Solent MOT Centre Reviews 13

Hidden costs
I ordered 2 tyres at £63 + vat
The final bill added £23.34 + vat for labour, valve and wheel balance, at no point was i told this would be a extra cost.
Bringing the bill to £103.61

I could have went to many places where this included in the total price

1-MAJOR SERVICE CHARGED WAS A FARSE.
2-INVOICE STATES CABIN FILTER REPLACED BUT THE OLD DIRTY ONE I FITTED MYSELF 2 YEARS AGO IS STILL THERE.
3-DID NOT REPORT ON STATE OF TYRES NOR STATE OF BRAKES AND I KNOW BRAKE PADS ARE LOW.
4-CLEARLY THEY JUST DID A BASIC SERVICE, REPLACED OIL AND OIL FILTER, WELL I HOPE SO BUT CAN'T CHECK THIS.

Worst garage I have ever been to, they are not even worth a 1 star review if I could I would rate 0 star. I dont understand why the RAC is recommending them to anyone. I had my Focus ST taken to them as I had a problem with my clutch and they told me that my clutch kit aswell as a few other things i.e slave cylinder, flywheel etc needed to be replaced aswell which went ahead and set me back about £1300. About 9 months later I had the same problem again which is disgusting and unacceptable as they told me they ordered and fitted new and premium quality parts which I believe is false and I think they just used cheap aftermarket parts.

The receptionist was extremely rude and argumentative, very unhelpful and totally unprofessional. The time my car was dropped off at the garage she told us they needed the locking wheel nut otherwise the mechanics wouldnt be able to do the work even though they did the job fine the time before without the locking wheel nut.

I went back home to get the locking wheel even though it wasn't essential which took about 4 hours of a wasted journey as the garage could have done what was needed but didnt want to and were just wasting my time. ( I believe they were just being awkward because I was going back and getting work done under warranty and they weren't getting more money from me ).

The receptionist and garage lied to me again by saying they could start work and repairs the day I bought my car to them but didnt actually start anything until a couple of days after of having my vehicle which resulted in delays of getting the vehicle back. TOTALLY UNTRUSTWORTHY.

What made things worse was being recommended to visit their sister garage eco tyres on outskirts of st marys to have something else sorted out which solent mot centre missed/didnt correct which I did at a later point. When I picked up my vehicle from eco tyres garage after hours they parked my MK3 FOCUS ST IN ST MARYS AREA LOCKED AND UNATTENDED AND LEFT THE WINDOW OPEN!.

AND TO MAKE THINGS WORSE THEY GAVE ME A COURTESY CAR WHICH THEN GOT CLAMPED THE FOLLOWING DAY OUTSIDE MY HOUSE FOR NOT BEING TAXED BY THE GARAGE. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE GARAGES!. So I phoned eco tyres up and explained what had happened with the vehicle being clamped and after a long phone call it finally got sorted. THEY TRIED TO TELL ME THE CLAMPING WAS A MISTAKE. Whats more likely the garage just didnt tax the car or the government department responsible made a mistake clamped a taxed and insured vehicle .

Something else I noticed after getting the vehicle back was a few of my wheel bolt covers were missing, When I spoke to the garage about this they just denied any fault and claimed they must of been missing before I took the vehicle to them. Absolutely appalling treatment.

WILL NEVER RECOMMEND THIS GARAGE TO ANYONE AND WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN. STRONGLY ADVISE ANYONE TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE E.G MAIN DEALER. DONT WISH THIS KIND OF TREATMENT ON ANYONE

I purchased a car and took out the extended Warranty cover which I needed to make a claim on. I spoke to Jan from the service department who was amazing and explained the process and advised that she would be my point of contact. She kept me up to date of what was happening and when and it couldn't have been easier. Thank you Jan.

Please don’t go to them.The attitude of the staff is terrible.They told me the suspension bush is worn and needs replacement after MOT and I agreed to it.When I went to collect the car there is a noise coming from steering column which they have no clue about .when asked they said it’s just coincidence .Told them the car had no issue before, they said they can’t find where it is coming from and asked me to take the car to a different garage and find the fault.I had to take the car to Volkswagen and they identified the issue. Solent people messed with the subframe which is now positioned forward .As a result the steering knuckle is rubbing when steering is turned.and the console bush is broken .Had to pay £ 550 to Volkswagen just because I took my car for MOT to Solent.Lost my money and time.Will never go to them again.when I put a google review the liars say they don’t even remember the issue.well i do very well it’s my money and car

My vehicle was in for it's annual MOT and failed by the garage, major fail for headlight leveling device inoperable, which is strange as there was no issues with it. I was told it would be £475 for a new headlight. Doubting this, I decided to take the vehicle away. Checked the leveling myself which looked to work when you start the car, but took it to a BMW specialist garage who checked and confirmed there is nothing wrong with the light. I got the MOT redone again at another garage and it passed with no issues, also the advisories that this garage gave are questionable as they didn't all get picked up at my second MOT garage.

Safe to say that this garage probably trying to make extra money by failing MOTs... I would avoid at all costs. I have emailed and offered them a chance to respond and they haven't so not the best experience at all

In this day and age, I cannot believe this still goes on with garages as reputation is built over time, but lost in a moment!

Find another garage to get your work done!

Best garage I have been to in Southampton. I personally highly recommend them!

*** DO NOT USE***
This place is an absolute joke! Took a van in to be MOT used before and no issues but now has a new owner what a con artist!
3 days for an mot 3 day of not being able to work and not informed of what is happening when I called them the owner laughs down the phone that I have lost days of work and puts the phone down refuses to answer go through to the hedge end branch. Owner now calls back and realise he shouldn’t of laughed and put the phone down arrange collection and his wonderfully pleasant partner is with him who approach’s my car luckily all recoded shouting in my car but then phones the police because she feels threatened finally get the van back and more lights on the dash board than when we dropped it off! Stay away at all costs this new owner has ruined this place and his partner needs educating on sitting in a car and being quiet! Absolute con artists no respect no customer service have reported to trading standards and will be taking this further
**** AVOID *******

These Guys are flippen excellent.
Twice I have used them and twice the service was brilliant.
No appointments, I just turned up and asked for help.
My second visit was first thing this morning (Friday 11th Feb @ 8.45am)
Two wheel nuts totally messed up and unable to get them off to replace tyres. Well they sorted it. So now I can get my new tyres on by another garage that was unprepared to help in anyway. (I'd already paid for tyres at said garage so was left to find somewhere else that could sort locking nuts out as they wouldn't) go figure!!!
Anyway, their friendliness and willingness to help goes a very long way.
From now on no one else gets my business apart from these guys.
100% happy 😊

I was re-importing my car back to the UK and had to get my car MOT’d straight from the Port of Southampton.
At very short notice Solent MOT Centre were able to accommodate, and managed to fit me in within 1 hour.
Very professional outfit, both in terms of the owner and staff, and the equipment within MOT centre itself.
Love the online MOT booking form as well.
Happy to recommend, and will most certainly be returning.
Many thanks.

OK so I don't regularly review places but as I had such a poor experience here I thought id share it.

CHARGING £155 LABOUR ONLY to change BRAKE PADS ONLY IS CRIMINAL

THIS JOB WAS QUOTED BY MANY PLACES AS £160-170 INC VAT AND PARTS.

Took my car in to MOT and it failed due to brake pads...no problem then couldn't get the parts that day which I believe they shouldn't be booking in mots if they can't fix a simple issue same day esp as I was legally not allowed to drive the car away.

That wasn't the worse part...so they quote me for pads at nearly 70 quid I got them cheaper from euro car parts so had them delivered....problem euro car parts sent through wrong parts not the garage fault

However what is there fault is the fact they dont quote for the unless asked then quote minus vat and also charge above main dealer prices this isn't fair or good business as now they have lost me as a customer for good and my word of mouth will also cost them business.

Went for a free winter check at the beginning of January and was told that I had no coolant at all. They could put some for £18 (£15 plus VAT). I agreed and after paying I asked how long it would last. I was told about 8 months.
I later contacted my friend who had fixed my car after an accident in September and he told me that he had filled up the reservoir at the end of September and there was no way that the coolant reservoir could be empty so soon.
I have the feeling I've been ripped off. Was planning to take my car there for its MOT but I wouldn't trust them now.

I took my 'nearly classic' 1997 BMW Z3 to the Solent MOT Centre for its first MOT since I bought it. I was impressed by the thoroughness of the checks they made, which reassured me that all was well, and the extra effort their mechanic made to ensure it passed the emissions test.
Unfortunately, he accidentally scraped my rear wing against a badly parked car while reversing out of the garage - but the company has been brilliant in fixing this, and arranged for a mobile paint repair company to repair and respray at no cost to me. Their communications have been prompt and helpful throughout; no need for me to hassle them! Top marks for service, guys :-)