MOT

H0ax! · 11 May 2011 at 20:27

My MOT is coming up and just want it to pass really... Would anyone recommend Halfords? Currently £28.

Also. I have a wiper blade scratch on my windscreen (passenger side), which doesn't effect my field of view but is pretty long. What are the chances of them failing it on that?

Thanks.

Gaygle · 11 May 2011 at 20:55

How confident are you that your car will pass?

CHECK THE FOLLOWING:

- Tyres - have they got more than 1.6mm of tread (use the coin trick if you don't have the ability to measure)
- Lights - are ALL bulbs working on the car (inc numberplate lights).
- Give a quick visual check of your brake pads (how much of the pad is there?)
- Is the suspension visually ok?

IIRC around 75% of the MOT failures are caused by the above.

H0ax! · 11 May 2011 at 21:02

Feels okay, but then I thought that about the last two i had which both cost me £300+, as well as knowing nothing about cars!

Just checked my last... Brake pipes were replaced and mentions something about my front brake being scored.

lawz · 12 May 2011 at 07:41

Do the above checks as a start, check for visible rust etc

You could try taking it to a council test centre? Less likely to fail it on an exhaust than compared with say, halfords.

And never tell a mechanic you know nothing about cars, but DO ask questions if you want to know/dont know the answer.

realscot · 12 May 2011 at 07:45

Tell them you are going to fix it yourself, that way they won't fail anything thats not that bad and shouldn't really be failed, so you've less chance of being scammed. You can always change your mind after the test or take it elsewhere to be repaired.

Gib_Gib · 12 May 2011 at 08:41

Scratches on the windscreen, ie light surface scratching, is not to be considered as damage. However, an area of concentrated scratching such as caused by the prolonged use of a defective wiper blade which obscures vision is to be considered a reason for rejection if it meets the fail criteria.

I would say clean the windscreen as well as you can to make the scratches less obvious though.

eatcustard · 12 May 2011 at 11:56

realscot said:
Tell them you are going to fix it yourself, that way they won't fail anything thats not that bad and shouldn't really be failed, so you've less chance of being scammed. You can always change your mind after the test or take it elsewhere to be repaired.

Dont talk so rubbish.
The MOT tester will lose his job if he lies

Hxc · 12 May 2011 at 12:01

eatcustard said:
Dont talk so rubbish.
The MOT tester will lose his job if he lies

Are you seriously suggesting that no MOT testers are even slightly dodgy?

[TW]Fox · 12 May 2011 at 12:12

Two cars MOT'd at Halfords Autocentre.

1) My 530i. Passed first time, no advisories.

2) My Dads 07 525i. Failed on emissions. Booked car into BMW dealer for rectification, they suggested MOTing it first as they reckoned that some MOT places, staffed as they are with largely illiterate monkeys (My thoughts not the dealers btw), dont really know what they are doing when it comes to making sure the car is ready for the emissions test.

Result? Passed, no advisories, emissions were fine...

So a mixed bag.

Burnsy2023 · 12 May 2011 at 12:51

eatcustard said:
Dont talk so rubbish.
The MOT tester will lose his job if he lies

Only if they get caught out, which I fear isn't as often as I would like.

H0ax! · 12 May 2011 at 18:10

Thanks for the help. I will do those checks at the weekend.

Also. Can I take it elsewhere to be fixed and then take it back to be retested for free? If it's not too much hassle that is...

My car is an 02 plate Fiesta Flight btw.

Hxc · 12 May 2011 at 18:13

If you return the car to them within a certain number of days you only have to pay a partial retest fee. I forget whether it is 7 or 14...

BigglesPiP · 12 May 2011 at 18:14

[TW]Fox;19118231 said:
Two cars MOT'd at Halfords Autocentre.

1) My 530i. Passed first time, no advisories.

2) My Dads 07 525i. Failed on emissions. Booked car into BMW dealer for rectification, they suggested MOTing it first as they reckoned that some MOT places, staffed as they are with largely illiterate monkeys (My thoughts not the dealers btw), dont really know what they are doing when it comes to making sure the car is ready for the emissions test.

Result? Passed, no advisories, emissions were fine...

So a mixed bag.

That may not be the test stations being a mixed bag as much as the CAT on the vehicle or journey to each test station...

These days you're not going to get much variation other than:
- Leniency on poorly defined items, current advice is to pass & advise when in doubt.
- Someone may do more than required to uncake a poorly treated CAT.
- Bribery with decats (paying them to "put the cat back on for the test").
- You know, are related to or actually are the tester.

Certainly conmen are very rare on MOTs now.

[TW]Fox · 12 May 2011 at 18:40

BigglesPiP said:
That may not be the test stations being a mixed bag as much as the CAT on the vehicle or journey to each test station...

It shouldnt be possible for a vehicle to fail the test at one station and pass it at another if the test is carried out properly. Just what exactly would have happened had the car not been taken to BMW?

realscot · 12 May 2011 at 19:22

I dunno about everyone elses emissions testing machines, but with ours if the car fails the first test, it asks you to run the car at fast idle (2500-3000rpm) for 2 minutes then it tries again. Usually this is more than enough time for a cat to warm up properly, although the car should be warm enough after doing the rest of the test since you have to have it running for a certain amount of the test while it's up in the air to check for fuel leaks etc.
As for saying what I said was rubbish, don't fool yourself, its just as easy to scam repairs from an MOT test as it is for any garage to tell you somethings worn when it's not. Most people don't question an MOT testers decision, and the random checks are once a year at most, probably less for most, which is why I said say you are fixing it yourself, that way they won't be tempted to try one on. It may not happen much, but it still happens, and my advice was to stop you being put in that position.

To add to fox's "illiterate monkeys" comment, I completely agree with you there. Let me give you an example of what I mean.
When logging onto a car for MOT it asks you to enter and i'll try and word it exactly as it is on the MOT computer;

Seating Capacity *excluding driver* [ ]

So an average family car seats 5 people (4 + the driver) so you'd enter 4 in that box right?
At least 90% of the MOT's I log on have 5 in that box instead of 4, and I always have to change it. So indeed most must be illiterate monkeys, they don't even understand the meaning of the word "excluding"

BigglesPiP · 12 May 2011 at 19:52

[TW]Fox;19121538 said:
It shouldnt be possible for a vehicle to fail the test at one station and pass it at another if the test is carried out properly. Just what exactly would have happened had the car not been taken to BMW?

It is.

I've known cars which cannot pass the gas test even after the prescribed 2 mins at 2-3k. But can sneak through if you get the cat hotter still, ie. thrash it to the test station.

If the car hasn't been driven warm in a long time, the CAT may be literally dirty, in which case a long enough journey to get it hot can clean it. Or the 2 mins at 2-3k at one garage half cleaned it and the 2 mins at the next station finished the job.

If the car was teleported from one garage to the next what your saying could be true, but they're usually driven there.

[TW]Fox · 12 May 2011 at 19:55

BigglesPiP said:
It is.

I've known cars which cannot pass the gas test even after the prescribed 2 mins at 2-3k. But can sneak through if you get the cat hotter still, ie. thrash it to the test station.

If the car hasn't been driven warm in a long time, the CAT may be literally dirty, in which case a long enough journey to get it hot can clean it. Or the 2 mins at 2-3k at one garage half cleaned it and the 2 mins at the next station finished the job.

If the car was teleported from one garage to the next what your saying could be true, but they're usually driven there.

On this occasion the drive to the test centre it failed was longer than the drive to the centre where it passed.

It's unacceptable to fail cars which have no faults.

BigglesPiP · 12 May 2011 at 19:56

[TW]Fox;19122128 said:
On this occasion the drive to the test centre it failed was longer than the drive to the centre where it passed.

It's unacceptable to fail cars which have no faults.

So the drive to the 1st test station was x miles, and the drive to the 2nd test station was y miles.

The drive to the second test station was actually 2x+y miles with a break. Given the pre-drive-to-any-test-station as a baseline.

[TW]Fox · 12 May 2011 at 19:59

BigglesPiP said:
So the drive to the 1st test station was x miles, and the drive to the 2nd test station was y miles.

The drive to the second test station was actually 2x+y miles with a break. Given the pre-drive-to-any-test-station as a baseline.

Errr no, the car went home and sat on the drive for a few days until it was then driven to the closer BMW main dealer.

It's unacceptable to fail cars which have no faults.

BigglesPiP · 12 May 2011 at 20:07

[TW]Fox;19122149 said:
Errr no, the car went home and sat on the drive for a few days until it was then driven to the closer BMW main dealer.

It's unacceptable to fail cars which have no faults.

I don't see why you're persisting here, your dad's dirty diesel failed the gas test, then it was driven, then it passed.

Driving any fossil fuelled car can change the exhaust emissions.