Rear windscreen wiper MOT fail?

[Condi]

If there is a rear wiper fitted does it need to work to pass an MOT? If so, can I just take it off (ie the motor/gearbox) and they'll pass it?

[roverspeed]

if it isn't there, they can't fail it.

[Cock Womble 7]

roverspeed said:

if it isn't there, they can't fail it.

General rule of thumb - if it's there, it should work. If it's not there, it's not there.

[Perd Hapley]

Rear wiper not tested.

Not a fail even if it's there and broken.

[Mroad]

Condi said:

If there is a rear wiper fitted does it need to work to pass an MOT? If so, can I just take it off (ie the motor/gearbox) and they'll pass it?

Remove it, did the same on my old Integrale track car.

[McSam]

Perd Hapley said:

Rear wiper not tested.

Not a fail even if it's there and broken.

I thought this too. You can't be penalised for something that doesn't work if it isn't required to even be there!

[Mastodon2]

Perd Hapley said:

Rear wiper not tested.

Not a fail even if it's there and broken.

A friend of mine had an old MK3 Golf GTI fail it's MOT for a broken rear wiper arm earlier this year, the snow piled up on it in winter and snapped it off, leaving a stump of the arm remaining. He got an MOT for free with an insurance company that is an arm of a large national chain of garages who have something of a chequered reputation, but MOTs seems to be a "one rule for one garage, a different rule for another" kind of affair, even though that's obviously not how it's meant to be!

[Nick3point2]

Mastodon2 said:

A friend of mine had an old MK3 Golf GTI fail it's MOT for a broken rear wiper arm earlier this year, the snow piled up on it in winter and snapped it off, leaving a stump of the arm remaining. He got an MOT for free with an insurance company that is an arm of a large national chain of garages who have something of a chequered reputation, but MOTs seems to be a "one rule for one garage, a different rule for another" kind of affair, even though that's obviously not how it's meant to be!

He should report the tester, you cannot fail a car on a rear wiper.

Although, maybe he failed it as a dangerous/sharp piece of body work?

Edited by Nick3point2 on Friday 12th August 18:14

[vit4]

McSam said:

I thought this too. You can't be penalised for something that doesn't work if it isn't required to even be there!

Definitely not true; my nearside rear foglight got smashed, needed replacing because it was there (even though the car only could have had the offside one specced new and it would've been legal).

[snowdude2910]

duck tape over them (the foglights that is)

[Bacon Is Proof]

Cock Womble 7 said:

roverspeed said:

if it isn't there, they can't fail it.

General rule of thumb - if it's there, it should work. If it's not there, it's not there.

Unfortunately a rule that is often wrong, spare tyre being a prime example.

[jagracer]

Mastodon2 said:

A friend of mine had an old MK3 Golf GTI fail it's MOT for a broken rear wiper arm earlier this year, the snow piled up on it in winter and snapped it off, leaving a stump of the arm remaining. He got an MOT for free with an insurance company that is an arm of a large national chain of garages who have something of a chequered reputation, but MOTs seems to be a "one rule for one garage, a different rule for another" kind of affair, even though that's obviously not how it's meant to be!

I tested a car the other day that a speedy fitting tyre company had failed on low brake pads and no brake lights. The brake lights were fine and the pads weren't visible so it couldn't fail on them.

[Mastodon2]

jagracer said:

I tested a car the other day that a speedy fitting tyre company had failed on low brake pads and no brake lights. The brake lights were fine and the pads weren't visible so it couldn't fail on them.

Sounds like it might just be the same company!

Not that I'm implying it's company policy to do gash MOTs of course, it depends entirely on the tester. Unfortunately they don't all test to the same standard!

[mcford]

The rear wiper is not testable, so it can't be a failure item. If it was broken and it was failed for sharp edges, I'd argue with that, as that failure only applies to the body.

[Supercat]

Bacon Is Proof said:

Unfortunately a rule that is often wrong, spare tyre being a prime example.

Eh? You mean my car will fail it's MOT because it hasn't got a spare tyre?

[Bacon Is Proof]

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_830.htm

If you look at the section for windscreens it is obvious that "windscreen" refers to the front screen only.

[Bacon Is Proof]

Supercat said:

Eh? You mean my car will fail it's MOT because it hasn't got a spare tyre?

The popular myth is that you don't have to have a spare but if you do it must be legal.
The truth is that you don't need a spare and if you do it can be as bald as coot/CW7 and you'll still pass as it's not a tested item.

[Prof Prolapse]

Bacon Is Proof said:

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_830.htm

If you look at the section for windscreens it is obvious that "windscreen" refers to the front screen only.

Would that be the screen that is subjected to to the wind then?

[Bacon Is Proof]

Prof Prolapse said:

Would that be the screen that is subjected to to the wind then?

You've obviously never driven without a rear screen then.

I was just trying to make it clear as a lot of people refer to it as the rear windscreen.

[Supercat]

Bacon Is Proof said:

The popular myth is that you don't have to have a spare but if you do it must be legal.
The truth is that you don't need a spare and if you do it can be as bald as coot/CW7 and you'll still pass as it's not a tested item.

Thanks for the clarification - see my profile pick for why I was concerned!