Dubious Mot

[OJWM]

Hi all,

Recently had my '06 GS300 MOT'd by a London Lexus dealer. Rather upsettingly, it failed, because:

- Front offside shock has 'serious fluid leak'

- One headlight aiming too high

- One headlight aiming too low

I was also given advisories for an oil leak and a 'mist of oil' on the rear offside shock. VSR doc also advised of a collection of minor chips on my windscreen and recommended replacement.

I've taken my car back from Lexus now as they wanted £1300ish to fix it. I am increasingly perturbed by the MOT though as:

- Tester recorded car's mileage incorrectly by 3,000 miles

- I can't see any evidence of chips (even minor) on my windscreen

- Shock doesn't seem to exhibit any issues with a 'bounce test'

- A VSR performed by the same dealership a month ago showed no issues apart from low oil - somewhat changed now

Am I trying to find fault with an MOT that's probably right (prospect of having 2-4 shocks replaced might be responsible if so) or do you think I'm right to be dubious? Anyone had any experience of fail-happy Lexus dealers?

Very grateful of any thoughts.

[is200 Newbie]

I would not discard the advisories recorded by Lexus but I would take the car to an indie garage to put it through the MOT to see what it comes back with

Compare both results - if it comes back with a recommendation to do the shocks then they need doing but the others such as the oil leak and windscreen shouldn't be a failure from what you have described.

Are the headlight adjustments a big job with these cars auto aligning them electronically - I think they can initially be levelled manually and I think I have read that there's a procedure for resetting the levels of them - maybe someone on here can confirm this...

[steve2006]

You can appeal the result of an MOT with VOSA but you cannot carry out any repairs until they have inspected the car which could take weeks.

Perhaps take the car to a local independent garage and ask them to check the claimed leaking dampers, as for the headlights surely just a matter of adjustment ( some MOT garages would adjust them for free if required)

Windscreen chips are more critical in the areas swept by the wipers, if you can't find any I would query this with the MOT tester.

£1300.00 to replace a damper and adjust the headlights!

[OJWM]

Thanks gents :)

Took to my local garage to get a second opinion - shocks are indeed shot, so now looking to get all four replaced, which is fun.

To be fair to dealer (and clarify), the £1300 covered everything they'd listed as recommending sorting (x2 shocks, windscreen, oil leak inspection, headlights)... though the headlight adjustment (seemingly v simple) was £150 of that...

[is200 Newbie]

Was the windscreen ok?

[OJWM]

Didn't ask about that - was only an advisory on Lexus' own VSR (not the MOT). Also can't see anything wrong with it, so leaving it be for the moment - don't want another £250ish on top of £800ish...!

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