Hi there,

 

Just wondering if any of you guys who are more up-to-date than me on MOT testing requirements could pass comment on the info below please – I think I know the answers but would be good to check.

 

The story is my mum is currently linking of a new car to replace her 13 year old Civic and has been looking around, including flagging an interest in the new Jazz at the local Honda dealership.  Anyhow, over the last few weeks her front brakes have been screeching and getting steadily worse so, the other day despite me taking a look and suggesting she get some replacement pads fitted by a small local garage, she took it into the Honda dealer to be looked at.

 

She now has some new brake pads fitted at a fairly steep price but has also been given a Vehicle Health Check that lists a few items, some of which the dealer intimated were potential MOT failures, so she’s now panicking as to whether she should press on with getting a new car bought as her MOT is due at the end of February.

 

My view is that the Honda dealer is simply trying to upsell work that isn’t realistic on a 12 year old car, or even necessary to pass the MOT and that they are trying to force her hand on a new Jazz.

 

I’d therefore be grateful on any comments on the list they gave her below:

 

• Rear wiper split – not tested on the MOT as far as I know.
• A/C Condensor falling apart – not tested on the MOT as far as I know and she’s not bothered about the A/C having done without for a few years.
• Both shocker bump stops separated – not a reason for an MOT rejection as far as I know
• Slight play in O/S/F track rod end – not a reason for an MOT rejection as far as I know as the MOT wording states 'excessive play or clearly needing replacement' and the report indicates 'slight' play.
• O/S/F disc guard falling apart would require bearing – Possibly an MOT fail depending upon how bad, as the MOT wording suggests rejection if a brake back plate is loose, missing or excessively deteriorated.

 

I’m therefore of the opinion that only the last point could be a reason for an MOT failure and probably needs to be sorted.  However, I’d expect this could be fixed in the usual way by unbolting the existing one and re-fixing it with a couple of big washers as opposed to the dealers suggestion…   or could they just be removed altogether – do they have to be in place?

If the mot wording on the back plates is "loose,missing or excessively deteriorated" yeah they need to be in place.. most other things, if not tested still go towards trade in value of car unless shes going to have it scrapped instead?

Seriously, does the car get any care and maintenance from one MOT until the next?

I'm almost sure my Golf passed its MOT-before last minus one of the rear stone-guards.  Think it was an advisory only?

Edit: Nothing else to worry about in that list, I'd say.

N'other edit: Yup, Nov 2014:

 

"Advisory notice item(s)
 

rear brake discs badly corroded and pitted

off side rear brake stone gaurd missing"

Edited 22 January, 201610 yr by Wino

Stick it in for an mot and see what they say. Mother in law did the samme, had a "free health check" at the VW dealers and they came back with a load of stuff which needed doing for an MOT pass, panicked the buggery out of her, and she was all for getting the work done.

I stuck it in the local garage near me for an MOT and it failed on a front wiper blade split so they put a pair on and charged her an extra £15. Thing is, she was still going to have all the other work done by VW because "they're the specialists".

Right condenser isn't, split rear wiper may be an advisory I can't remember. They cost pence anyway so worth throwing one on. My last combo had stone guard rot so I just ripped guard off. 2 mots fine without one, track rod end would be an advisory but in all honesty you've been warned its going, check it for yourself and replace it before it gets an issue. Bump stops should be fine as long as not excessively perished. If hugely worried just stick them together... P.S. never let her take it to Honda again...

Thanks guys - the car is well looked after despite how it sounds - I really think the dealer is trying to force her into a new car - it was only serviced a while back by the same dealer but it is a 2003 so a good 13 years old.

 

Interesting on the stone guard as there seem to be conflicting views on needed or not...

 

For reference the total value of the work quoted was £1200 on a car they valued recently at £800 for trade-in...

 

I think I'll aim to take a proper look myself in daylight at some stage...

Only advice I can give it get it away from the main Honda dealer and to an independent who has no other interest in pushing another car and probably at least a third cheaper on the labour rate.

I'm not an MOT tester, but, they all sound like advisories unless the brake back plate is flapping about.

 

I'd get it tested somewhere totally impartial and see what they say. To me though, it sounds like they're trying to find ways to make money.

 

Not sure how far your nearest one is from you but I use http://weonlymot.co.uk/ for tests because that's literally what they do so can't try and sell you anything else.

I'm an mot tester. Back plate maybe only if it's noticed. Track rod end needs to be quite badly worn to fail. Slight play and it's a pass and advise. Rest no to all on the mot. I used to work for Vag (Volkswagen and afterwards Skoda) Every car that came in had a "vehicle health check" it's just a way to sell work and frighten a few customers. When you work at a dealership you have efficiency target's and you have to sell 8 hour's work a day or more to be efficient. I now work for a small independent garage and have a lot of car's come in that have just had a dealership health check. They show me the dealer's list and we go through each item with the customer whilst looking at these items. 80 % in my opinion is just rubbish to sell labour hour's.

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I'm an mot tester. Back plate maybe only if it's noticed. Track rod end needs to be quite badly worn to fail. Slight play and it's a pass and advise. Rest no to all on the mot. I used to work for Vag (Volkswagen and afterwards Skoda) Every car that came in had a "vehicle health check" it's just a way to sell work and frighten a few customers. When you work at a dealership you have efficiency target's and you have to sell 8 hour's work a day or more to be efficient. I now work for a small independent garage and have a lot of car's come in that have just had a dealership health check. They show me the dealer's list and we go through each item with the customer whilst looking at these items. 80 % in my opinion is just rubbish to sell labour hour's.

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Thanks that is really helpful and reassuring that I'm was pretty much spot on.

All I now need to do is persuade my mum that I'm right and she doesn't need to panic. Also think I may need a word with the dealer and need to make sure I go with her en she does go hunting for something new.

Some times I wonder at the MOT tester jargon. on mine, I've had a constant stream of brake disc "problems" on advisory since year 3. On one occasion I asked an RAC bloke for advice, which was to get an angle grinder and remove the excess metal which is not swept by the pads .( nearside front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened).

Another nice one was Rear Exhaust has part of the system slightly deteriorated (7.1.1a). But the choice one was an advisory on the rear exhaust box " heat shield on rear exhaust box corroded". Great, till a year or so later ,when so called "heat shield" caused problems , and diagnosed by local exhaust place as failure of double skinned exhaust box. The exhaust bloke drove an Audi, and knew about VAG exhaust systems. Pity the MOT bloke was a bit on the dim side .But then. perhaps a new twist might be to ban testing stations from repairs to vehicles they test ,and et another independent garage judge whether it's a fail .

The only one that might cause a fail is the track rod end, the play is down to the discretion of the tester.. If the disc back plate is loose then rip it off and chuck it in your next door neighbours wheelie bin when they are at asda.

Wiper blade - £10 at most, maybe less depending on size.

Aircon - Not in test.

Rod end - I'd get it done, but it should be parts (under £50), 1 hour labour, and check front toe angle (which I'd include in the labour if I had the gauge).

Disc backplate - Corrosion is a subjective issue anyway.

 

I strongly suspect that most of the costs are in fixing the aircon and if she doesn't want that doing...

Right - have decided to get this booked in for an early test at a little local place I know and tell them that if it fails we just need toe absolute minimum doing to it to get it through - so no big jobs at all.

 

Will see how we go.

 

As an aside - it is tested early and fails does the old test still stand to the end of the month - otherwise I'll need to make contingency plans...

No, I'm pretty sure that once it fails, that's it, even if you have time on your old MOT.

Edited 1 February, 201610 yr by RapidPaul

You are still in possession of a valid MOT certificate.

 

However, there are other offences around construction and use.

MOT certificate will still be valid. The car will still be road legal in that respect, however as said, if there are faults which make the vehicle unroadworthy then you can still be prosecuted for those, but not for the offence of not having a valid MOT. Essentially, the car will still be the same as before it went in for a test except you'll then know you're driving a vehicle with faults.

Right condenser isn't, split rear wiper may be an advisory I can't remember. They cost pence anyway so worth throwing one on. My last combo had stone guard rot so I just ripped guard off. 2 mots fine without one, track rod end would be an advisory but in all honesty you've been warned its going, check it for yourself and replace it before it gets an issue. Bump stops should be fine as long as not excessively perished. If hugely worried just stick them together... P.S. never let her take it to Honda again...

Rear wipers arent tested are they?

My brothers A3 rear wiper doesnt work and its never been picked upon at MOT

Rear wipers arent tested are they?

My brothers A3 rear wiper doesnt work and its never been picked upon at MOT

I always thought it should be if fitted, I'll check

Not testable.

Right - booked in for tomorrow so we shall see...

If you dig deep enough you'll find that the rule about back plates refers to braking systems where moving parts of the braking system are mounted to the back plate, making it a part of the braking system and failure of its structure could hinder braking effort.

The braking system type that it is referring to is a drum braking system where the shoes and cylinders are mounted to the plate itself.

The plates on disc brakes are considered water, dust or stone guards and the braking system is completely unaffected by their absence under normal circumstances.

Going well so far - NOT!...   it snapped a driveshaft getting onto the ramp...

well a result tonight - one new driveshaft later and it passed with no advisories!

 

So the Honda dealer were probably trying to pull a fast one as thought and didn't spot the real issue - the broken driveshaft - looking at it it must have been on it's way for a while and was quite corroded and necked...