Took the Volvo for an MOT today
- Thread starter Lopéz
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You've got a goodun there. Your car's stuck it rightly. The last two services on my old Merc C250D, which was 12 years old at the time, cost me £550 and £675 in the space of 10 months. They were pretty much all major parts since I intended to keep the car a long time. Timing chain, full exhaust, engine mounts, window motors etc. Mechanic charged only £90 approx each time so it was genuine part costs with very little markup.
I didn't give a hoot about spending money on it - the car's been in our family for 11 years, my dad put 230,000 miles on it and me 15,000 when I took it off him. We're quite attached to it and still keep it at the house
I can see that you couldn't give a stuff about your Volvo but it still lugs on anyway. You don't deserve to have something so faithful 
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Why would you present a car for an MOT with a bald tyre and faulty numberplate lights? Especially you Lopez.
Surely common sense dictates you give the car a coursery glance around it before you take it for an MOT?
Edit: Read the thread before replying I guess. But still, it worries me a car enthusiast didnt notice his tyre was illegal.
Surely common sense dictates you give the car a coursery glance around it before you take it for an MOT?
Edit: Read the thread before replying I guess. But still, it worries me a car enthusiast didnt notice his tyre was illegal.
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I would have said that by looking at the pics, you side lights are not working, as they are not lighted in the pics and every volvo I see always has it lights on in the bright sunny day or dark night
or maybe the engine / ignition is off?
The Day running lights are not an MOT fail anyway. They are not a legal requirement in this country, so if they dont work, it doesn't matter. my 740 has passed an MOT with no DRL
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;11006278 said:
From what I know about Mr Lopez, it probably was legal when he set off for the test station, but a few elevens, a couple of donuts, the odd handbrake turn on the way and... well, what can you do?
my 760 turbo failed it's mot last week.
on the rear foglights only.
the annoying this is it turned out to be a bad connection in the tow bar electrics. there is a little switch inside the connector that turns the foglights off when you plug in a trailer.
but i tried everything else before i figured that one out.
all sorted now though. just need to find a cheap lpg kit on ebay to try and cut down on the horrendous fuel bill
on the rear foglights only.
the annoying this is it turned out to be a bad connection in the tow bar electrics. there is a little switch inside the connector that turns the foglights off when you plug in a trailer.
but i tried everything else before i figured that one out.
all sorted now though. just need to find a cheap lpg kit on ebay to try and cut down on the horrendous fuel bill
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It was the handbrake turn on the way in that tipped it over the edgeFrom what I know about Mr Lopez, it probably was legal when he set off for the test station, but a few elevens, a couple of donuts, the odd handbrake turn on the way and... well, what can you do?
Nah, the rolling burnout I did outside the testing station to warm up the cat is what did it.
Here is the tyre that failed:
Not great I admit but it's hardly a slick! I was more interested in if it would fail for the cracking round the tread blocks, that tyre has probably on the car since it rolled out of Sweden.
Bulbs are now done too, retest is on Saturday morning
Here is the tyre that failed:
Not great I admit
but it's hardly a slick! I was more interested in if it would fail for the cracking round the tread blocks, that tyre has probably on the car since it rolled out of Sweden.Bulbs are now done too, retest is on Saturday morning
Soldato
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You don't need a gauge to know that's spent, the wear bar is flush! And the cracks are a fail too.
The garage in my village is generally open before 7:30am as well.
Soldato
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being localish to me lopez i'm surprised you don't know the same iffy garages i do. 
The Volvo is legal again!
Interesting conversation with the MOT bloke. He went through the advisories with me, and said that as he could see I was a keen DIY mechanic he thought I'd rather know than get 2 months down the road and start spotting faults I didn't know were there.
He also said that the MOT guidelines are getting more and more slack, and certain points are very difficult to actually fail on.
His last comment was - don't bother getting a "pre mot" and don't bother doing any remedial work before the test.
Bring it in, test it, then you KNOW what needs doing and can change the bits that need work, instead of guessing and pre-empting work that might need doing.
He tested a van the other day, the owner had come in proudly declaring that he'd fitted 4 new tyres and changed all the blown bulbs. Which was great but didn't really help the fact that every brake line was rotten through, it failed the emissions test by some margin, and the rear chassis legs were so badly corroded you could push through them with your fingers, and the inner sills had gone too. One scrap van with £200 worth of new rubber on it "to get it through the test"
So ner Fox
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