MOT and general woe

[chess]

I need to get my car MOT'd soon; I could just take it back to the place who did the boot and the gears and were nice and not too expensive for that, but I don't know what the standard operating procedure is for getting MOTs, and I'd appreciate some advice. (For reference, it was Cambridge Vehicle Services that I took it to.)

In other news, I am currently really quite depressed: not miserable, much, just like I'm having to smash through brick walls with my head just to do anything at all, and I keep getting so strung out that I start screaming and crying and generally throwing temper tantrums at really stupid things because I can barely cope with life when it's going okay. Unfortunately I'm still convinced that I'm just lazy and simultaneously that if I lay low and don't stress myself out too much it will all be okay.

Comments

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Cambridge Vehicle Services is where I get my car done at.

I've used them for a few years now, and they seem quite good, but be warned that you'll need to tell them exactly what to do and what not to do in any service, or you might end up with unneccessary stuff done (eg not very old spark plugs changing)

[chess]

Um. Will they understand 'Perform an MOT so I can get my MOT certificate renewed, and don't actually *do* anything unless a) I tell you that you can, seperately, and b) it's absolutely necessary for it to pass its MOT, or you can explain to me exactly what it will improve.'?

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

They've always rung me up with a detailed breakdown of the work that needs doing before it gets done, yes.

The time I had a full service done, when I came in to pick it up, they had a long list of stuff they'd recommend getting done at some point (or it might eventually break), but they didn't pressure me to get any of it done, and they didn't tell me I needed to get it done.

The time I said "Do X, Y and Z, and make it pass its MOT", they did X, Y and Z and the minimum work done to pass its MOT.

(Similarly, when I've said "This specific component has broken, please replace it", they did. They did ask me whether or not I wanted them to check whether the AA man had been mistaken in his assessment that that was the problem before replacing it.)