Suspension advisories on MOT

Minstadave

Minstadave

Minstadave

Caporegime
Joined
8 Jan 2004
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32,774
Location
Rutland
The other half took her 09 plate mini in for an MOT and it came back with an advisory:

Nearside and offside front upper Macpherson strut has slight play in the sliding bush or gland.

Then on the service report they mention:

- both top mounts starting to separate
- both rear anti roll bar D bushers worn

Now I don't know much at all about suspension so can anyone help with a couple of questions:

- is the MOT advisory anything significant? Seems a bit odd to have suspension problems in a 3 year old car.
- anything there that needs doing urgently?
 
Of course it is significant otherwise why bother..

Fail = knackered, replace it or don't drive any more.
Advisory = well on it's way to being knackered, sort it out.

There's no point in putting it off is there, the parts are not going to break the bank by any means and are a simple DIY if you want to save pennies.
 
Well it's not always as simple as that which is why I'm asking. I usually get an advisory for pitted/corroded discs even when I've just had them replaced.

If they need doing they need doing, which is the point of the thread.
 
Clarkey said:
Of course it is significant otherwise why bother..

Fail = knackered, replace it or don't drive any more.
Advisory = well on it's way to being knackered, sort it out.

There's no point in putting it off is there, the parts are not going to break the bank by any means and are a simple DIY if you want to save pennies.
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Bloody hell your attitude leaves a lot to be desired sometimes, Clarkey.


I've had "insignificant" advisories on MOTs, namely an advisory for a magic tree, and for having a subwoofer in the boot.

In this case though it does seem like the suspension is worn out, but I'd be curious as to why, and to what real extent, on a 3-4 year old car!
 
I've had an advisory of a kinked brake hose for a couple of years, no doubt I'll get it again when MOT is due next month. Doesn't mean it's on its way out.
 
I'd be amazed if the bushes on the top of the struts are so worn that they have noticeable movement, and yet aren't leaking any oil.

To have that kind of wear in just 3 years and 20k miles seems somewhat unlikely to me and I wonder if they have misdiagnosed this (e.g. they are actually feeling movement in the top mount rather than the damper rod).
 
I help out down my friends garage, and I have seen cars have some wear of that year and mileage. As an example, someone brought in a 10 plate Nissan Note last week with 18,000 ish mileage on the clock and she said there is a noise at around 40 mph.

When checked out, driver side wheel bearing was making the noise driving was un-believable and when jacked up the noise was really bad, worse than I heard on some cars with 80,000 miles on the clock with the bearing gone, the car is not even due for the MOT till July.

So parts do wear and I the roads have a lot to do with suspension problems and being a 10 plate I was really surprised with the wheel bearing knackered.
 
Unless I was very worried or could feel like something wasn't right when I was driving it I would be inclined to leave it to the next service or MOT.

An 09 car is going to show some signs of wear all be it probably very lightly. It could just be an over cautious tester. If it is picked up during a service (a good service should check these parts for wear) or if you think the cars suspension is getting worse then get it done.

Otherwise wait for next MOT.
 
Had an advisory on a steering ball joint a couple of MOTs back. Wasn't picked up on the last MOT. I guess it depends who is doing the MOT. Doesn't mean it needs urgent attention.
 
MOT testers are taught to over advise. If they aren't sure; advise it.

It covers their asses from VOSA should the car leave the MOT station and be inspected before the next MOT.
 
Third Opinion said:
Unless I was very worried or could feel like something wasn't right when I was driving it I would be inclined to leave it to the next service or MOT.

An 09 car is going to show some signs of wear all be it probably very lightly. It could just be an over cautious tester. If it is picked up during a service (a good service should check these parts for wear) or if you think the cars suspension is getting worse then get it done.

Otherwise wait for next MOT.
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That was my initial plan. If any issues come up I'll have it looked at but otherwise I'll leave be.
 
danb21t said:
MOT testers are taught to over advise. If they aren't sure; advise it.

It covers their asses from VOSA should the car leave the MOT station and be inspected before the next MOT.
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Yes, but some of them are jerks.

I had a full two pages of fails and advisories once, which I found very hard to believe (especially as I'd seen him give a Scooby the most half-arsed MOT ever).
I took it elsewhere; low and behold it still failed, but only on a handful of things that were fairly easy to address.
 
I had an advisory last year for my nearside indicator losing its orange glow wtf? anyway, same place this year, same guy was there, and same bulb in that indicator! he said nothing!
They also advised my rear lights were slightly close to the legal limit of tints, they're standard rear lights!
 
Third Opinion said:
Just be thankful you didn't get this one.

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i lol'd :D
rather have a mot tester with a sense of humour than a grumpy bugger
 
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