Audi free MOT woes

[subby]

Hi,

Had my 'free' mot today at audi, and was told the car was very tidy and overall very good condition, but failed on leaking power steering pipe.
Pipe from compressor to the rack ? I was told by the nice lady....

Quoted aroud 150 for the pipe, and i think about 200 all in for it fitted.

Normally i would have repaired this myself, as i have done with all my cars but i dont have time to book it in elsewhere for another MOT, and i need the car back asap.

So i just said yes over the phone.

Was that a silly thing to do ? Should i be asking to see the new and old pipes etc ?

I check all the levels weekly and i dont think the fluid was going down, but as i say i need the car back so had to let them do it.

Is it a big con to make money from the free mot - can they really lie or should I just accept I had a leaky power steering pipe ?

 

[jq_quint]

Well I know someone who has just left an audi dealer and she used to work in the service depo and let out to me and the missus that the service depo had targets to set on a monthly basis and these targets were made up of mot items and out of service items....Very dodgy... It enoyed me immensly, but I bet all 'main' manufacturers are doing it !
You gotta ask yourself why would a garage offer a free service?
Sorry for sounding negative but I always feel fleeced at any garage...

 

[S3 Nattie]

They wanted to charge me £27 for an indicator bulb lmao because it was the wrong colour. Drove a mile and got one for 75p.

 

[rossbrownlee]

Subby did you have the free MOT or did you sign up for the £49.99 MOT protection scheme?

 

[jq_quint]

I guess another thing to bear in mind is in the last 18 months or so new cars aren't shifting and they need the income from somewhere.... (still stinks!)

 

[subby]

Subby did you have the free MOT or did you sign up for the £49.99 MOT protection scheme?

was just the free mot.

Im going to ask to see where the old pipe has failed. If something isnt right, then i will ask questions. However because i already agreed to the work being carried out yestarday, i dont really have a leg to stand on either way, but i do want some sort of evidence that the pipe was leaking.

 

[fingermouse]

well did audi actually do the MOT themselves ???? a lot of them farm them out to local garages. My frre MOT went through a dream. you can only hope they have spotted something and saved you a breakdown in the future.

 

[Andy_S3]

Had my free MOT in Jan and didnt pay a penny, I was expecting an estimate for thousands for work that didnt even need doing but it went through fine.

 

[Road Razor]

It's a gamble at the end of the day with Audi's free MOT. If it passes you breathe a sigh of relief, but if it fails you could rack up a fortune in costs. Audi see a money making opportunity without a doubt.

I was expecting failures due to the age of my car but I'm very glad that it passed this year's MOT.

If you fail an MOT and have the repairs done elsewhere, Audi will charge for a retest.

 

[Pat J]

Had my free MOT done on Saturday and car passed but they gave me advisories for the rear discs and pads being worn and ther rear beam bushes starting to deteriorate. Ironically I am having these sorted today anyway so no worries.
If your audi is under 7 years old you can pay the extra £29 (down from £49) for cover of work/parts up to £750 (think you pay the first £10 towards this) so worth thinking about.
I know a couple of guys at work who've not had any problems either when their cars have been done.

 

[JS1500]

If your audi is under 7 years old you can pay the extra £29 (down from £49) for cover of work/parts up to £750 (think you pay the first £10 towards this) so worth thinking about.

Do you have a link to more info about this?
I've got until January before my car reaches 7 years old!
Cheers.

 

[GT130]

I had that pipe replaced outside of Audi and it cost getting on for 200, the part is expensive as there is a connector on there - if it's been advised then its worth getting done to prevent hassle and being let down at a later stage (I had to replace both pipes and the steering pump in the end at a cost of four hundred odd!!!)

 

[1animal1]

you need to ring them to make sure they dont throw the part..... otherwise you know the excuse that will ensue

This is exactly why they offer these freebies

 

[thegoal007]

Additionally, i think the car needs to have been properly service stamped in it's life to qualify for the free mot. So I would presume that if you have serviced the car yourself and just had the normal mot every year you would not qualify for a free one (?).

 

[subby]

no-one ever asked me that once during the booking process or anything - but it has fsh anyway, partly audi, partly specialist.

Ive got the car back now, and they did show me the old pipe (alot bigger and fiddly than i thought) - and described where it was leaking, and it was wet, but that doesnt really mean anything - but i guess at least its got a new one now.

Its quite a common problem aparantly ?

 

[s3_kev]

an MOT should be done to the ruels anyway its not like a service where they ******** you about knackered bushes etc.. its not in there interest to say something has failed if its not as your in the right to complain to vosa and then if the fault is found not to be a failure then they get big points which in turn can loose you your MOT lisense also the guy doing the MOT gets points and can loose his lisense so its not in his interest to do the garage any favours either

 

[subby]

thats good to hear!

 

[fingermouse]

my car hasn`t got a Full service history as I service it myself and I got the free MOT