At the end of June I took my car for its MOT at the local garage i have always used. I leave it before work and collect it after so dont always see the mechanic. He passed my car with nothing having to be done. BUT... Only two weeks later I needed 4 new tyres - one was completely bald , two were extremely worn to the point they were splitting and my spare was not only the wrong size tyre ( too big ) but the wheel was the wrong wheel!!! Oh and he failed to notice my brake light wasnt working. Now surely these are all checked on an MOT? He has now sent me the bill for £30 - which to be honest I dont feel like paying , if he didnt check the basics what else didnt he check?! In fact , how do i know he tested it at all - he could have just signed the certificate. Has anyone else been in this senario before or does anyone have any advice about what i should do. Do i report him to someone?

Dont really know what to do - some ideas would be great!!
Thanks , Kate

http://www.motuk.co.uk/mot_testing.htm

my dad has been an mot tester all his working life.the tyres are part of the mot along with alot of other items.this garage and tester should be reported.each tester has to do a test every 5 years to prove to the dept of transport they are still up to scratch regarding the testing of cars. this is also the new rules regarding the bits of the cars on the mot.
the tester should be suspended and have his license taken of him till he proves that he can do the job and the garage can be stopped from doing mots all together.
at the end of the day it is up to you how far you want to take it but it would be your word against his that it wasn't checked correctly.
dept of transport may tell you to have the car re tested and ask you for all the info you have,if the car is to be found with a major failure on the testers part that can't happen over night then it will prove you are correct.but keep all the paperwork so you have proof you have reason to doubt the test carried out.

What if you disagree with a Test Result? 

Do not carry out any repairs to your vehicle.

If you think it has wrongly failed;

you must complete an appeal form (VT17) obtainable from any MOT test station or the Inspectorate and return it to one of our offices within 14 working days of the test along with a full test fee.

They will then offer an appointment within five days to recheck your vehicle. If your appeal is successful some or all of the test fee will be refunded to you.
 


If you think it has wrongly passed:

you must let them know as soon as possible. They will then offer an appointment within 5 working days to recheck your vehicle (without charge) provided not more than 3 months has elapsed since the time of the test for a corrosion defect.

or up to 28 days for other defects

The address of your local VI office is displayed in the MOT test station and can be found on their website under HGV and PSV Annual Tests as Local VI Test Stations.

A few years ago my car failed because it had a broken door handle. If I'd taken the door off apparently the car would have passed its MOT as there is nothing that says a car has to have a door!

This man should really be stopped from giving out MOT's. What if a car has an accident and someone is killed because he'd passed it? I couldn't live with that knowledge.

Not really relevant to the query posted here,but I can never understand why a spare tyre never comes into the mot,after all if you get a flat that is the one that will be used?? so if it's unsafe or bald surely you are breaking the law? I suppose they will think to include it eventually.
As to the 'illegal' mot I would most certainly report them,because even though the mot really only applies to the day of the test,something as bad as bald tyres and faulty lights should definately have been picked up on and as you say how much else did they miss? quite worrying.Luckily my eldest son is a fully qualified mechanic and he does all of our services and we take our car to a good reputable garage for the mot's,where we know the test is very thorough,maybe not the cheapest place around with some garages offering free mot's with service or cheap rate mot's but at least we have peace of mind.
Jacqueline

I think spare tyres don't come into it because it's not compulsory to have one. If there is one, then it should be legal.

I think you have that the wrong way round - its compulsary to have one, but it can be flat - bizarrely!

Just a thought, but did you know they were in this condition when you had the MOT done.  They shouldn't have deteriated that much in two weeks, and regardless of the MOT tyre condition is an all year round owner responsibility.   The reason I mention whether you knew they were in this condition when it went for it's MOT is are you sure the mechanic passed it with those tyres.  Some years ago I had all my tyres stolen and replaced with bald tyres (in broad daylight in a busy street).  Not sure when it happened the first time as I noticed them getting in one day and was appalled that they had become bald so quickly and I hadn't noticed.  Feeling guilty got the whole lot replaced immediately.   Barely three weeks later I came back to find my car had another set of completely bald tyres on.  I was not amused and realised the first lot had been stolen too. 
If he is passing cars that are faulty then he should be reported, but is there a possiblity that he may have passed it with a different set of tyres on the car!  If you have used the garage before have they been reliable in the past?

With regards to the spare tyre issue.....

You do not need to have one...however if you have it must be road legal.....I just aks F.i.L.....ex Chief Inspector of Police....

I stand corrected - just stole this from The AA

Spare tyres There is no legal obligation to carry a spare tyre and it does not have to comply with the legal requirements while it is stowed away. However, when fitted to the vehicle (for example, following a puncture) it must then comply with the law. A spare tyre is not a testable item in the MOT test, though the examiner may draw your attention to an unserviceable item as a matter of courtesy.

write it up under advice instead of fail point.