation than he did it turned into an argument and i threatened to call vosa (and to tell the taxi company i worked for who took all thhere cars to him for repairs not to use him) he then reluctantly retested using the correct option and guess what , it passed with flying colours.


to the op what year is your car and check they are actually using the right option on htere screen for vehicle type and also if it is one that is modern and uses reg no to bring up make and model check it is right make and model on his screen ( i had this on my old st170 he put reg no in and tested then it failed but he spotted that for some reason even though reg was correct the database said my car was a 1.25 fiesta )

mozzy

but then like BM08 said it has been retested and failed by same garage SINCE changing the cat

studabear

I would like to see what the readings were,

ProjectBobcat

Could it not be possible that the injector cleaner (im asusming something like redex) was burning off crap and producing some shite, especially if it was fairly concentrated in the tank. I remember pouring it down my carb back in the day and producing some right black shit as it burnt off what i would asusme were carbon deposits etc.

Someone else mentioned a mot fail, personally as an owner of a older car there is no way id let a car go in for mot with things like broken springs etc or even go for its mot without me being present whilst its being done. The cost of 4 cheap car ramps is bugger all and lets you get a good view of the underside and check for corrosion/exhaust holes/bust springs etc before it goes to be tested. Just my opinion tho

studabear

its not just old cars I fail loadsa newish stuff on springs, insecure cv boots etc, some older cars are in better condition

wirralphil

It's RWD get your facts right.

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

what difference does it being fwd or rwd make?

dojj

iTrader: (3)

he takes it to garage a for an mot
it fails
he takes it to his mate's garage who changes the exhaust and cat
he takes it back
still fails
he then takes it to honda
where it passes
takes it back ot the garage and it fails again

yes?
no?