mot First MOT due soon.

[Stonker]

My 67 reg Octavia estate is booked in for it's first MOT early next month, since I have had it I've added a dealership sourced spare wheel and tool kit. The question is, "will the MOT requirements look to test the car on the spec as it left the factory?", ie with the compressor and the bottle of gunk needing to be present, or will that be overlooked in lieu of a spare wheel and tool kit being present?"

 

If any of you decent folk could advise that'll be great, I have been meaning to call the MOT place for the last few weeks but work keeps me from remembering lol.

 

Thanks in advance 👍

[Miller73]

As far as I'm aware the need for a spare wheel or a tyre repair kit is not part of any MOT requiremnet.

[Breezy_Pete]

^ Agreed.

Relevant section of test manual here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/5-axles-wheels-tyres-and-suspension

[ScoutCJB]

42 minutes ago, Wino said:

^ Agreed.

Relevant section of test manual here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/5-axles-wheels-tyres-and-suspension

 

I scanned that and cant see anything related to spare tyres, but whilst having a spare / kit is not a MOT requirement, if you have one it surely would have to be legal.

 

7 hours ago, Stonker said:

The question is, "will the MOT requirements look to test the car on the spec as it left the factory?", ie with the compressor and the bottle of gunk needing to be present, or will that be overlooked in lieu of a spare wheel and tool kit being present?"

 

 

Mine left the factory with a repair kit but was MOT'd twice with a spare tyre.  A spare is far better as I found out when i got a puncture outside Glasgow 6pm a few years ago on my way back to East Yorkshire and was able to put a spare on and carry on my journey safely.

 

 

 

Edited 21 October, 2020 by ScoutCJB

[Breezy_Pete]

Not true. As it says in there; the tester should inform the presenter of the car if a problem with a spare tyre 'is noticed', but it isn't something you can fail the test on.

Edited 21 October, 2020 by Wino

[ScoutCJB]

3 minutes ago, Wino said:

Not true. As it says in there; the tester should inform the presenter of the car if there's a problem with a spare tyre, but it isn't something you can fail the test on.

 

Ah - I scanned the tyres section not road wheel condition, i see now.  

 

So your spare tyre doesnt need to be road legal, but of course if you needed to use it and its wasnt legal and your subsequently pulled its 3 points and a prize.  Makes no sense at all that.

[Breezy_Pete]

Makes a tiny bit of sense. Think about it this way.

You carry a legal spare, you get a puncture meaning you have to fit that spare. Now your spare is illegal to fit as a road wheel (insufficient pressure). Is your car now illegal to drive?

Edited 21 October, 2020 by Wino

[Breezy_Pete]

Actually the madness is worse than you thought. Look at the fail reasons for tyre condition. You can present a car for test with an 'obviously under-inflated' tyre and only get a minor for it. Which means you can drive away with an MOT pass without even pumping it up.

Police can still do you though, (I hope?) irrespective.

Edited 21 October, 2020 by Wino

[Stonker]

Thank you all for your replies, I'll leave the compressor and the bottle of gunk out of the car when I present it for the MOT. I guess I'll have to move some of the junk out the boot so they can get access to the spare seeing as they need to see it if it's there.

[Breezy_Pete]

They don't need to see if it's there.

[Stonker]

3 minutes ago, Wino said:

They don't need to see if it's there.

 

Great, the junk can stay in the trunk 😂👍 it'll save me faffing about then.

[ScoutCJB]

45 minutes ago, Wino said:

Makes a tiny bit of sense. Think about it this way.

You carry a legal spare, you get a puncture meaning you have to fit that spare. Now your spare is illegal to fit as a road wheel (insufficient pressure). Is your car now illegal to drive?

 

You could drive it to the nearest petrol station and pump it up .... but you couldnt add a couple of mm tread 

 

Seriously though, for me its basic car maintenance, checking tyre pressures, oil, screen wash etc - well it is for me.

[PetrolDave]

53 minutes ago, Wino said:

Actually the madness is worse than you thought. Look at the fail reasons for tyre condition. You can present a car for test with an 'obviously under-inflated' tyre and only get a minor for it. Which means you can drive away with an MOT pass without even pumping it up.

Police can still do you though, (I hope?) irrespective.

Further proof that an MOT pass is NOT proof that the vehicle is legal

[J.R.]

What is illegal about driving with an underinflated tyre?

 

And in order to answer that you first have to define what is underinflated.

 

The law regarding tread depth for instance is well defined.

[ScoutCJB]

2 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

And in order to answer that you first have to define what is underinflated.

 

 

 

Very good point - You'd like to think anything lower than the pressure range stated in the owners manual for that particular tyre size.

 

Valid question then - You have a MINI that has run flats, you deflate all tyres to 0 PSI and take it for an MOT .... would it pass?

[Breezy_Pete]

I was just using the wording from the MOT manual @J.R. 5.2.3.(l) Tyre obviously under-inflated

That would be open to interpretation, clearly, and as a Minor category in the MOT isn't even a fail, let alone illegal. I think you can get pulled and fined/pointed for it whilst driving though, like for tread 'issues', but I can't quote a law for you. I believe there are some people on here who will know though.

 

As to run-flats, which I guess may not even appear to be 'obviously under-inflated' (? dunno), yes, should pass. AFAIK there is no pressure measuring. Even when you read about TPMS w.r.t. MOT, you can't fail for low pressure indications, only that the system is faulty, if it is visibly so. 

[ScoutCJB]

I thought it would fail for any dash light - The brake pad warning light came on in my car 2 weeks ago and my MOT was last Friday.  There was clearly loads of meat left on the pad but rang the MOT station and they said it would fail so got them done before it was MOT'd

 

I think a lot of this is just down to interpretation, and of course that differs from person to person

[J.R.]

I checked that and the guidance on the new test requirements was published May 2018 including :

 

There are new failures for:

 

There are new failures for:

• brake lining or pad wear for:
  • the indicator being illuminated

 

But the guidance was withdrawn:

 

This guidance was withdrawn on 13 June 2019

This guidance was published to help MOT testers prepare for changes made to the MOT test on 20 May 2018.

The guidance is no longer current. It is not being updated.

 

Make of that what you will!

 

 

[ScoutCJB]

Im lost ... lol

 

To be fair I was always going to put new disks and pads all round but with my mileage having dropped off massively I could have made them easily last another 3 months without issue / danger.  Is what it is, I've now got drilled discs and Brembo pads all round

[Breezy_Pete]

There are actually relatively few dash warning lights that cause failure of MOT, but I can't summon the energy to look up which ones they are just now.

 

[ScoutCJB]

59 minutes ago, Wino said:

There are actually relatively few dash warning lights that cause failure of MOT, but I can't summon the energy to look up which ones they are just now.

 

 

Just do it in the morning and report back  

[mac11irl]

9 hours ago, ScoutCJB said:

Seriously though, for me its basic car maintenance, checking tyre pressures, oil, screen wash etc - well it is for me.

 

for some it is, others dont care or noticed. 

i was doing my tyres pressures one evening, put my 1euro in and had mine done with 3mins air going spare. a woman was fetting into tmher car along side me and i asked did she want to check hers since its was wasting money. 

she said thanks. 

it was a gen 1 focus saloon. the tyre pressures were horrendously awful. 

one front was 12psi, the other 25.

backs were just as bad... she and her husband were oblivious...

[Warrior193]

18 minutes ago, mac11irl said:

 

for some it is, others dont care or noticed. 

i was doing my tyres pressures one evening, put my 1euro in and had mine done with 3mins air going spare. a woman was fetting into tmher car along side me and i asked did she want to check hers since its was wasting money. 

she said thanks. 

it was a gen 1 focus saloon. the tyre pressures were horrendously awful. 

one front was 12psi, the other 25.

backs were just as bad... she and her husband were oblivious...

They probably never bother checking pressures - or even know why they should. Wonder how the oil and water levels are?

[mac11irl]

4 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

They probably never bother checking pressures - or even know why they should. Wonder how the oil and water levels are?

i didnt even let myself think about that...

 

[paulski]

Ha good read that. 

2 hours ago, mac11irl said:

 

for some it is, others dont care or noticed. 

i was doing my tyres pressures one evening, put my 1euro in and had mine done with 3mins air going spare. a woman was fetting into tmher car along side me and i asked did she want to check hers since its was wasting money. 

she said thanks. 

it was a gen 1 focus saloon. the tyre pressures were horrendously awful. 

one front was 12psi, the other 25.

backs were just as bad... she and her husband were oblivious...

i now regularly look after my sister in laws car with regard to basic checks. A few years ago she had a "friend" top up her tyres. She drove from Surrey to Manchester and back. She turned up at ours when back and I thought her tyres looked a bit low Pressures should have been 32psi. Her friend had put them to 22 psi, I could only guess a total misinterpretation of 2.2 bar on the sticker perhaps and let the air out......