The Lemon Fool

Mine sailed through for the price of the original 2 for £2 light bulb pack.

I'd dusted the engine down with a paint brush, topped up my fluids, popped in a new battery (£40 at ECP), squirted on some terminal protector gunk, spritzed WD40 over the engine (DP60 - it's cheaper - £1), replaced the wiper blades* (£2.50 each at Wilko) and checked all the bulbs were working.

It failed on a bit of welding, and the indicator bulbs losing their orangeness.

I took it to get the welding done (they don't do welding) and I bought and fitted the bulbs** (2 for £1 at The Range), only to find that one of my original bulbs had vanished.

It also failed on one of the main beams. I'd tested all the lights in Sainsburys' mirrored window, so I went back and checked again.

I mentioned that I couldn't see what the problem was with the main beam, and that one of the bulbs had mysteriously vanished.

They retested, it passed, and I walked out paying nothing. Not bad for a 25 year old car.


* I'd normally give the blades a once over with white vinegar, but on this occasion they fell apart.

** I've since cleaned the orange off the defective bulbs to be used as clear bulbs.

MikeyWorld wrote:It also failed on one of the main beams. I'd tested all the lights in Sainsburys' mirrored window, so I went back and checked again.

I mentioned that I couldn't see what the problem was with the main beam, and that one of the bulbs had mysteriously vanished.

They retested, it passed, and I walked out paying nothing. Not bad for a 25 year old car.

Ah - the random "Failed on the aim", pay us a tenner and we can fix for you/make it go away.

Another reason why I'll pay £5 more at a "We do MOTs, but we don't do repairs or BS" place.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I wanted to share my joy ...

Bought a cycle gear cable for £1.99 last year to get the free MOT.

Finally took the car in the other day having booked using the code. Passed with no problems. Couple of advisories which mechanic talked us through (rusting brake discs due to underuse of car recently, and slight bulge on one tyre). No pressure to do any repairs - wait till new pads needed and tyre worn down a bit more was suggestion.

Then came the bonus.

Along with the invoice for £0 and the MOT paperwork we were handed a £10 voucher (no minimum spend) to be used within 6 weeks at any Halfords store. No restriction on what we buy.

It’s very satisfying when a garage pays you to work on your car.