My MOT was due during the lockdown extension. What now?

Lockdown put a stop to almost everything this year including MOT testing. If your car was normally due its MOT between 3oth March and the 31st July, it was automatically extended by 6 months. Now that restrictions are easing and the government have ended the MOT extension, the 1st of these extended MOTs will be due soon.

Check when your extended MOT is due.

If your car MOT was due during the lockdown, we’d recommend checking when it is due now and planning ahead to get booked in. If because of lockdown, you car has mostly been sitting in the driveway or parked up it might be a good time to take advantage of our free Pre- MOT check. This will give us a chance to look at the car before test day and help spot any potential fails or issues; giving you the heads up on any further costs involved getting your car ready for its MOT and ensuring its of a safe standard. Just because you were given an extension, this doesn’t mean your car is automatically safe to be driving so might be worth getting in to see us, just from a safety point of view alone. Any lockdown MOTs do not have to wait to the new extended date, they can be carried out now for peace of mind. 18 months is a long time and a car can go through a lot of ware and tare.

As all garage MOT dairies are going to be even more busy than normal over the next few months with extended MOTs on top of regular MOTs, call and book yours sooner rather than later. Our diary is open all the way to December to help accommodate this. You can double check when your MOT is due by visiting the governments website, here.

Any MOTs due after the 31st July will need to be carried out as normal. These MOTs can be carried out up to a month , minus a day, before the due date to keep the same renewal date. So you don’t have to wait till the exact date it runs out to get it done.

For more info on MOTs you can also visit the gov’s “Getting an MOT” page, call us here in the office with your questions or leave a message below. We’re always happy to hear from you.

#tipthursday from Maitland Motors: Keep an emergency kit in your boot

You never know when the worst might happen, and you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, hungry, thirsty and cold waiting on recovery in a broken-down car. That’s why we here at Maitland Motors we recommend having an emergency kit made up to keep in the boot just in case. It could make an unbearable situation that little bit more comfortable.

  • A big bottle of drinking water
  • Snacks (cereal bars are always handy)
  • Torch
  • First Aid Kit
  • Blankets
  • Old hoddie or jackets, gloves and socks to help keep warm.
  • Emergency cash change
  • Jump Cables
  • Tyre Puncture Repair Kit or better still make sure your spare is in good working order. (We can check this for you.)
  • Spare Oil
  • Jerry Can
  • Antifreeze
  • Washer fluid
  • Tow Strap

Keep your kit in a large bag or storage box in your boot and forget about it. Do you already have an emergency kit? Have you ever had to use it and did it help?

If you have any questions or need advice on putting a kit together, then just leave a message below.

Payment Assist with Maitland Motors

Here at Maitland Motors we understand that keeping your car safe and roadworthy can be expensive. Sometimes big jobs come at the worst times (is there ever a good time?) which is why we are proud to offer Payment Assist. Payment Assist is a brilliant way to spread the cost of your garage bill over 3 monthly instalments fee and interest free, with 25% of the invoice being paid at the time of work. You can find out more on their website here.

Spread the cost of your Maitland Motors bill with Payment Assist.

If you’d like to pay using Payment Assist all you have to do is let us know when booking your car in or when work, after diagnosis and inspection, is agreed on. This way we can get the process started for work commencing on your car; any delays in this can result in us having your car longer than needed. Once we input your details at our end (name, address, email), you’ll then be sent an agreement form via email and a text reminder, detailing the costs involved and T&C’s etc, which you need to accept to finalise set up of the process. This email is only valid for 24 hours and if for what ever reason it lapse, the process needs to start from the beginning again. Until this email has been accepted by you, we can not release the car back to you regardless of work being finished or not, so keep an eye on your emails/phone. This helps with the arrangement running as smoothly as possible, which we know is important to our customers. We really do appreciate your corporation with this.

To pay via payment assist, just let us know before work is carried out and accept your agreement form via email.

Once the form has been accepted you’ll pay 25% of the invoice at this point via card payment. The rest of the invoice will be paid automatically over the next 3 months using the same card details, so you don’t need to do anything further.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about Payment Assist with Maitland Motors, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment below.