I used to think that paying for a pre MOT was a waste of money as I was quite capable of checking a lot of the points myself. However, nowadays if a car fails on a major it can't leave the MOT station until it's fixed. My next door neighbour was in a situation only a week or so back, where his car failed on an anti rollbar bush, had no money, travelcard or phone on him, and was faced with the dilemma of how to get home, as the mot guy said the car had to stay in the workshop until he'd fixed it the following day, even though the current mot had not expired. He eventually relented, no doubt not wanting an 80 year old customer to have a heart attack on the long walk home. I use a guy who is a home mechanic, so he comes to the house, pre mots the car, then takes it for its mot, and delivers it back home. I always get this done a week or so before the mot is due in case he comes across a problem during the pre mot, although this precaution has never been needed.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
Hey!
My understanding is that it is the most recent MOT that stands.
I believe that if you take your car or bike in for an MOT say 3 weeks early before the existing one has expired and it passes the MOT, the 3 weeks are added to the MOT. ie:12 months and 3 weeks MOT length, but if it fails with 3 weeks left on the current MOT, it is the most recent MOT that is valid IE: the failure.
If the last statement is correct you can not drive the car until it has a pass certificate
Can someone confirm if this is right? Or am I way off key, would not be the first time.
tommyardin
Yeah, quite correct. The mot guy cut my neighbour a bit of slack, as he had no way of getting back home. Moral is, make sure you’ve got money, credit card, bus pass and mobile phone when you’re going for an mot in case it all goes bandy. A few years back I had to get the bus home to get a legal numberplate for my Fireblade, after the mot guy decided to fail it after years of passing it with the moody plate.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
I can understand getting a pre-MOT check on a car, because there's things that may not be obvious, eg the bushing mentioned, but it's not like a Check Engine light is easy to miss and simply checking if the lights work is not rocket science!
(11-07-23, 11:53 PM)Grahamm link Wrote: I can understand getting a pre-MOT check on a car, because there's things that may not be obvious, eg the bushing mentioned, but it's not like a Check Engine light is easy to miss and simply checking if the lights work is not rocket science! That was my point. The days of just checking the lights,indicators,horn,washer bottle, give the tyres a kick, are long gone with the advent of engine lights etc. All mechs now will have the magic box of tricks to diagnose any lit warning lights, and in some cases just perform a reset. Having a vehicle fail its mot has a lot more ramifications now, than only a few years ago.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
I remember chatting with an RAC guy who said that, these days, for anything more complicated than a flat battery or tyre, it was becoming almost impossible to do roadside repairs any more...
(12-07-23, 12:31 PM)Grahamm link Wrote: I remember chatting with an RAC guy who said that, these days, for anything more complicated than a flat battery or tyre, it was becoming almost impossible to do roadside repairs any more... Ain’t that the truth……sadly :'(
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
Engine light staying on is a failure, and could have a number of causes. Time for a cautionary tale. We bought a Discovery 2 some years back and took it for several MOT tests over the years. One year, we took it to a different garage. which failed it as none of the warning lights were illuminating at switch on. I nearly fell over. I didn't even know it was modern enough to have warning lights, but it had 3 that needed to come on and then off after the systems check is completed. (search the three amigos). I explained that this was a new one on me, but it was a major. Long story short, previous owner wouldn't spend money on correcting the faults, so removed the front dash and covered up the three lights. With the covers removed, the lights were on all the time, so another investigation ensued, resulting in another ABS unit being fitted, all three lights now off.
Yeesh! That's worrying on two counts: Firstly that someone would be stupid enough to cover up warning lights on safety critical systems and secondly that it could get through several MOTs before someone noticed that the lights weren't coming on when they should...!
Have you got your car yet Grahamm?
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
(13-07-23, 09:13 PM)Grahamm link Wrote: Yeesh! That's worrying on two counts: Firstly that someone would be stupid enough to cover up warning lights on safety critical systems and secondly that it could get through several MOTs before someone noticed that the lights weren't coming on when they should...!
Unfortunately, the people(?) that carry out this sort of fraud are not stupid. More likely to be a second hand car dealer that's been left with a pig on the sales lot. Paid a couple of hundred quid for the lights "too go away", then sells the vehicle onto unsuspecting innocent punter.
As for the testers? Do they pay attention to that detail every time they put a key in and turn on the ignition? Unlikely - you only tend too look after the engine has started to see if there are any fault lights illuminated.
(16-07-23, 02:38 PM)robbo link Wrote: Have you got your car yet Grahamm?
Not yet.
The Dealer wasn't sure how long it would take to get the things I mentioned previously fixed as local garages are pretty busy at the moment, so I booked the RAC inspection for the 24th (ie a week tomorrow)
But what I'm going to do is call the RAC again and see if they've got an earlier date and, if that's available, check if the car's back from the garage and try to move the inspection up a few days.
(16-07-23, 11:41 PM)Grahamm link Wrote: [quote author=robbo link=topic=25540.msg332281#msg332281 date=1689514734]
Have you got your car yet Grahamm?
Not yet.
The Dealer wasn't sure how long it would take to get the things I mentioned previously fixed as local garages are pretty busy at the moment, so I booked the RAC inspection for the 24th (ie a week tomorrow)
But what I'm going to do is call the RAC again and see if they've got an earlier date and, if that's available, check if the car's back from the garage and try to move the inspection up a few days.
[/quote]
Lol - I maybe joining you in the hunt for a suitable vehicle (only this one is for the wife). Her SAAB died spectacularly a week or so ago and I don't really have the time to spend repairing it) :rolleyes :rolleyes
Unfortunately it looks like I'm still going to have to wait until next Monday 
(19-07-23, 08:35 AM)fazerscotty link Wrote: [quote author=Grahamm link=topic=25540.msg332284#msg332284 date=1689547276]
[quote author=robbo link=topic=25540.msg332281#msg332281 date=1689514734]
Have you got your car yet Grahamm?
Not yet.
The Dealer wasn't sure how long it would take to get the things I mentioned previously fixed as local garages are pretty busy at the moment, so I booked the RAC inspection for the 24th (ie a week tomorrow)
But what I'm going to do is call the RAC again and see if they've got an earlier date and, if that's available, check if the car's back from the garage and try to move the inspection up a few days.
[/quote]
Lol - I maybe joining you in the hunt for a suitable vehicle (only this one is for the wife). Her SAAB died spectacularly a week or so ago and I don't really have the time to spend repairing it) :rolleyes :rolleyes
[/quote]
Yep, as I thought. SAAB has gone to the big recycling centre in the sky - now looking for a second car for SWMBO. :'( :'( :'(
Is the Mrs. still catching the bus or have you sorted her some wheels yet?
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
(26-07-23, 01:19 PM)robbo link Wrote: Is the Mrs. still catching the bus or have you sorted her some wheels yet?
Her son lent her a '60 plate Ford Focus - she quite likes driving it, except its not automatic.
At least she’s mobile until something suitable comes along. We’re sweating on the judges ULEZ decision that’s supposed to be published tomorrow. There’ll be 3 nice autos for sale in my road alone if it all goes wrong. :'(
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
So the RAC guy inspected the car I put a deposit down on and...
... he didn't even road test it!
One of the brakes was binding, the brake fluid was contaminated, a hose in the engine had been taped up, there was too much oil and too little coolant... :eek
When I spoke to him on the phone he said "I can't tell you whether to buy it or not, but I'd err on the side of caution!" (Translation: Don't touch this one with a barge pole unless you want to spend a lot of dosh getting it properly roadworthy...)
The good news is that there's another Fabia (2012) that's only done 80k miles (the previous one had done nearly 120k) and is in much better nick.
When I test drove it, there was a creaking or clunking from the back right and, after chatting to a garage owner/ mechanic a friend recommended and doing some checking, it might simply be a bushing that needs a bit of lubrication or it might be a sign of something more serious.
The dealer's going to send it to a garage where they get MOTs done and have them look at it then call me and let me know what the issue is.
If it's not serious or the dealer will get it fixed, I'm probably going to go with this one.
A Fabia has come up for sale on a beemer forum that I subscribe to, but you seem to be sorted now. Glad you didn’t buy the lemon.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
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