Kwik Fit for MoTs?

[Partridge]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone here ever used Kwik Fit for an MoT? My Jag will need doing soon, and most of the places I've used seem very anti-old car around here and condemn anything old to death unnecessarily. 

 

What about Kwik Fit? Used them for an air-con re-gas and they seemed OK and didn't try and sell me anything else which was a nice change, or spot any work that "needed" doing.

 

Has anyone good any good/bad experience with them for MoTs?

 

 

[twosmoke300]

Open the yellow pages on the garage section - close your eyes and stab a dart into the book . Phone that garage , you will do better choosing an mot centre that way than going to Kwik Fit - seriously .

[Heidel_Kakao]

Never used Kwik Fit but I have used a few different Halfords for my last few MOT's and they were fine. I had assumed they would fail and try and sell me lots of repair work. £35 if you book online. I get the impression if you turn up in an old car they either assume you can do the repair work yourself or are just genuinely decent. This was for the Corrado and 940.

[Kiltox]

Do you have any centres that just do MOTs?

[twosmoke300]

Be carefull of kwik fit cheap mots if you go in for a 30 pound test then they say the restest is half fee . Not half of 30 though , half of the full 50odd that is the max price now . They fail everything so you will pay 55 at least .

Dont do it .

Places that just do mots are good but make sure its a free retest or a fail on some bulbs / wipers means its isnt cheap any more

[oldcars]

I would'nt, mates have been charged £££ for stuff that may not have needed done.

[inconsistant]

I use Kwik Fit for MOTs, Halfords for spare parts, Sports Direct for shoes and Philip Green for pension advice.

[Sir Snipes]

Kiwi fit testers are the same as any other vosa tester.

[johngarty]

Avoid like the plague. You will end up with your MOT but not before you have been dry bum shafted with your wallet repeatedly.

[alcyonecorporation]

No, no and no. Then no again. Go down the road. Still "no".

 

Bring it up to me and we'll get it done at the place Captain Slow uses.

 

Kiwi fit testers are the same as any other vosa tester.

Right, yeah - and they're under no obligation at all to push further work on the customer. Heaven forfend.

[johngarty]

Kiwi fit testers are the same as any other vosa tester.

[twosmoke300]

Kiwi fit testers are the same as any other vosa tester.

But under massive pressure to upsell by their direct bosses .

[Stanky]

Partridge, are you residing on the south coast? If so PM me and I can recommend a place over Botley way (not Silverlake) who only do MOT's and not remedial work so have no vested interest in failing you then charging for the 'fixing'

[richardthestag]

brief google says that mumsnet (fucking lol) pistonheads and moneysaving expert say 

 

 

I did get a really good deal last month on tyres for my Range Rover and home fitting from them which was 5star.

 

There is a lot of press about upselling schenanigans for which I am bright enough to tell them to jog on should the need arise.

 

Not happened to me though since the last time I used Kwikfit and vowed never to again** 15 years ago "shouldn't really let you go out on these brakes"

 

** I am driven by a good deal and got that this time around

 

HTH

 

Oh and I use a local family run garage for all my car MoTs firm but fair

[nigel bickle]

Kwik Fit royally mugged my wife whilst I was hospitalised, replacing dampers, discs and pads on a car that had new shocks and brakes 3k prior.

 

I was too ill to do anything about it, but we will NEVER enter their premises again.

[Cavcraft]

Would sooner shove all my cars off Beachy Head and set fire to my bollocks than use Kwik-Fit-Up ever again.

[Lankytim]

Back in the day I took my mk3 Granada to my local Kwak Fit because the exhaust centre section has broken, it was going to cost about £40 odd to supply and fit the needed pipe. Got a phone call the next day to say they couldn't get that particular pipe so I'd need a complete new exhaust for £150 odd. Really annoying and almost certainly horse shit but what can you do. They rang back half an hour later "your alternator needs replacing, it's another £100, we're just doing it now" Like fuck your are. If I turn up and you've fitted an alternator I'll treat the exhaust and alternator as a free gift and just take the car, "but you need an alternator" wouldn't take no for an answer. Anyway, turned up to take the car and they hadn't fitted an alternator so I paid for the exhaust and left. Chancing bastards. Car caught fire a few months later because of water in a fuse box. POS.

[Partridge]

Right, that's a pretty comprehensive "no".

 

Stanky, I am down South (for now) but the Jag now spends most of it's time in Cambridgeshire (don't ask).

 

Thanks Alcyonecorporation, I'll give ye a shout. Didn't think of that.

[Skut]

A long time ago they tried to convince me that my Panda had engine oil in its braking system rather than brake fluid. Got a second garage opinion who gave me a quizzical look and declared it was perfectly ordinary brake fluid.

 

I remember the Kwik Fit dude had letters tattooed on his knuckles. Usual psycho schizzle, death/love etc.

[smellypoo]

I'll buck the trend here. I've used Kwik-Fit a few times over the years and I guess I've been lucky enough to have had decent service off them, nothing in the way of upsell, they just did what I went in for. It's a big network so there are bound to be some good sites and some bad ones, just go with your eyes open.

 

The MOT has to be done to the same standard in any test centre so if you know what you're talking about/looking at, should they fail your car unfairly (or pass it while there's an obvious failure point on it), a complaint to VOSA or whoever it is to appeal the failure should bring them into line. A bit of a ballache to go through I'd imagine, but the garage probably won't want you to kick up a stink if you threaten it if required.

 

AFAIK all MOT centres should have an 'MOT Viewing Area' as well so you can watch the inspection taking place (if I'm wrong on that, please let me know! Every MOT place I've used has had one) and you can watch over them which should mean they're less inclined to 'discover' or 'invent' faults/extra work - particularly if you tell them upfront that if they find anything of concern you want them to show you the issue there and then. 

 

I tend to use my local Mr Clutch, who for the past 4 years of living in this area have always done me well on MOTs - £27 a pop with an online voucher or usually attached rather handily to the reminder letter they send me. Now as a chain, they also get a bad rep but the local branch have had good reviews (last time I checked anyway) and the staff have been the same (well the manager and the MOT Tester) every time I've been there. 

[Roverageous]

I’ve had very mixed results with kwik fit. Anlaby road is Hull is atrocious - don’t even contemplate it.

 

However... the big kwik fit in Aylesbury are brilliant. My car has gone there for the last two MOTs and passed both times, this time just with an advisory for brake pipes which is duly deserved. They actually had car for 3 days last week because I wasn’t happy with the suspension but they couldn’t find anything wrong - no charge and free laser wheel alignment.

 

 

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[wuvvum]

Can one actually easily appeal a fail?  I've seen the procedure for complaining to VOSA if your car has passed and you don't think it should have, but not t'other way around.

[Dick Longbridge]

Slight tangent - they're ok for air con regas work though, I assume? Daily needs* doing (* Mrs AT is getting grumpy in the heat + long journeys regularly at the mo), and there don't seem to be many options here in sunny Kernow...

[smellypoo]

Can one actually easily appeal a fail?  I've seen the procedure for complaining to VOSA if your car has passed and you don't think it should have, but not t'other way around.

 

Yup - sorry, I should have done a web searchy thingy for my earlier post. Here's a link:

 

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/problems-with-your-test-result

 

Edit: it's not VOSA, it's the DVSA (I didn't know there was a DVSA, apparently they replace VOSA. They do the same thing. Why do they keep changing the names/acronyms?!)

[beko1987]

+1 for mr clutch, well, the Maidenhead branch anyway! Seems to be run by a sound group of lads rather than a chain.

 

Ive used kwik fit once for an air con regas, that went fine and they didn't upsell anything, I probably got lucky (headington branch). That said they took 4 hours to do it, but that wasn't bad as it was the hottest day of 2015 and the place was icy cold, and I drank them out of free coffee, and was halfway through the hot chocolate by the time they got done!

 

My stepdad has to use kwikfit for tyres by company car rules, some of the tales he tells are funny*. On his last Zafira (that I used to properly clean for him) they fitted a tyre the wrong way round as I found out whilst putting tyre dressing on and seeing the 'inside' label. It had only been on for 5 months, he left it iirc as it was doing fine and only had 2 months lease left

[Eddie Honda]

Edit: it's not VOSA, it's the DVSA (I didn't know there was a DVSA, apparently they replace VOSA. They do the same thing. Why do they keep changing the names/acronyms?!)

Because the VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency - the MOT and bus/lorry operator people) and the DSA (Driving Standards Agency - the driving test people) got combined.

[Bren]

I used to use them occasionally but not since I got a free oil and filter change with their insurance.

 

The gormless apprentice spent an eternity looking at the oil filter before declaring he could'nt change the filter in case the plastic housing broke.

 

I took it that they only changed metal canister filters then.

[Guest]

Whoa there chaps. I was a tester for Kwik Fit a good few years ago. Although I was a tester already they sent me on the MOT course, which was actually longer and more informative and helpful than the VOSA course at the time. I was never under pressure to sell anything. An MOT was an MOT,the fail/pass sheet was handed to the customer and the manager did the rest. Kwik Fits are all run as independends,with the manager responsible for their branch and staff, so if you have had a bad experience,it's down to them.

 

When you are a tester you work to VOSA/DVSA guidelines,and they clamp down HARD on any waivering from this. No matter who you work for. The rest is down to the induvidual tester.

[twosmoke300]

I've seen some shocking mot fails from KF over the years and with borderline criminal ( more than main dealer prices for budget parts ) quotes to go with them .

[Guest]

I've seen some shocking mot fails from KF over the years and with borderline criminal ( more than main dealer prices for budget parts ) quotes to go with them .

Then they deserve everything they get. Big bosses take a very dim view of this- at least they used to. Manager gets profit share though, so greedy manager, rip off branch.