I took my BMW for its MOT yesterday and it sailed through apart form failing on the handbrake, as it wasn't applying enough pressure to the rollers
Its an easy fix which would take me half an hour to reset the shoes and adjust the cable however I am working silly hours at present so asked the mechanic to adjust them for me and retest the car as he said this would be £40 and he could do it the following day and retest and pass the car. I drove the car home (1 mile) and parked the car on the path.

It went in today for the adjustment / retest and I received a call 20 minutes later from the mechanic stating he has noticed a brake pipe leak from the rear pipes, right next to where the car was jacked up on the ramps to check the rear wheels
He even stated that there wasn't a leak when he tested the car yesterday. I was present at the MOT inspection and was under the car ramps a bit with the mechanic as he is a decent chap, who I have used several times. We both checked the brake pipes as I wanted to see if they needed greasing due to any corrosion. No leaks were present at the time of the MOT
After the phone call I went outside and I noticed one 10" spot of brake fluid on my path where the car was parked overnight, immediately after the time it was MOTd so to me its obvious the leak has been caused by accidental damage at the time of the MOT
When he rang me I didn't click that the damage must have been caused when he did the MOT, and told him to sort the pipe out and retest the car as I need it for work tomorrow and knew he wouldn't pass the MOT unless it was fixed

I am certainly going to be presented with a retest MOT fee and a handbrake adjustment which is fine, but im anticipating a bill of £80 for fixing the brake line which I am certain was damaged by them, but cannot prove it, and haven't raised this with him yet
Im collecting the car at 9.30am Wednesday with expectation of an MOT certificate pass

What would be your stance when I turn up to collect the car tomorrow and get presented with the pipe fix part of the bill? - FL2 3.2 i6 - There is no Replacement for Displacement

If my wife ever sells my stuff for what I told her I paid for it, there will be some bargains out there!

Your word against their I am afraid. Ultimately I don't think you'll get anywhere. Had a similar thing happen at a LR main dealer which dunked by side steps. I asked, it was denied, end of story.

Last edited by Legoman on 10th Sep 2014 6:38 am. Edited 1 time in total

I'm an MOT tester. Phone the garage straight away and tell them not to undertake any work on the vehicle as you are going to contact VOSA and lodge an appeal on the grounds that a vehicle has not been tested correctly and a defective testable item has not been noticed. VOSA will examine the vehicle and will know whether the tester missed that item or damaged it during the test. Either way it won't be good for them - incorrect decisions get them penalty points. Penalty points could mean a loss of license. You could be really mean and tell the garage that you will be letting VOSA know that the tester let you under the ramp during the test as we are not allowed to even talk to the vehicle presenter during a test as you may become distracted and, I don't know, cause them to miss a damaged/corroded brake pipe or something!

You could come straight to the point and say to them that you believe they your car during the test and you want it put right free of charge including the handbrake repair and retest fee. I'd bet my house that they will fix the pipe free of charge - they would at the place I test vehicles at.

Here's the form to fill in if they don't.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/syst..._VT17_.pdf

There are many more appeals for vehicles that pass the MOT than fail it. It's called a retrospective appeal. You can appeal within one month of the test for all testable items accept corrosion which is three months. It can be a bit of a faff to appeal but believe me, no garage or tester wants to go through that process.

Thanks Steve D very useful info
The work has been carried out to the brake pipes as I told them to fix it when he rang to say there was a leak after I dropped it off for a retest

Does this mean I can't threaten with VOSA? Should I ask for the piece of brak pipe as evidence that has been replaced, or am I wating my time because the job has already been fixed? - FL2 3.2 i6 - There is no Replacement for Displacement

If my wife ever sells my stuff for what I told her I paid for it, there will be some bargains out there!

Leave it go I would for the small amount it cost you. Life's too short  * GONE. GS TD4 Manual MY2013. Orkney Grey with privacy, cold and clearview packs, armrests (a must!) and a spoiler.
* 2011 4.4 TDV8 Full Fat. Amazing piece of kit.
* GONE.2012 RR Sport HSE SDV6 Orkney Grey. Rocket ship. 33mpg.
* Range Rover Classic '93 200Tdi Factory fit
* 1949 80" in family since 1975

Why not just talk to the tester in a friendly way and see what he says.

Not everyone is difficult and repeat business is not always easy to get .

Just be nice

I also was an mot tester many years ago and always put maximum force on the brake hydraulic system something an average owner would never do there must have been a week ness there before which became evident after being tested as you said said you looked at pipes etc with the tester I think I would just be thankfull it needed a retest!

Well, there's not much that can be done now as you have repaired it so as others have said, just suck it up! As others have said, maximum pressure could have played some part in it. I have personally had two pipes and one hose burst during the test in 35 years of testing. If you are going to complain, you have to ask yourself whether if its worth the bother of ruining your relationship with the garage/tester if it was just one of those things.

All responses taken on board thank you
After collecting the car this morning and pointing out the possibility that it was the the testers error and fault we mutually agreed that blame couldn't be confirmed

Rather than be a nark we agreed on a bill of 60 quid for retest, brake pipe fix and handbrake adjustment in order to maintain an ongoing relationship in return for a fresh MOT

Many thanks to those forum members that made suggestions - FL2 3.2 i6 - There is no Replacement for Displacement

If my wife ever sells my stuff for what I told her I paid for it, there will be some bargains out there!

Just popped back to say a friend of mine has a volvo with over 150,000 on the clock, never failed an MOT test until the last one.
The MOT people said a propshaft had play on it and needed replacing at several hundreds of pounds. He thought it strange as he always has a mechanic he trusts check to over first. So he called his mechanic back and he found the 4 bolts on a flange joining two section together had been loosened. Now I, my friend and mechanic after finding this say no way can a car with that mileage on it has bolts so loose they could be undone by hand, they would be well rusted up.

So never ever trust any MOT tester as in this case they were trying to scam my friend .

Always get an independent mechanic to do a pre MOT check first.
Anyway as soon as a car leaves an MOT test station the MOT is worthless , you can,but shouldn't change the plates to show plates- darken windows or even black out rear lights as examples or going silly disconnect the brakes, Yet the car will have a current MOT certificate . The whole MOT thing is a complete farce Ex 2010 Freelander2 GS-e Diesel manual Silver owner

leesbay wrote:

Rather than be a nark we agreed on a bill of 60 quid for retest, brake pipe fix and handbrake adjustment in order to maintain an ongoing relationship in return for a fresh MOT

A very fair and reasonable outcome especially as you still have a working relationship with them.

leesbay wrote:

All responses taken on board thank you
After collecting the car this morning and pointing out the possibility that it was the the testers error and fault we mutually agreed that blame couldn't be confirmed

Rather than be a nark we agreed on a bill of 60 quid for retest, brake pipe fix and handbrake adjustment in order to maintain an ongoing relationship in return for a fresh MOT

Many thanks to those forum members that made suggestions

realspeed wrote:

Just popped back to say a friend of mine has a volvo with over 150,000 on the clock, never failed an MOT test until the last one.
The MOT people said a propshaft had play on it and needed replacing at several hundreds of pounds. He thought it strange as he always has a mechanic he trusts check to over first. So he called his mechanic back and he found the 4 bolts on a flange joining two section together had been loosened. Now I, my friend and mechanic after finding this say no way can a car with that mileage on it has bolts so loose they could be undone by hand, they would be well rusted up.

So never ever trust any MOT tester as in this case they were trying to scam my friend .

Always get an independent mechanic to do a pre MOT check first.
Anyway as soon as a car leaves an MOT test station the MOT is worthless , you can,but shouldn't change the plates to show plates- darken windows or even black out rear lights as examples or going silly disconnect the brakes, Yet the car will have a current MOT certificate . The whole MOT thing is a complete farce

I take mine to a place that only does MOT tests they do not do repairs so it is not in their interest to make faults