A fail sheet and a shrug
The tester finishes. The car has failed on a worn tyre, a brake imbalance and a number plate lamp. The customer is handed the failure paperwork and told the centre can do the work. How much? The desk is not sure. It depends on the parts. Someone will ring.
The customer drives off, looks up prices on their phone in the car park, rings two other garages, and books the tyre with one of them. They might come back for the retest. They might not. The repair work, which your centre was best placed to do, has gone.
Why the moment is lost
The test and the repair are often run as two separate operations. The tester is focused on testing, and the desk does not have the pricing to hand. Turning failure items into a quote needs parts prices, labour times and someone's time to put it together, and that someone is usually busy with the next customer.
Meanwhile the customer is standing there at the one moment they are most ready to decide. A clear price with a photo of the worn tyre and a slot to fix it today would usually be enough. A promise to ring later is not.
What an unquoted failure costs
| Missed step | Result |
|---|---|
| No price given on the day | Customer shops around from the car park |
| No photos of the failure items | Customer suspects the work is not needed |
| No slot offered | Repair booked wherever is quickest |
| Quote promised by phone later | Call missed, customer gone |
| Retest not linked to repair | Customer may not return at all |
The customer also loses out. They leave without knowing what the fix will really cost, and may end up making two trips to two businesses when one would have done.
How we build a quote from the failure
- When a test fails, the tester or desk picks the failure items on a tablet, and can add a photo of each, such as the tyre tread or the lamp.
- Each common failure item is linked to a repair job with a labour time and typical parts, which you set up once.
- Parts prices are pulled from your usual suppliers where they offer a trade link, or from your own price list.
- A priced quote is produced in a minute, per item, and shown to the customer on screen at the desk or sent to their phone before they leave.
- The customer can approve all or some items and pick a repair slot, with the retest booked to follow it.
- Quotes that are declined are kept, so the desk can see how many failures turn into repairs and follow up if you choose.
The failure itself is recorded in the MOT testing service as normal. The quote is a separate, commercial step for your centre, and the customer is always free to have the repair done elsewhere.
The same failure, a different outcome
The tester picks the three items and takes a photo of the tyre. By the time the customer reaches the desk, a quote is ready: tyre fitted, brake adjustment investigation, number plate lamp, with a price for each. The customer approves the tyre and lamp and asks for the brake item to be looked at first. The repair and the retest are booked for that afternoon.
Some customers still go elsewhere, and that is their choice. More of them now make an informed decision on the day.
- A priced quote before the customer leaves
- Photos of the failure items
- Repair and retest booked together
- A record of how many failures become repairs
Are failures walking out the door?
- Failure customers leave with the paperwork and no price.
- Quotes are promised by phone later.
- You rarely know how many failures become repairs.
- Customers doubt failure items they cannot see.
- Repairs and retests are booked separately, if at all.