Took the Mazda through its Mot today, my first. £360ish is the damage, new pads & discs, new wipers and a couple of bulbs needing replaced. Handbrake needed work too.
Not too bad, not the best. I'll take it on the chin.
£360’s pretty cheap for pads and discs when labour’s included as well. Presumably that included the test fee as well?
If you can in future years, look at the consumables yourself a week or two before taking it for the MOT. Wiper blades, light bulbs and tyres. If they need replacing, sorting it out yourself before the test will save you cash.
Aye I knew they were needing done (brakes), and where to go to get them for a good price, I just forgot/didn't bother myself to get off my arse and do it. Next year I'll definitely plan ahead. I knew I was gonna get gouged a bit going to Kwik Fit, but I needed it done today or tomorrow, and I booked the mot last night on their website. Convenience won this time.
Kwik Fit are alright for stuff like that tbh.
Better than paying for someone more knowledgeable to do basic work.
Just don't get their "Free Winter check" things, that is where they make their money. Free test but you can bet your arse they find a couple of hundred quids worth of work to do.
Yeah even this morning I saw a few regatta fleece good housekeeping types being "advised" on winter preparations for their 4x4 suv vehicle that never, ever goes off road. Avoid.
As always, it’s just about keeping your wits about you.
I’ve had ‘specialist’ garages try to fleece me on MOT day just as readily as Kwik-Fit etc. A few years ago one place tried to fail my car on the basis that the indicators didn’t self-cancel when you straightened the steering wheel. That’s not even part of the official test, so I told them to get to fuck and reported them to the DVSA.
Hopefully we won't get stuck in the desert anymore three times in the same spot.
Has been good fun so far, specially when we drove it onto the highway right after buying and the front part of the top came off and slammed back. (it's supposed to do that, just not while driving. Service hadn't secured it properly after B took a look at it)
Yeah we're in California Goober. Apparently one of the better states to buy Jeeps, as there's not much chance of them being rusty. And we're in Orange County, most Jeeps here get sold to 16yo, since bumping into walls and going over curbs isn't as big a problem with this one.
And yes Dino, soft top. Think we had about 3 requirements, soft top, manual and 2 door. I tried to make orange, yellow or red also a requirement but those are hard to find, and the Jeep looks fine on gray too.
It's a 2010 model with about 88k on it, so the resale value should still be good in a couple years. Think that starts to go down after 200k. Was the biggest surprise with the Cruze, that one dropped a lot, so we're lucky we could sell it to a friend. He bought it for the current bluebook value, and is ok with the cosmetic damage it has. The front is really low and has hit plenty of asfalt in dips or rocks / curbs that mark the parking spot.
New cars, go for it.
Let the gentrified actually answer. Wherever I have lived it has always been rich old boys in their retirement Jaaaaags drink driving.