OK, I admit it, I am a clueless woman, 300TDI MOT Failure help please?

Well I'm back, all depressed and with my tail between my legs as I have just had a call from my local cheeky chappy garage to say my N plate 300TDI Denis the Disco has failed his MOT.
He has failed on sills? and both rear arches? welding required, quote of £225 inc labour and VAT. OMG that is a massive amount. The thing that is bugging me is that last year it flew through with no advisory thingys and it has done just over 4k mileage in the last year!
If I dont get it done so the MOT will expire will I be breaking the law leaving on my drive? Do I need to tell anyone like the DVLA? If it does need doing I could maybe do it in the new year after Christmas has passed/had time to save up the money and I will just learn to love public transport for a while.
The garage that failed it are not the same one that flew it through last year....should I take it back to the other garage and keep my fingers crossed? I asked the question about why it would have degraded so much in a year and whether I should try and take it back to the same garage as last year and they said that it is plain to see now because they have been poking about in there and it can not be missed. Also had a few queries that I wanted to them to look into but they can not find anything obvious so I am guessing you lot will have more of a clue.

Car drives perfectly for days and days then I take it down the round to my local spar and it wont start for 5 minutes, it turns over perfectly, starter motor doing what is should, suspect something is overheating because everytime after 5 mins of leaving it be, it starts like nothing has happened. Not related to hot weather because it did it yesterday when it was peeing down, weather seems to be irrelevant. Silly sensor somewhere?

Boot door, door keeps jamming/getting stuck/handle hard and can not be squeezed. The garage say they have oiled it and everything looks fine, I fetch it home and it is fine for a week and then it goes again, this has happened three times, not such a pain in the arse apart from the fact all the door inners have to come off, speaker, handle etc.. and that takes ages. When they take the door card thing off, they just push a brass thing up with a finger and the door opens and then they open and close it loads and loads constantly and it is fine until I am in Asda's car park with a trolley full of food and then Denis decides to play funny buggers!

Anyway, I know there are some experienced men on this forum who can advise me what to do and perhaps I can shock the garage by displaying my knowledge and then I wont feel so taken advantage of.

domino666 said:

Well I'm back, all depressed and with my tail between my legs as I have just had a call from my local cheeky chappy garage to say my N plate 300TDI Denis the Disco has failed his MOT.
He has failed on sills? and both rear arches? welding required, quote of £225 inc labour and VAT. OMG that is a massive amount. The thing that is bugging me is that last year it flew through with no advisory thingys and it has done just over 4k mileage in the last year!
If I dont get it done so the MOT will expire will I be breaking the law leaving on my drive? Do I need to tell anyone like the DVLA? If it does need doing I could maybe do it in the new year after Christmas has passed/had time to save up the money and I will just learn to love public transport for a while.

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£225 is quite reasonable and most Discos will need welding done at the age they are getting to. I reckon you are getting off light because most will need Bootfloors plus front arches.

domino666 said:

The garage that failed it are not the same one that flew it through last year....should I take it back to the other garage and keep my fingers crossed? I asked the question about why it would have degraded so much in a year and whether I should try and take it back to the same garage as last year and they said that it is plain to see now because they have been poking about in there and it can not be missed. Also had a few queries that I wanted to them to look into but they can not find anything obvious so I am guessing you lot will have more of a clue.

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I would not recommend taking it back and getting a dodgy MOT. It is not funny when the body departs from the chassis when going round a corner.. Lookinto getting the Disco undersealed or do it yourself. You could do it in a weekend for under £70 and it will save you money in the long run.

domino666 said:

Car drives perfectly for days and days then I take it down the round to my local spar and it wont start for 5 minutes, it turns over perfectly, starter motor doing what is should, suspect something is overheating because everytime after 5 mins of leaving it be, it starts like nothing has happened. Not related to hot weather because it did it yesterday when it was peeing down, weather seems to be irrelevant. Silly sensor somewhere?

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Unsure - Could be Alarm Spyder?

domino666 said:

Boot door, door keeps jamming/getting stuck/handle hard and can not be squeezed. The garage say they have oiled it and everything looks fine, I fetch it home and it is fine for a week and then it goes again, this has happened three times, not such a pain in the arse apart from the fact all the door inners have to come off, speaker, handle etc.. and that takes ages. When they take the door card thing off, they just push a brass thing up with a finger and the door opens and then they open and close it loads and loads constantly and it is fine until I am in Asda's car park with a trolley full of food and then Denis decides to play funny buggers!

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Could be the lock spring? Couple of quid off ebay and a pain the arse to fit! (Even more so if your hands are like mine )

Cheers Mseries3 for your quick response. Luckily the boot floor was done by the previous owner so that is all good for now. I only wish I was a Charlene from Neighbours type female mechanic but I am a single woman who only knows how to put petrol and windscreen washer stuff in so any DIY jobs are whoooosh over my head. Like the idea about the not starting being something to do with the alarm though, noone has mentioned that as a possibility before at the garage so will ask that question.

Nowadays the MoT station actually logs into the Dept of Transport computer at the DVLA when they are carrying out the MoT, so all will be logged. I think when you go back for a 'retest', the computer automatically brings up the failure sheet so that any garage can then carryout the inspection. As stated above, it sounds very reasonable for the work thats being done. With regards to laying it up, if its taxed there are no notifications required, but if the tax expires, then you will have to SORN it. This can be done on-line or at your local post office, or even call them.

domino666 said:

I am a single woman who only knows how to put petrol and windscreen washer stuff in so any DIY jobs are whoooosh over my head.

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You do mean diesel don't you

When they have tried mending the tailgate lock have they prised the LR badge off the outside, poked inside with a screwdriver and sprayed WD40 in? That's the usual fix. A broken spring usually means the button doesn't come all the way up when you unlock the door. The door stays locked until someone pulls it up from the inside and then you can open the door as usual.

As Mseries3 said that's not a bad price for the welding and once the MOT has run out you can't take it on the road until you have it repaired and then drive it back to an MOT station.

If the weather wasn't so bad I'd offer to come round and do the welding for you, I have done the same jobs on my car, but there's a too much rain forecast this weekend to be able to work outside

its worse than that as you now have no valid MOT so you can now only drive it to or from a place of repair or MOT station..even though there time left on the old ticket the failure makes it un roadworthy..sorry same thing happened to me when I thought I'd get an early ticket.

225?
thats is quite good!
well.. depends on how much rust there is and how much welding is going to do... at that price I would think its not too bad and the work to be done is minimal...or else would be well expensive!

[JP];907336 said:

225?
thats is quite good!
well.. depends on how much rust there is and how much welding is going to do... at that price I would think its not too bad and the work to be done is minimal...or else would be well expensive!

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It's not a bad price, but if you aint got £225 sitting around then its a lot of money to find

Thanks all so far, Richard, when they have done the boot door before they have climbed in via the back seats into the boot, taken the door card, speaker, internal handle off and just touched a brass arm up and it is done, literally. When it jams there is no other way, we have tried getting in and opening it from the inside, messing about with the key fob thing, using the key, pushing and pulling, wiggling the locking thing that sticks up all sorts. They then stick some oil on it (not WD40 as he said that was crap and would make it jam up again) and it works for a week or two and then it goes again.
Its temperamental like a woman!

As for the £224 quid, its Christmas pressies for family or the car and at the moment guilt means the presents are winning the battle.

Gutted that I cant take it to the other garage to have a bash at getting it through the MOT though but at least I am not doing anything illegal but just leaving it on my driveway.

PS diesel is the tipple of choice for Denis and I havent luckily made that petrol instead of diesel mistake.............. yet!
Still always call it petrol though.

domino666 said:

Thanks all so far, Richard, when they have done the boot door before they have climbed in via the back seats into the boot, taken the door card, speaker, internal handle off and just touched a brass arm up and it is done, literally. When it jams there is no other way, we have tried getting in and opening it from the inside, messing about with the key fob thing, using the key, pushing and pulling, wiggling the locking thing that sticks up all sorts. They then stick some oil on it (not WD40 as he said that was crap and would make it jam up again) and it works for a week or two and then it goes again.
Its temperamental like a woman!

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Mine's only jammed up once, the advice on here was to prise the LR badge off the outside of the tailagate handle and use a screw driver to release the catch and then make sure it is lubricated. I did that and its never jammed again. Its certainly an easier way of sorting it than taking the door card off, may be you could try it next time. If it does it repeatedly then I guess something is worn or broken and the only way to fix it will be to take it all apart and compare it to a known good one.

£225.00 for welding is a good price.

As for the rear door problem, I hate to say it but have you looked carefully at the hinges and what they are attached to? It has been known for the rear door to stick/jam because the main supports have rotted away. If the boot floor was replaced, this is a possibility so get somebody to have a good look and a prod with a suitable pointy object to make sure it isn't corrosion that is the problem.

ask yer familiy and friends to each give you a tenner for xmas instead of those horrible smelly things they usually give ya and spent the money on a nice MIG welder, a small grinder and some under seal

i had similar work to do on mine, learnt to weld in the process, with what sean described(welder borrowed), and a friend to show me, all in cost me £40.00, did my inner wings too, as my confidence built.
if you can get some help on here, i'd royally recommend it.

When It won't re start: have you tried getting out, locking it with the keyfob (arms alarm) unlock with the keyfob (disarms alarm and immobiliser), then start as normal.
This works everytime with my N reg.

1st off stop with the "Im a useless girlie" act it's annoying.

right as Sean says get your family to give cash and start from there.

right Im off to find another beer

hi 225 for 12 months motoring cheap

DOMINO666. Get your old jeans on and have a scrabble underneath to make sure the MOT garage is not just fishing for work in these unsettled times. If welding is needed then there should be holes in the sills and arches and no sharp edges on the exterior.

Nigel1943 said:

DOMINO666. Get your old jeans on and have a scrabble underneath to make sure the MOT garage is not just fishing for work in these unsettled times. If welding is needed then there should be holes in the sills and arches and no sharp edges on the exterior.

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I've had a couple of MOT failures because of corrosion and the tester has always marked the spot with that yellow or white marker stuff and then when I have collected the car they have shown me the spots. This is at a couple of different places and they have shown me without being asked to. My advise to anyone would be that if your car fails for corrosion (or anything else for that matter) is to ask the tester to show you the hole (or demonstrate the play in the steering joint or whatever)

On the MOT: I have a local garage that was quite good, they used to advise at each test any work that may be required during the following year. This stopped a couple of years back and sure enough both my cars failed the test at first attempt. The problem is the garage are able to carry out the repairs so it's in their interest to fail. I now go to an MOT station and that's all they do so no axe to grind, also they advise possible failures in the year ahead.

If you do need the welding the price is excellent, my local welder would charge £350 + and you get the privilige of paying the electric bill because he comes to you. I've bought my own arc welder £65 at Halfords, will learn to do it myself, my son says it's quite easy with practice, he learnt at college.

Sitcking tailgate: If it's the lock probably best to get a new spring £5.00 on ebay, when the lock's out give a good wash with white spirit to clean the junk out of it the repair and re oil, use that 3 in 1 stuff. Did mine last week and the lock was filthy, helps if you've got small hands and slender fingers it's a tricky job. I would also look at how the door closes just in case the rear edge of the floor has swollen due to rust, it may not have been cleaned up properly when the floor was done.

lot of "car"garages dont understand that as long as rust hole is more than 12 inches from a mounting piont it is fine always use garage that kniws landys check with loal independant parts dealer , they will normaly piont you in right direction.I got big hole in off side soll thats no prob. been through 2 years mots with same hole . same garage , diferent mechanics, garage knows landys even though thier not landrover garage.