Do we, perhaps, need a few more motor vehicle inspections?

Back in the days of Motor Registry inspections I used to have a blown bulb that I would put in the brake light just before the inspection. The inspector would start the inspection, notice the blown brake light, fail the car and completely not notice the various oil leaks (yes a British car). It was then a simply job to swap out the blown bulb and nip over to the authorised inspection station across the street to get the car passed.

JTK, I can totally sympathise with your wife’s shoddy mechanic complaints.

I’m sure mechanics just start drooling the moment I (early 20s chick in office attire) pull up with a complaint like “well I’ve got this funny noise”. Luckily enough, I’m normally able to follow it up with something like “because my throwout bearing is on it’s way out”, thanks to the crash courses in basic mechanics you get as a mini driver.

Having said that, for every dodgy mechanic there’s a good one who’ll break his back for you and not charge extra. I think they get a bit of a bad rap sometimes, thanks to generalisations and stereotypes.

God yeah, Mr_Shab. Nothing gets me hotter under the collar than thinking about the time my little brother wrote of my 1275 Clubman while I was o/s. But if he’d written off the Cooper we were planning to put that engine into, there would have been nothing left for the cops to find.

I seem to recall having regular inspections. – Yearly, in fact.

I also seem to recall driving a 1962 falcon wagon, and having a little ritual that we had to perform while waiting in the queue at Dickson motor registry.

In 1962, cars didn’t have seat belts. In the early 70’s the previous owner installed ‘sash’ belts (Not the nice, modern ‘lap-sash’ ones).

Our ritual was to unbolt the ‘sash’ belts (While waiting in the queue.) The funny bit was that the car would pass rego without belts – That’s how it was built, so it obeyed the rules. But if we left the belts in, the inspection failed, as the ‘sash’ belts were not up to the appropriate standard. Personally, in an accident, I would prefer to have a belt on, than go through the windscreen!

The other funny bit, was that they ALLWAYS complained that the FACTORY FITTED park brake handle was too small – Go figure!

God, I wish that the &&%$^$#%^%$ failed mechanics who were employed at the motor registry had a brain, and I for one was not unhappy with their demise.

So, where does this lead us? I’m glad you asked.

1) Dropping the cretins out of the motor registry inspection profession and into public service desk jobs (where they belonged) was a great move… It limits their ability to adversely affect the average member of the public.

2) Re-instating a regime of regular inspections, by qualified, enthusiastic, intelligent staff, who want to be there as a day job is mandatory. We need to ensure that there is an appropriate standard of staff to prevent the people who couldn’t get a job anywhere else ending up in the job.

3) These staff must to be adequately remunerated. You don’t get quality staff for $2.85 per hour!! Recover the costs for the remuneration from a user pays system – It’s not that hard (Not like the buses – 68 million out – 15 million in… Hmmm…)

4) Keep the people who make money from doing the repairs out of the picture.

I have a tragic story about the time when my lovely wife had 1 child in a stroller, and 1 child on her hip, while booking our falcon into the local “xxx Brakes, Tyres and Exhaust”. I was away on a training course at the time. She rang me in tears because they decided that there were faults with the Brakes, Tyres and Exhaust (go figure). To the tune of about $2500. Upon talking to the cretins in the company, I got her out of there before they did any of the work – Not before we had a copy of their ‘inspection report’ (Claim to make themselves rich from a young mum).

When I got back, I took the mater up with the Vehicle Inspection audit branch, where they measured the width of the disks on my car, and made remarks along the lines of ‘There’s nothing wrong with them’. Yes, granted, there was a small hole in the exhaust that was trivially patched (Not a complete system replacement as recommended). Hopefully, the auditors assisted the company with their ability to accurately diagnose work. As none of the work needed to be done…

Damn – I can’t stand shoddy mechanics!!!

Too right sheer – give me a ’69 Cooper S over…well…anything.

i could never understand why people bagged british cars.

outstanding engineering, incompetent management.

“Contradiction in terms, innit”

Clearly el, you’ve never thrown a 1275cc Cooper around a few tight bends.

“How about parking inspectors multitasking and issuing defect notices for dodgy cars?”

That’s part of their job now, but they rarely seem to do it (other than the very occaisional defect for really really really worn tyres). Most parkies couldn’t squeeze under a car in the carpark to check the balljoints and steering linkages, even if their life depended on it.

We need a regular inspection system (ie. like the NSW system – with yearly mechanic check) as there are now far too many deathtraps getting around the ACT. An extra $25 a year for an inspection is miniscule compared the other running costs for a car.

And on a more sensible note, if you can’t afford to buy tyres or keep a vehicle maintained and roadworthy you shouldn’t own a car.

English automotive excellence

Contradiction in terms, innit?