1 SITE FOR ALL: 13 June 2010

It's not the test fee but repairing the "fails" that usually costs a fortune. Yet little known council run MOT centres don't do repairs, so there's no vested interest to fail you and thousands report a massive difference. This step by step cheap MOT guide includes a full list of over 100 UK council test centres.

MOTs: the rules

Originally called the 'Ministry of Transport' test, now it's just an MOT. Either way, it's a safety and legal must for cars, motorbikes or any other vehicle.

It's your responsibility
The test information is held on a central database as well as on a paper certificate and it's the vehicle owner's responsibility to ensure their car's certificate is valid, not for them to chase.
When you need one
You need a test when the car's three years old, then once a year after that. Get a test the month before the current certificate ends and it'll expire exactly a year from that certificate's end date. Yet get it tested more than a month before the MOT's due and it'll simply expire exactly a year later. To get a reminder six weeks before your test is due, use the Tart Alert tool.
Always pre-book tests if your certificate's run out
If your car's out of certification, you can drive it to the test centre provided the test's been pre-booked. Plus, if it's failed the test to get the problems fixed, provided it's pre-booked you can take it to and from the test station to a repair centre. However there's still, obviously, a certain standard of roadworthiness the vehicle must meet otherwise you can be fined.
MOT test costs are limited
Companies cannot charge what they like for an MOT, there's an official maximum. Many companies promote cheaper tests, not that surprising when you consider that often this guarantees they get the repair business too. The maximum test costs are £54.85 for cars or motor caravans and £29.65 for motorbikes. For a full list see the Direct Gov website.

Do a DIY check of avoidable fails

Thirty five percent of MOTs fail first time, and far too many are due to a simple avoidable reason. Don't worry, this is common sense not mechanical sense, after all. Some of the fails you can sort yourself, others will need a professional, either way getting it sorted pre-test is usually cheaper, after all...
One in
five fail MOTs due to a bust light bulb, so walk round the car checking
the indicators and headlights are working front & back

One in
five fail MOTs due to a bust light bulb, so walk round the car checking
the indicators and headlights are working front & back

Beating The most frequent fails
Reason for failure	What % of MOTs failed	Checks to do beforehand
Lights		Are all lights fully working? Have someone sit in the car while you walk around checking every light... front, rear headlights and dipped lights, hazard lights and indicators. If any aren't working, buy a new bulb for a few pounds and replace it (it's easy in most cars, though a few do sadly make it more complex).
Brakes		Is there tension on the handbrake? Not easy to do yourself, and it will need a proper mechanic to fix. Yet if your brakes feel loose and unresponsive, or the handbrake simple slides up without resistence and can't be ratched at a set level, it's likely there's a problem.
Suspension		Check suspension. While a full suspension check is difficult, to see if the shock absorbers have gone, quickly apply your weight to each corner of the car then release. It should quickly settle back.. if not it's possibly a shock problem.
Tyres		Check tyre pressure. To check tyre pressure, look up what they should be, and take it to a petrol station to fill up. Check tyre tread. The tread is the depth of grooves that provide road grip, the legal minimum is a tiny 1.6mm (still enough to allow surface water to slip through which is the point). To measure this, take a 5p piece and turn it sideways (ie coin edge) and that is 2mm, so if your treads are deeper it's legal, if not, get them changed before the MOT.
Windscreen		Is the driver's windscreen damaged? Damage in the driver's central view should be no larger than 10mm and in the whole of the swept area it should be no larger than 40mm. If it is get it fixed pre test (often this is included by car insurance policies). Windscreen wipers? The front wipers are in the check and shouldn't have any splits, if they do replace before the test.
Exhaust		Is the exhaust leaking? To check, start the engine (in a well ventilated place, at normal temperature) and from the rear of the car listen for any unusual noises or abnormal smoke which might indicate a leak if it is get it fixed pre-check.
Licence Plates	-	Can you read the licence plate? Make sure the licence plates are clean and easily legible from 20 metres away.
Fluids	-	Are all fluids topped up? Check the brake fluid, windscreen washer and oil reserves.
The Rest	-	An all over once over. Make sure the fuel cap is secure, mirrors are in good condition, and seatbelts etc are all fully functional.
(1) Source RAC

For a full list of each check type for every vehicle, see the Direct Gov website.

Choose the right type of test centre

For cars with faults the MOT test fee is usually dwarfed by repair costs. While a cheap "MOTs just £20" promotion sounds good, it's irrelevant for those shelling out £1,500 to get problems fixed.

Worse still, a few dodgy garages fail components that'd pass elsewhere to generate business. One answer is council run MOT test centres, which don't do repairs, so have no vested interest to fail more than is necessary.

Yet they're not for everyone, the choice depends on how likely and how severe the repairs your car will need are. Of course there's no way to truly know this, but most drivers have a pretty good idea of the category they fit into.

Is your car in tip-top condition?
If your car is almost definitely in perfect condition and you'd be surprised if it failed anything, then simply find a local garage with the lowest possible MOT test fee.
Is your car in moderate to good condition?
If it's likely or possible that minor repairs may be needed, local council run centres come into their own. As there's no vested interest if anything fails, you can be 100% confident they're only for your own safety; and then you can go and get them fixed. See council run MOT centres below. It does mean there's a chance you'll have to pay a retest fee though.
Is your car in poor condition?
If you're pretty sure your car is going to need a substantial number of repairs, then there's a balance to be had. By going to a garage that does repairs you benefit from the convenience factor, and the fact there's no retest fee, but by using a council MOT there's a chance your car may fail on less points.
Perhaps the best solution is to call up a range of reputable local garages with the likely problems and ask for quotes so you can see who'll be best value.

Local Council MOT centres
Many local councils have their own MOT testing stations for council vehicles like buses or ambulances. By law these test centres (though not taxi or Crown stations) must be open to the general public, and as they only carry out tests, and don't do repairs, there's no incentive for mechanics to find faults that don't exist.

Having visited one of these centres, they told me that this guide had seen a four fold increase in members of he public visiting the centre. Better still, he said they were grateful as it secured their jobs in times of council cuts... good news as it means you're seen as a welcome customer not an annoying distraction.

Does it make a difference?
Thousands of savvy MoneySavers have used these test centres and the huge bulk report their cars either consistently passing the test or needing fewer repairs compared with MOTs done at other garages. Here are a couple of examples:

My usual garage said to make it pass its MOT, repairs would cost almost £1,000. Following the article, I took it to the council test centre instead and it passed without any work needed.

After having gone to my local Alfa Romeo 'specialist' it quoted £300 for repairs and told me a full service would cost £600, even though my car isn't due a service for another 4,000 miles. I then went to the Wandsworth council test centre who passed it without fault! It did mean I spent another £45 for the test but well worth it since I didn't actually need any further repairs to pass the MOT.

Is it a safety compromise?
This isn't about getting a shoddy quick MOT that passes your car. Council run MOT centres are often some of the best out there, and they run the safety tests stringently.

One MoneySaver tells how, after being quoted £700 for MOT repairs from his local dealer, he took it to his council test centre where it passed without any need for repairs. He then reported the dealer to his local Trading Standards department, which had it re-tested; it passed with no need for repairs. So he wrote to the dealer requesting his test fee be returned for 'non-compliance with the Road Traffic Act' and got a refund.
If you're not satisfied with the way a test has been carried out get an appeal form, either from the garage in question or from VOSA's MOT enquiries phoneline and VOSA will re-test your car. DirectGov has details on how to go about this.

It's not just council-run MOT centres
Quite a few private garages also only do MOTs and not repairs, and the same logic should apply. It should also be said there are of course many garages that do MOTs and repairs completely honestly and fairly and if you use one that's great.
Yet, if you're new to MOTs or not happy with what you get, then this is an alternative route. You can also check your local council's website to see if it has a list of vetted garages.

Retest Fees: If your car fails
If your vehicle does fail its MOT, then once the repairs have been completed it needs to be retested.
These can either free or discounted depending on where you had your vehicle tested in the first place.
Repairs done at the test centre? Retests are free when...
The retest is free if the repairs are done at the test centre and the vehicle's retested within ten days. It's also free if the repairs are done elsewhere and it's returned to the test centre by the end of the next working day. However to qualify for this partial re-test all the failure points must be on the following list:
Bonnet, boot lid, brake pedal anti-slip, direction indicators, doors, dropsides, fuel filler cap, hazard warning, horn, lamps, loading door, mirrors, rear reflectors, registration plates, seatbelts (but not anchorages), seats, sharp edges or projections, steering wheel, tailboard, tailgate, vehicle identification number (VIN), windscreen and glass, windscreen wipers/washers, wheels and tyres (though these last two are not applicable to motorbikes and sidecars).
One point of note though. While a vehicle may be taken away from the original test centre for repairs this doesn't apply if the problem is a dangerous one such as defective brakes.
Test done at a local council centre? Retests are up to half price when...
The re-tester can only charge up to half the price of the normal fee if the repairs are done elsewhere provided the vehicle's brought back to the original test centre for a partial retest within ten working days.
This applies to any test centre, but is primarily relevant in the case of local test centres. One partial re-test is permitted per full test carried out.