explain it to the garage, if no joy then ask for a VT17 form and follow the
instructions.

Mrcheerful

Just had a test centre fail my Mk3 Golf, cause : "front macpherson
strut has excessive movement in the upper support bearing assembly".
This is reported for both front sides. He said when the car was
lifted, there was 1cm (or 1in.. can't remember) of play.

I have since spoken to VW and two other garages, and they all say this
sort of play is standard by design - VW said they have never seen a
car fail an MOT with such a fault on one side, let alone both.

One of the other garages I spoke to offered to double check this for
free, and will do the MOT for free (charging only if it passes). They
only do MOTs, so are obviously not scouting for work. However I've
already paid the initial tester and have 10 days for a retest. I feel
if they are in error I'm owed my money back, but I don't know how to
approach this situation. I'm guessing if I straighten them out on this
point and go back for the restest, there's a chance other faults and
expenses may materialize.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

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