thanks for the replies, so I guess I just wait for the appointment through the post and not worry

I've just been MFK'd.
Got the garage to organise it in Oerlikon. 210chf for them to take it plus 170chf for the cleaning. Now just got 56chf from the Strassenverkehrsamt.
C'est la vie......

You could have just gone to a jet wash yourself, paid about 5 CHF & it would have passed, even if it failed they would tell you why & only charge 56 chf!

Don't you have to also have the engine bay squeaky-clean for the MFK? If so, I guess it's kind of hard to achieve at a regular jet-wash.

I have used a jet wash myself for 7 MFK tests in Zurich & never failed, the cars I currently own are 1983 & 1995 so hardly new.

That's strange, as 99.9% of the posts here (and real people I asked) advocate a shiny, oil-and-dust free engine bay as a prerequisite for passing. A friend failed because he had...wait for it...dust on the turbo intake pipe.

Bikes I do myself, cars I give to local garage guy to do.

I have done the cars, but I'm more in tune with my bikes and know what they need (and keep the stuff on the side, as well as spares), so I send some business the way of my neighbor, which is always a good thing!

Tom

P.S. While I have on occasion OVER estimated his bills, I have never UNDER estimated them, but I did fix cars in a former life.

Dust, your having a laugh! Could you 'friend' supply the paperwork so you can post it here please.
No obvious oil leaks, thats all & by jet washing you can remove the evidence of an oil leak!

MFK appointment arrived, by the time it gets done - the car will be 4 years and 9 months old!

Time isn't really a surprise. We've just had our August 2007 delivered Nissan Qashqai called for its first checkup here in Fribourg canton and that was in January.

I have at least one bike that hasn't been called in in over 10 years!

Tom

Oops just saw it now. I'll ask him about any paperwork he got. Why did you quote "friend" btw?

It really does have to be squeaky-clean. I took my car to Stop+Go Garage in Germany and asked them to prepare the car for its inspection. They charged me EUR49 to check the car over and EUR25 to clean the engine and undercarriage. They gave the car a clean bill of health and said it should pass the MFK without any problems.

I peered into the engine bay and it certainly seemed clean to me. As an added measure, I used a chamois to remove any last water spots on any of the covers. Every sill, lip, edge, etc was wiped clean.

Sure enough, turned up at the MFK station and it passed with no problems. The inspector's only comment?

"The engine is not clean enough. When you come back in two years, please make sure that it is cleaned properly."

Still, I got through the MFK for under CHF150 all-in. That's pretty good in my book.

On another note, I agree with fatmanfilms. The MFK is less thorough than a UK MOT -- I was in-and-out in ten minutes. Part of that is due to the streamlined process (if you haven't been through an inspection center here, let me assure you it's impressive -- spotlessly clean, factory-line setup) but part of it is due to fewer checks.

Having been through the process once myself, I wouldn't hesitate to take the car through on my own again.