And bent mots still available ?!! All my late 80s places have long since gone!
It's to dodgy if you ask me, I prefer to know if my cars are safe
While I agree there is also "dodgy" in both ways. I have known of testers to be a bit too harsh with the car, beyond what the manual itself describes and incredulous testers fail a car for that.
As an example of such failures:
-Wheel bearings showing play ; I'm not a far either but taper bearings require a tiny amount of play for longevity, unlike the modern sealed units ; I actually remember a tester telling me to be careful when I told him I tightened my wheel bearings!
-Using a screwdriver vigorously across a sill instead of the MOT tool (yes, I know the tool is useless)
-Failing a car for a non-working reversing light (that's not a testable item. A handy item yes, but not testable)
-Doing the emissions for the wrong year against the car ; some cars are unable to pass the older specs, which is why changes were made later to carbs, ignition, breather systems and so on .
-Failing bulbs gone when the MOT allows for up to 50% (it may be 70% but I can't remember!) of the bulbs on one cluster/bulb to be working ; XJ40 owners with twin lights will know what a bugbear this can cause (the light modules went into a failsafe mode from the factory, leaving 2 of the four front sidelights working).
I could carry on but you get the point. Sure, I am all for good steering, good tyres, and a car that is not a rotbox, but it seems with some that if they can see a way to make a few quid more (generally the £15-20 MOT stations) they will.
Why is everyone agreeing that the car is a wreck and saying go get your money back?
First off, a 2003 Mini is like a grand. Fit for purpose yes, at a grand, TS will laugh you off the phone for those faults. Only proving a dodgy MOT would interest them.
The bonnet is still closed on the far side. One of two catches aren't working, and the latch is. Ropey, perhaps. MOT fail, no.
Headlight is in bonnet. Held by three nuts IIRC. Easy to happen. Easy to fix. Not worth fetching the keys to take it back, do it yourself.
Jets? Tenner for some used ones. Again, what did you pay for the car?
New wipers are a fiver. They may have worked fine for water clearing. Not the nicest practice by the garage, but unless they had fitted brand new ones I would have advised to replace as soon as you bought the car anyway, along with the full service and tyre check.
Do an HPI and/or get it inspected by an expert re. accident damage. Anything else is just a complete guess, and could be anything. Could be untouched.
While I agree I have also previously bought a crash repaired car off the register for that money. It was a pain to realign if I am honest it was never perfect. Yes it could have been made better with outside help but for the cost and hassle I may as well have bought another car.
Life's too short to be dicking around with cars whose purpose is to get you from A to B. OK, I know some people like tinkering no matter what, but having the M3 off the road for a week (valve clearances & waiting on shims) really did annoy me ; cancelling things, missing out on good opportunities (A bargain of an Integrale I couldn't view! Yes I could have got the train to the sticks but a lack of holiday days prevents me from going at a sensible time).