13 year old car has 8 MOT faliures

Rroff said:
What gets me is when people do the minimum to get through the next MOT and leaving it to chance even when something is blatantly dangerous or going to become so if not remedied properly.

MOT advisories and even fails are going to happen on stuff that is maintained properly but when there is a trail that points squarely at problems persistently not being remedied properly it is another matter.
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Welcome to the real world.

I remember some years back a work friend who used to give me a lift back after work her car was in a torrid state, it only just about ran, and I asked her if she was planning to get it fixed, and the reply was as long as she can get from (a) to (b) it is good enough, this was my first job in a factory, and its a case of spend the minimum on a used vehicle, only pay to pass a mot or if it stops been able to do what you want it to do when you on a low income.

I do agree that for safety reasons driving assessments, probably need to include safety related car maintenance skills, and maybe they do now, but the fact I didnt know what the tread depth should be on a tyre, is not an outlier, it will be the case for the majority of people, as has been said in here, non enthusiast's generally treat their car as a white good.

Can see similar on social media as well, occasionally people will post about a problem with their car and ask for help on might be wrong, they show a demonstration, and often the warning light will be on and one wonders if they carry on using their vehicle routinely with it on simply because they cannot afford to do proactive maintenance on their car.

I am surprised tech hasnt been used to assist on this e.g. install brake pad sensors, when it detects too low, it then limits the speed of the vehicle until its fixed.
 
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chrcoluk said:
Welcome to the real world.

I remember some years back a work friend who used to give me a lift back after work her car was in a torrid state, it only just about ran, and I asked her if she was planning to get it fixed, and the reply was as long as she can get from (a) to (b) it is good enough, this was my first job in a factory, and its a case of spend the minimum on a used vehicle, only pay to pass a mot or if it stops been able to do what you want it to do when you on a low income.

I do agree that for safety reasons driving assessments, probably need to include safety related car maintenance skills, and maybe they do now, but the fact I didnt know what the tread depth should be on a tyre, is not an outlier, it will be the case for the majority of people, as has been said in here, non enthusiast's generally treat their car as a white good.

Can see similar on social media as well, occasionally people will post about a problem with their car and ask for help on might be wrong, they show a demonstration, and often the warning light will be on and one wonders if they carry on using their vehicle routinely with it on simply because they cannot afford to do proactive maintenance on their car.

I am surprised tech hasnt been used to assist on this e.g. install brake pad sensors, when it detects too low, it then limits the speed of the vehicle until its fixed.
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Obviously it isn't perfect but at least where I've had my vehicles MOT'd they'll usually advise you if they don't think stuff like brakes or tyres will make next MOT, etc. and while I can understand people not being on top of brakes as on many vehicles it isn't easy to see visually I find it hard to believe anyone struggles to know when their tyres are getting in need of replacing.

Had an interesting one at work recently where one of the drivers had the brake warning light come on and they (the driver) were like "meh its fine still a good few miles on them yet" where you could see the pads was still around 20% left - we called someone out to change them and the inside which you couldn't see was almost gone!

To be fair it can be difficult - finding a good garage and fitting in when you can do without the vehicle and if necessary getting to and from when leaving the vehicle for work can all make things complicated.

Also a lot of places you can't just turn up and get them to fit you in within the next hour or so - when I first learnt to drive there was a few places that would happily do that but not so much any more - usually have to make an appointment well in advance and/or drop the vehicle off all day.
 
Lack of maintenance isn't just about old bangers, I know many people who will pay 10-15k for a decent used car in excellent condition with fsh and then proceed to do absolutely no preventative maintenance whatsoever. They'll use the MOT as the benchmark and won't pay for anything that isn't essential to pass an MOT. We're talking 5 years plus with no change of oil, filters etc. It's a testament to modern engineering that the cars work!
 
A friend of my wife about 8 years back had her brakes more or less fail. She kept driving it for about two weeks though using engine braking & the handbrake to stop.
 
watercooledman said:
He bought an 11 year old civic for 2.4k with bumps and scrapes and a knackered gear box. Yeh great buy
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Yeah, screw them for buying a car which (on paper) is a reliable choice with the money they had... Right?

They must be the only person to ever buy a lemon, ever. Too bad it was the only civic to ever have a second gear synchro mesh problem.
 
Yeah at this age and price it is going to be a minefield - best you can do is avoid the obvious money pits and/or vehicles fast on their way to scrap.
 
Gaygle said:
10/10 would not touch this car with a barge pole. It has been owned by someone who thinks the only time they need to maintain their car is when it fails an MOT, and when they do have to pay to get the car fixed, they do it for absolutely as cheaply as physically possible.

On one of the MOTs it came in with both headlight bulbs blown (and a rear one) - what were these people doing when it got dark?!

And this is coming from someone who is fairly liberal with MOT failures and views failures/advisories as things that can be easily fixed but are a good bargaining tool
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To be fair I would say that I'm someone who looks after cars. Pays for premium tyres, bosch windscreen wipers, Vag specialist for service and repairs...

...my cars still fail Mot's, I then fix using all OEM parts and then get mot's again.

I wouldn't be put off this, but I'd be looking at what tyres it has. Are they matching all round. Who carried out the repairs, what parts have been fitted etc etc.
 
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