06/06/2026
Shared from another page. But 100% true.
🚨 WHY WE ARE HANGING A 16-YEAR-OLD PRICE LIST ON OUR WALL TODAY 🚨
We have just printed out the brand-new, mandatory DVSA "MOT Fees and Appeals" poster (VT9A) to display in our reception, driven by the latest MOT special notice instructions (pp. 1-2).
Take a close look at the bottom of the official government poster. It clearly states: "Fees apply from Monday 6 April 2010." (p. 1)
For sixteen years, the maximum price of a car MOT (£54.85) has been legally frozen by the government (p. 1). If this exact wage and fee freeze affected any other public sector or employee, there would be national outrage and immediate protesting. Yet independent garages are legally forced to absorb compounding costs year after year.
Standard household inflation figures look bad enough. But when you look at RPI (Retail Prices Index) and actual garage costs—which track property, physical assets, energy hikes, and skyrocketing equipment overheads—industry bodies estimate that the test fee should be at least £95.00 today just to reflect real-world values. 🤯
Let's talk trade reality: Why cheap MOTs are destroying our industry 📉
To our fellow garage owners doing discounted £30 or £35 MOTs as a "loss leader" to get work: We are collectively damaging our own businesses.
The national average MOT test time is around 43 minutes. With current operational overheads, it is now mathematically wiser for independent garages to sell that time as standard workshop labour hours rather than an MOT.
Yes, MOTs generate repair work. But by racing to the bottom on price, we are telling the public and the government that our skilled time and specialized testing bays are worth next to nothing.
What does that mean for a small local business like ours? 📊
But look at the national picture... 🔍
Our business is small, but looking at recent national testing trends, the average busy UK test station handles significantly higher volumes than us. Based on estimated national testing volume AVERAGES, the typical garage down the road (Imagine what it is for a busy MOT station) could be losing upwards of an estimated
£50,000 to £60,000
EVERY single year by absorbing this freeze.
Imagine the spiralling overheads for larger, multi-tester stations. For a garage employing multiple technicians, the mandatory 4 hours of annual DVSA training per tester means hundreds of lost workshop hours across the team—all while trying to fund course fees, annual exams, and certificates out of that same 2010 price cap (p. 1).
The numbers simply do not stack up when we are forced to pay for everything out of a frozen fee:
⏱️ The Training Burden: Every single tester must complete 4 hours of mandatory training annually, pulling skilled technicians away from highly profitable repair work.
📸 The New Photo Mandate: Look further down the new poster or the latest special notice—the government is rolling out a mandatory system where the MOT portal holds live photographic images of vehicles taken during the test (p. 2). While we strictly back vehicle safety and any means of preventing "ghost MOT" fraud, this adds extra, unpaid administrative time to every single test we run. Honest garages shouldn't have to foot the bill for extra compliance time.
🛠️ Skyrocketing Maintenance: Everything from printer paper and broadband tech to heavy-duty vehicle lifts and mandatory tool calibrations has surged in price.
The Commercial Vehicle Double Standard? 🚛
Look at what the government is doing to heavy vehicle operators. Instead of freezing costs, they are penalising heavy vehicle owners with aggressive extra costs, taxes, and high test fees, whilst allowing the commercial HGV testing stations to make more money by raising their maximum facility service charges. Yet car owners and independent light vehicle garages are completely left out in the cold.
To our customers: We aren't complaining about high standards—we pride ourselves on keeping you legal and safe. But the economic reality means independent garages cannot subsidise public safety forever.
Thank you to everyone who supports an honest, independent local business that values real skills over cheap shortcuts! 🙌 Let’s keep moving safely. 🚗💨
..And then there is SERMI. 🔐
Don't even get us started on the newly introduced security regulations. To carry out legitimate programming and security work, the "good guys" must now pay for expensive criminal record checks, audits, and software licences just to access basic manufacturer vehicle data. Meanwhile, other operations use bypass software and alternative equipment to completely avoid the rules, making money and increasing their work without paying a penny.
When is the trade going to say enough is enough?
