RE: Third of Cars fail MOT
Monday 18th March 2002
Third of Cars fail MOT
Will your old shed pass its next MOT?
Discussion
Ok so the British public are not spending enough money on getting thier cars looked at often enough.
Perhaps the government wants to think about why that is?
Perhaps its because they have let car prices be so high in the UK for so long that we all have *huge* car repayments to make - so at the end of each month we can either choose to eat or service - no brainer!
Or perhaps its the high cost of fuel in the UK, eating up or motoring budgets so safety comes last.
Then again it could be because of the high price of motor insurance.
Maybe, just for once, the government should use that high powered intuition and point it at themselves and realise they a part of the problem!
(sorry got out of bed the wrong side today)
Perhaps the government wants to think about why that is?
Perhaps its because they have let car prices be so high in the UK for so long that we all have *huge* car repayments to make - so at the end of each month we can either choose to eat or service - no brainer!
Or perhaps its the high cost of fuel in the UK, eating up or motoring budgets so safety comes last.
Then again it could be because of the high price of motor insurance.
Maybe, just for once, the government should use that high powered intuition and point it at themselves and realise they a part of the problem!
(sorry got out of bed the wrong side today)
...and another thing.
Perhaps tree hugging Ken should think about these figures. Everytime he makes it more expensive/difficult to use our cars we just pay more money to use them, and in turn neglect safety.
Wake up and smell the coffee - the British public love to use cars, and you are not going to change that.
So why not take a different view. Its a bit like drugs (bear with me here). You drive drugs underground and they get more expensive, and they get less safe. Peoples lifes are ruined and people die.
Legalise *some* drugs, regulate them and make them safe. People only use the safe ones and people dont die.
Take the same approach with cars. Dont drive us underground. Embrace the car, put money into making it more efficient, kinder to the environment, cheaper to use and easier to use. People will then use the cars you want them to use (generally speaking - not Pistonheads readers of course) and everyone will be happy.
Spend some time and money tackling the real issues rather than skirting around them/banning them you bunch of yellow bellies.
(still grumpy)
Perhaps tree hugging Ken should think about these figures. Everytime he makes it more expensive/difficult to use our cars we just pay more money to use them, and in turn neglect safety.
Wake up and smell the coffee - the British public love to use cars, and you are not going to change that.
So why not take a different view. Its a bit like drugs (bear with me here). You drive drugs underground and they get more expensive, and they get less safe. Peoples lifes are ruined and people die.
Legalise *some* drugs, regulate them and make them safe. People only use the safe ones and people dont die.
Take the same approach with cars. Dont drive us underground. Embrace the car, put money into making it more efficient, kinder to the environment, cheaper to use and easier to use. People will then use the cars you want them to use (generally speaking - not Pistonheads readers of course) and everyone will be happy.
Spend some time and money tackling the real issues rather than skirting around them/banning them you bunch of yellow bellies.
(still grumpy)
All this crap about servicing. I service my car on a regular basis! Oil every 6k miles and use the servicing schedule in the Haynes Manual for the rest! If I feel something is not right, I get a garage to look at it, if it is bust, badly worn etc It gets replaced when the budget allows! At MOT time however, they go over more and more stuff and fail on the most petty things!
I put my first Astra in for it's MOT back in august and it failed, to the surprise of everyone! When I looked at the sheet it said, Nearside Indicator Glass Missing and nearside headlight too high!! Well, I had re-aligned the headlight the day before and checked that everything was on the car, including the indicator glass! The garage broke the indicator glass and moved the headlight so it would fail! It sailed through without any probs apart from that!
If thats the state of todays testing stations, no wonder!
I put my first Astra in for it's MOT back in august and it failed, to the surprise of everyone! When I looked at the sheet it said, Nearside Indicator Glass Missing and nearside headlight too high!! Well, I had re-aligned the headlight the day before and checked that everything was on the car, including the indicator glass! The garage broke the indicator glass and moved the headlight so it would fail! It sailed through without any probs apart from that!
If thats the state of todays testing stations, no wonder!
I take it you wont be using that garage again??
Another reason for the high failure rate could be the emissions - not something you can check yourself and how well looked after is the test equipment in your average garage - when was the last time it was calibrated.... Very easy for them to say "failed on emission mate - must be your catalyst" - whoosh £300 up in smoke (literally!)
Another reason for the high failure rate could be the emissions - not something you can check yourself and how well looked after is the test equipment in your average garage - when was the last time it was calibrated.... Very easy for them to say "failed on emission mate - must be your catalyst" - whoosh £300 up in smoke (literally!)
Thats the thing thats worrying me! I bought an Orion about 3 weeks ago! The Carb was covered in Oil, and it would puff blue smoke when first starterd, one little puff and that wsa it! I cleaned the carb, new air filter, cleaned the air box all ok now! Then it decided it didn't want to start! Various attempts to start it failed, eventually turned out to be dodgy plugs!! I'm now a little concerned about the Cat! the tickets up in december so I have a little while yet! But If I go to a garage with dodgy equipment, and they say my cats shagged, if I don't agree to them changing it, I don'gt et my new ticket!
Does the consumer (you and me) have any comeback over this sort of thing??? Just in case!
>> Edited by tvradict on Tuesday 19th March 13:03
Does the consumer (you and me) have any comeback over this sort of thing??? Just in case!
>> Edited by tvradict on Tuesday 19th March 13:03
The MOT equipment has to be regularly calibrated, the Vehicle Inspectorate monitor all testing stations, they make surprise visits to testers and view certificates etc, they will also over see test to make sure testers are up to scratch, after seeing how hard they come down up legitimate places I can’t see how dodgy places get away with it.
One of the guys that works for me had his car failed for "indicators weren't orange enough!" these were of the type with a clear lense and orange bulb, now I can understand a failure but how the hell did he decide on that one ???? Is it now a requirment for testing stations to have a calibrated orangeness testing machine ???? The bloke was being a twat and there are thousands of others out there the same.
You do get people who go over the top, usually things like light colour are at the testers discretion, most places would normally advise you to change the bulbs not actually fail the car. I often look at the mot as a safety check for £30 ish. One car I helped with had a split brake hose, it actually gave out on the mot ramp, as when pressing the pedal as hard as possible it blew, imagine doing an emergency stop to find a brake pipe blow.
Why not take the car for testing a little under a month before the ticket runs out and then if it fails you have almost a month to get a re-test or get it fixed. If the car fails the test you can still drive it home as long as there is some time left on the old certificate. If you pass the test within a month of expiry of the old ticket they will forward date the new one to run from when the old one expires.
all 1.4 orions had a carb!! I wasn't sure initially so I got underneath and located the sensor on the exhaust! I may be mistaken! but I have been told be several people it has a cat! it's a '93 so it should have! I'm about to go out and clean up the engine a bit so I'll have another butchers then!!!
quote:
Why not take the car for testing a little under a month before the ticket runs out and then if it fails you have almost a month to get a re-test or get it fixed. If the car fails the test you can still drive it home as long as there is some time left on the old certificate. If you pass the test within a month of expiry of the old ticket they will forward date the new one to run from when the old one expires.
Not totally true because the examiner can 'withdraw' the old certificate if the car fails on something really dangerous eg. no brakes. If you then drive the car on the road plod can pull you for no MOT. This description is slightly simplified as I cannot remember all the tech terms.
Having an MOT certificate is a legal requirement, and is checked before you renew your tax disc, or if you get a 'producer'. Possesion of an MOT certificate does not make the car legal; every time you drive on the road, it is an offense if your car is not in a roadworthy condition. So failing an MOT, and then driving around for a month, could land you in trouble, both legally, and you might end up in a hedge.
Get it fixed...
Get it fixed...
quote:
Ah! I can only just get the unleaded pump into the tank, it's a very tight fit and I can't wiggle the nozzle to stop fuel dripping on my paintwork! Could that mean I have a cat, or are Ford just being sensible!
I think Cats have been compulsory since Jan 93 so all evidence points to your Orion having one.
It's better to be a little over cautious I guess than have dodgy dave wave some unsafe old heap out the doors. The roads would be a better place without all the knackered old bangers clogging them up, chugging plumes of shite out on pedestrians. Modern well serviced cars are the way forward.
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