Moved house, nobody local wants to MOT a Westfield.............. Apparently

[Lyonspride]

We moved to the Redditch area 2 years ago, the Westfield has been SORN since that time for various reasons including the pandemic.
I've been making an effort to get it ready for an MOT with a view to being back on the road this month, but I don't have any local trusted garages, so I put a post on a local Facebook group asking for recommendations, and it would appear nobody wants to MOT a Westfield....... For any normal eurobox and there would be 10-15 posts recommending garages or garages recommending themselves in some case, but I post about getting a Westfield MOT'd and not a single response!!!

It used to be that garages loved seeing something a bit different, and even saw it as a way to get more word of mouth business, so has something changed??

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

@Tom (T3OMF) - Cotswolds AO any suggestions from you?

[Stuart]

@Lyonsprideif your side of Worcester isn't too far then Steve at Egdon Garages will sort you out. 01905 345205

[corsechris]

Steve is actually on furlough at the moment as the number of MOTs fell off a cliff due to the amnesty last year. He expects to be back towards the end of the year. (Steve only does MOT tests)

 

Meanwhile, I took ours to Egdon for an MOT the other week and Kevin did the test (he mostly does spanner work in the workshop). All good, and they are familiar with our kind of cars, so still a valid recommendation.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I think you also have to factor in peoples natural wariness to making recommendations to strangers on open public forums. 

 

Too often on FB groups, asking for someone who "knows" kit-cars etc for an MoT, is taken as short-hand, for "where can I get a dodgy MoT from, please?" by many of the people reading it.

 

When all we really want, is someone who understands the rules, as they relate to kit's - Q plates, etc.

[Lyonspride]

1 minute ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

I think you also have to factor in peoples natural wariness to making recommendations to strangers on open public forums. 

 

Too often on FB groups, asking for someone who "knows" kit-cars etc for an MoT, is taken as short-hand, for "where can I get a dodgy MoT from, please?" by many of the people reading it.

 

When all we really want, is someone who understands the rules, as they relate to kit's - Q plates, etc.

 

Well yes there is that, I just expected a few more actual garages to respond, as typically on car related stuff you'll see at least 5 or 6.

The guy that does my Mondeo, picks the car up, leaves his car here, takes it to his place and gets the MOT done next door to his garage unit (they have a deal between eachother). When I get the Wetsfield MOT'd I used to get it done on a weekend, i'd sit in for most of the test (due to seats/controls/etc), I can't take it anywhere that wants me to leave it with them and if it's raining, the hoods up, i've never seen an MOT tester who could get in or out of it.

I've also got the emissions test quirks, because it doesn't need testing and fails if the garage don't know the rules.
The reverse light doesn't work, never has, but doesn't need to work on a pre 2009 car.
The headlight alignment ALWAYS fails, because I have to rotate them to get the nose cone off.
 

So it's more a case of being there when they do the test, so they don't fail it prematurely.

The garage I used to use, is now 20 miles away and I have no MOT or VED, only insurance, 20 miles might be considered excessive if I get stopped by the Police or caught on ANPR.

[Stuart]

1 hour ago, corsechris said:

Steve is actually on furlough at the moment as the number of MOTs fell off a cliff due to the amnesty last year. He expects to be back towards the end of the year. (Steve only does MOT tests)

 

Meanwhile, I took ours to Egdon for an MOT the other week and Kevin did the test (he mostly does spanner work in the workshop). All good, and they are familiar with our kind of cars, so still a valid recommendation.

 

Chris that explains why Kevin did our MX5 recently. I thought Steve must be on hols.... 

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

Leamington isn't too far away from you - I used DJK autos there for my other cars and the guy is very straightforward. He doesn't carry out any repairs - just does MOTs. I never had to take mine for an Mot, but I'd be surprised if he had any issue with doing a Westfield. 

 

Someone else recently recommended Heathcote Autos in Leamington for their westfield too. Can't remember who that was off the top of my head. 

[MR.C]

If the car is booked in for the  test i think you'd be ok at 20 miles (with a bit of a&^ kissing if necessary).

As i understand it if its there its got to work.

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

2 hours ago, Lyonspride said:

The garage I used to use, is now 20 miles away and I have no MOT or VED, only insurance, 20 miles might be considered excessive if I get stopped by the Police or caught on ANPR.

 

You're allowed to travel for a pre-booked MOT. You can always ask them to give you a blue light escorted run to the garage if they wish to check. My MOT is a similar distance away. Worth travelling for a good MOT by someone who knows Kit cars.

[Captain Colonial]

1 hour ago, Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO said:

Leamington isn't too far away from you - I used DJK autos there for my other cars and the guy is very straightforward. He doesn't carry out any repairs - just does MOTs. I never had to take mine for an Mot, but I'd be surprised if he had any issue with doing a Westfield. 

 

Someone else recently recommended Heathcote Autos in Leamington for their westfield too. Can't remember who that was off the top of my head. 

My garage in Leamington just did mine last week and has done for 20 years.  He’s a one-man op these days, works Mon-Thurs, lots of experience with kit cars.  I sit in the car and operate the switches, etc which he’s quite happy to do.  PM me if you want details.

[Martyn Vann - Warwickshire AO]

21 hours ago, MR.C said:

If the car is booked in for the  test i think you'd be ok at 20 miles (with a bit of a&^ kissing if necessary).

As i understand it if its there its got to work.

That is not a requirement of an MOT! If the item is not required by the MOT regulations then it is a non-testable item, eg. reversing lamps on any pre 2009 registered vehicle.

[the stoat]

With a new place you always need to check how big boned the tester is.  My usual tester decided to go on holiday and the stand in tester was not designed to test Westfields..........

[sideways_stu]

As others have said several suitable options round Leamington but you probably want something closer.

I'd suggest contacting Redditch and Dictrict Car Club on FB, a club evening or one of the contacts on their website  - their members have all sorts of interesting cars that need testers that know what is required rather than box ticking a run of the mill modern road car.

[JulianE]

A bit far but if from the o.p. but if anyone gets stuck I'm based in the Forest of Dean and am still testing.  I've got 2 bays running constantly . My other tester is good too but he can't fit in a Westy !