Car road worthiness and legality

[elswyth]

Our car ran into some problems with overheating recently, but my partner is afraid of bringing it to the mechanic for a diagnosis of the problem, as he is afraid the mechanic will proclaim the car not road-worthy and he will not be able to use it until the problem can be fixed. He will be doing the night shift for the next couple of weeks and cannot rely on public transport to get to work.

My question is: Can a mechanic really legally proclaim a car to be not road-worthy and thus make it illegal for us to drive the car before the problem is fixed? Does he have the authority to do that? Or is my partner being paranoid (since he fully admits that he isn't positive but is just afraid of the possibility)?

[elswyth]

Anyone??

[JandM]

I've just texted my son on this one. He's usually pretty well up with car-related things, so I hope he'll know something to tell you. I know the police, if they stop someone with a car in bad shape, can put an obligation on the owner to get something fixed within a set period of time, or, if it's hazardous enough, can get the car taken off the road there and then. But that's the police. (Personal GUESS here, and I may be being cynical - I rather doubt a private person could do the same, as, for someone unscrupulous, it could be a big temptation to tell EVERYONE they had some big fault that needed to be fixed right there and then.)

[JandM]

Okay, the reply just came back - he thinks a garage doing a Warrant Of Fitness (WOF - sort of the equivalent to a UK MOT test) could do this, not an ordinary repair shop.

M (who did at one time work with cars) says, if a mechanic strongly advises you'd be running into danger continuing to use the vehicle, though, it's best to take notice, and could you consider hiring a car till yours is fixed?

[bob_the_engineer]

same as jandm said, they cant, unless it's in for a wof ,, but seriously if the mec tells you it's dangerous then don't drive it... getting to work isn't worth killing yourself over... anyhow here are a few tips.

if the engine is hot, but the heater is NOT working there is a good chance the water pump,is shot...
if you run it and it sticks it could split the cam belt and wreck the engine..

if the heater works and the engine gets hot after a short run well, could be the thermostat, really cheap to fix, could be the fan control again cheap... a quote and some advice is often free :-) bob

[elswyth]

Hey, thanks, guys. We just brought it for the mechanic to take a look at it. I'd talked to them on the phone before but they didn't mention any charges right up to the point when we were there, then they said it'd be $20 just to look at it. Is that normal? They found that the oil cap was broken, so they quoted us $40 for the part replacement and $160 for labour to fix it.

[ralf-nz]

[QUOTE=elswyth;453733]then they said it'd be $20 just to look at it. Is that normal? QUOTE]Depends on how long they have to look; generally this amount is credited when you let them carry out the work.

[JandM]

Most experts charge for their time - it's not just 'looking', it's looking while knowing what to look for that could solve your problem. And it's taken up a part of the man's day that, if he hadn't been inspecting your vehicle, he could have been doing something else that would help earn him his living. That said, Ralf's right that quite often the initial assessment fee will be forgotten if they do the whole job.

[elswyth]

Oh, he asked for it on the spot, and it took him about 10 minutes. You guys are right, but I'm just surprised that the charge came out of the blue. The last time I went to a mechanic, he just gave us a quote for the fixing, didn't charge us for the inspection. It's a small sum, anyway, so I'm not too bothered, but it was just curious that they wouldn't tell us up front.

[JandM]

I see - yes, I think asking for it right there is unusual. Maybe it's because he's not seen you before? - who knows?