How to Find a Reliable local Car MOT Garage?

Maintaining your car is a very complex job that requires great dedication. Only when you buy a brand new car can you be sure that you will not have any problems for the first few years. But after that period, even if you bought the model from one of the most respectable manufacturers, various problems can start to appear.

It is for this reason that the authorities have passed a law that cars over three years old must pass a yearly MOT test in order to guarantee that they are fully functional. Since you have to do the MOT test every year, it is important that you find a garage that you trust and that you will do business with for years. We will tell you how to find a reliable local car MOT garage, and you can also apply these tips in general for the search for mechanics, not only in the case of the MOT test. It is necessary to have a reliable one, both because to know that you are safe in the car, and because of the money factor.

What do you have to know about the MOT test?

As we have already said, it is a mandatory test for all vehicles in the UK older than three years. There are over 20,000 authorized test centers, so the choice of where to take your car for inspection is very large. The MOT includes various checks and does not include the engine, clutch, and gearbox. You should definitely check the engine, clutch, and gearbox regularly. The test takes a relatively short time, but you need to know that if you fail it, you will not be able to drive your car out of the center until the repair can be completed. In other words, you can’t come in a couple of days, but everything has to be finished right away. So it would be best to set aside an entire day for the MOT, just in case. The price is around 50 pounds. Lights, suspension, and breaks are the most common reasons to fail MOT. If your MOT has expired, it’s illegal to drive so you have to be careful when it’s time to do the MOT.

How to find a reliable local car MOT garage?

Search local

The first thing you need to do is narrow down the selection to all those garages that are located in your area. It is very important that it is somewhere close for many reasons. First of all, since you have to do it every year, you don’t want to have to drive 100 miles and waste hours to finish something that’s done in half an hour. When the test center is a few blocks away from you, you will lose a maximum of two hours on the entire MOT. Also, it is good for it to be someone from your community, because they are less likely to try to deceive you. And of course support is always good local, so the money stays in your city. These are all reasons to start your search from your area.

Get recommendations

It is best if someone from your family or friend uses the services of the same car MOT garage. Then you will have the best insight into what awaits you there. If someone did a good job, was reliable and honest with many people you know, it is certain that the same will be with you. This is another reason to search local, as we told you in the previous paragraph. When you find a local test center, it is very likely that you will find someone who has already done business with them. But you certainly won’t find any recommendations from people you know about a garage located at the other end of the country.

Check online reviews

The most important thing is if you get a recommendation from someone you know, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check online reviews as well. Or it sometimes happens that even though you have chosen a local MOT garage, no one you know does a MOT test there. So it is time to go online and find all the reviews about them. It is important that most of the reviews are positive and that the general feedback is good, which means that no one had big problems with them. Reviews on the website are usually not very trustworthy, as no one will include bad reviews on their website. So search on Google and other specialized sites

Pay attention to the first impression

Although sometimes the first impression can be deceiving, still do not ignore it when you first get in touch with them, as well as when you first go to the garage. They should answer your call very quickly or after a few hours at the latest. If they don’t, it could be a yellow flag. Then when you go to the garage, inspect the situation. Of course, you shouldn’t expect everything to be as clean as if you went to the dentist’s office, but it’s important that they are kind and expeditious.

Make sure they have certificates and permits

The first thing of course you need to check is whether they are authorized to do the MOT test. Only when you determine that they are a legal MOT test center, then you can continue to further check which certificates they have. Although certificates are not the most important thing in this business, it is still good to have them because it means that some of the respectable organizations guarantee them. It is best that they are certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. And according to the experts from SimplyServiced, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency is the only agency that can issue a license to perform the MOT test.

Conclusion:

You will make a big mistake if you decide to choose the cheapest test center. As we have already said, the price is in the range between 40 and 50 pounds. So if someone asks you for 15 pounds instead of 50, you are likely to regret your decision to save. If it sounds too good to be true, keep looking for another garage because they probably use the cheapest parts, have no accreditation, and the like.