Where do folks go for their MOT, Lotus specialist, local MOT garage or Halfords Auto Centres etc? Any preferences?
I have my car motd as part of its annual service with a specialist (Scott Russell) I’m not convinced S1 with decat and sports exhaust would pass emissions but seems to be make it. I don’t want to leave it at a regular testing station.
Specialist garage who usually have friends who can help with any “issues”
Local garage who run a race team and don’t like Elise’s. It’s a standard VHPD and does not have much trouble passing, passes emissions using the high idle option. They are very nervous about jacking it up so it keeps its wheels on the ramp. Biggest sweat is the rollers for the brake test, it only just fits without scraping the floor.
It’s not really a problem, famous last words!
Yes that’s my worry getting it on the rollers for the brake test and also the necessity for jacking it up to check steering etc
I can recommend the MoT garage just down the road from Ollie’s Phoenix Motorsport in Accrington.
They are racers and I’ve never had a problem. Ring Ollie.
I have had it tested at Central Lotus at Nottingham when they do the annual service but I think they use an independent testing centre that is not done on site.
Trying to keep local in Peterborough
I would be careful of your choice of garage. My village garage specialises in high performance cars, Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley, Aston, Lamborghini etc. They have a high turn over of mechanics and I would not trust them with Nissan Micra oil change. When removing the under trays on my S2 the idiot set about one of the bolts with a cold chisel and hammer. Luckily no damage was done as it was on the steel rear subframe. When I saw his efforts and pointed out the alloy tub and mentioned “write off”, he was less proud of his activities.
The next year I went to a different local garage for my mot, same mechanic! After a quick “you damage my car, you die”, conversation, he wrote out an mot and I was done, my car never left the car park. On investigation, he was not really a mechanic, he used to assemble train carriages at Bombardier, just the sort of person you want working on your Ferrari.
I think any good garage can do the mot, just check the mechanic is not an idiot and impressive car logos on the door mean nothing. The small garage I use now looks ordinary, except for the transporter and stack of racing Fiestas and Clio’s and the mechanic says “will you do all the stuff in the car, I can’t get in them”!
Local place close to me. Friendly , and ask all the right questions about my cars that I take there
Local independent place in Leeds, recommended by fellow owners - not a specialist. If it’s the owner doing the test I also have to drive on and off the ramp and the brake rollers - he’s not a small chap and long since given up trying to get in and out of tiny plastic sports cars 
Always a local friendly garage for me, so you can actually get in and see the car been MOTed, also they can explain if there are any issues got this S1 done today.
Also to be aware that if a vehicle fails it MOT it has to be kept at the garage and repaired or trailered away it can not be driven home and repaired and brought back
Crikey! I didn’t realise that. Hope I never encounter that problem.
This is from the current government rules on mot’s
‘If your car fails the MOT test before the previous MOT certificate elapses, you can drive it away – but only if the none of the faults are classed as ‘dangerous’ and the minimum standards of roadworthiness are met’
Ah, thanks for the clarification.
RMS in Romford. Andy is a top chap 
Yep, second them, been doing my Elise and previously my Exige for years
Yep, had similar on my Clio a few years ago - few nasty failures with corroded brake lines etc but amazingly none were classed as dangerous so I was able to drive it home and get it fixed. It seems like the criteria for dangerous is pretty heavy, stuff like body rot near suspension pickups etc.
On an Elise/Exige the MOT process is a total farce anyway as they’re not allowed to remove/touch any panels anyway… so assuming lights work, seatbelts work and your balljoints are not hanging out there’s very little they can fail you on in a safety context.