Hello Havnt posted for ages---Anyway just took wifes 52 plate Fabia Comfort 1.4 16v ( 75bhp) Automatic Estate for MOT. This car still only has 12.800 on the clock after nearly 8 yrs. Still on Original OEM tyres.

It passed again ---But the following Advisories were added...

N/S & O/S Front Trailing arm bushes splitting but not yet resulting in excessive movement.

Front antiroll bar bushes deteriorating & bar starting to come out of stops, not yet resulting in excessive movement.

All 4 Tyres starting to crack inbetween tread patterns...

Also never had a new cam belt in its life....Not MOT related

Well its all going to have to wait till After Christmas, & see how much money is in the kitty.

Good job my Jeep Patriot ( 2 litre VW Crd Diesel) with 6 speed man. box. doesnt need an MOT for the next 18 months....

Skoda now advise to change the cambelt after 4 years regardless of mileage.

Tyres should be changed after 6 years, I guess the cracks in the treads were not that bad to fail.

Looks like the rubber parts are perishing through age rather than wear & tear.

I'd watch out for that long cambelt service use, normally low mileage still means the same number of engine starts from cold and that aside, its quite often the relay rollers that fail - remember to get the top one changed as well as it does not (or did not used to) be supplied in the BBY cambelt kit. I'd reckon that your car will have the old style ARM with the plastic end stops - and sound like they are failing. Getting the ARB and the TCA rear bushes changed at the same time makes a lot of sense money wise, the ARB mounting bushes will get changed as well as they change size when the newer ARBs are fitted.

The comment about the age of tyres, yes it seems that even tyre dealers return unsold tyres after 4 (I think) years - as I found out when trying to find a "one off no longer manufactured" for my wife's Polo.

all sounds fairly common faults to me, arb bushes and track control bushes

you lucky bugga or is it i wouldnt leave tyres or a cambelt that long geeeeees on all my cars that i have ever run one thing i always ensure are top notch are tyres thats the only thing keeping you safe at speed ect if there crap/old your on thin ice mate i would be getting them done asap i drove my mums panda for a week and her tyres although they had lots of tread left where 3 years old and i paid for some new ones putting on as i felt they where so unsafe

It sounds like the car has not had any money spent on it since new so it's about time you treated it to new bushes, cam belt etc.

As for the tyre cracking, I've had cracking in the treads on the Arosa and it is just because of their age.

Go on treat it to good overhaul as a Christmas present.

Thanks for feedback guys----All points taken in!! Guess what my Mrs is having for Christmas----I'm going to spend a some money on her Fabia & give it a bit of a refurb--She has a few mobility & incapacity problems & loves her Fabia , mainly because its an Auto.She wants to keep it for many years yet , so I reckon it will be money well spent in the long run......

What's the situation with the rubber 'covers' over the rear shocks, they have split and now move freely, is this a failure or an advisory?

MOT due in 2 weeks?

Do you mean the bump stops?

One of mine is split, and i'm pretty sure it must have been like that at MOT in July, and there was no advisory at all.

Do you mean the bump stops?

One of mine is split, and i'm pretty sure it must have been like that at MOT in July, and there was no advisory at all.

Yes mate, I think so, looks like a solid rubber block up the top and a cover that was connected to it tht now just sits at the bottom so you can see the actual steel of the shock.

It sounds like it should be Ok then!