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Failed the MOT!.....(LONG!)

S

samn40

Well-known Member
Mrs 40s car was up for MOT testing yesterday. MOT=Ministry Of Transport. Our cars have to go through a roadworty test every year after they are 3 years old in a proper government run MOT centre with sofisticated test equipment. First they check the cars milage and record it, then the lights, indicators, wipers, washers and horn are tested. followed by a check under the hood to see if the battery is properly secured and the ID plate has not been tampered with. Also a visual check on the condition of the inner wings and engine fittings. Next the seat belts are all checked and the car is ready to roll forwards for the headlight set test. At this point the driver is asked to leave the car and sit in the waiting area along side the testing bays. The tester takes the car onto plates to test the shock absorbers and springs on a computer read-out then he drives onto rollers to test the foot and hand brake efficiency....an imbalance of up to 21% is allowed across the axles. The car is then driven onto a hoist for a visual examination of the underside. All parts of the body are checked for rusting through. all welded patches have to be continuous seam welds and not covered with anything other than a coat of paint. the brake pipes and hoses are checked as is tyre condition and fuel lines. The engine and tranny are checked for leaks and all rubber gaiters have to be correct. Wheel bearings are also checked for play and brake discs checked for scoring. Exhaust systems also get a check for corrosion and leaks The springs are also checked. Mrs 40s people carrier failed on this section as it had shown up a slight imbalance on the suspension test computer. One of the nice shiny black rear coil springs was broken in the bottom cup! I am a bit annoyed at myself for missing this as I thought I had the 9 year old car (with only 175,000 miles) well prepared. I suppose if the spring had been rusty I might have examined it better! Now we have to pay out £18.50 for a retest($28) and cannot use the car until we get it passed.
To keep this story tractor related....I had to quit driving for nearly a day to prepare it for testing and to take it to the testing station ...and why am I telling you this story? Well now you know if you come to Northern Ireland the cars and trucks you meet on the PROPER side of the road are all safe.....But it is the drivers you have to watch out for!!!!
LOL.....Sam
 
Mandatory vehicle inspections do not instill confidence in me, especially when they are guberment run. Those programs failed in my state cause a 20 passed to the guy got your car passed. There was one inspection station that my dad had to take our car to to get his sticker. That station was where all the junk had to go. There was just as many unsafe cars on the road then as there are now. In closing, just cause it has a sticker does not mean it is safe.
 
Our gubberment only employs Hitler type clones to test the cars and the buck stops with the tester if you have an accident due to a fault on the car! No passing any 20s here....but if you are a tractor man it helps...most of the guys have a tractor at home and like to talk a bit of tractor talk. I didn't get one this time or I just might have been told to fix the spring and bring the car back before quitting time!!
It has happened before.....several times!
Sam
 
In my state yearly insections are required and they aren't as rigious as yours but brakes,lights,steering etc has to be up to snuff.They're done by private garages so they can tend to 'find' things that aren't there but there is a back up system as the person being tested can call the state police and they will send a troopper by to look things over so the testers tend to be pretty honest.The state has weeded out many of the 'rubber stamp' guys over the last few years.
 
Same here in nb Canada except done by private mechanic and he carries 0 liability for the inspection. They are usually very picky, corrosion is our main enemy being in the salt belt. My complaint is you will fail with a rust hole in your truck box but if you say cut the hole for a pop up hitch that is fine. Ask the mech and he says the book says no rust holes in body permitted, I say yeah read the rest it says so exhaust fumes won't get in and to maintain passenger compartment in crash...
 
Here in Virginia you have to have an inspection ever year. Cost $15 Done by private shops but the program is run by the State Police. Some guys can be way too picky, but most are pretty straight up. You can call a trooper if you think they are jobbing you. It is a pain but they have found things that I didn"t catch. If you fail you have two weeks to fix it and get it re inspected for a dollar. A tip helps, but a twenty wont get you off. Last thing an inspector wants is for the Trooper to pull up as you back out with a failed car and a new sticker. It is a major fine and they can lose the license for the shop.
 
Good grief. No rust holes???? Old Blue, my old "77 Chebby 4WD would never pass. Most places in the bed, I"m scared to step anymore. We"re not even talking about the fenders.
 
Here in Michigan, we have NO required inspections and I'm thankful for that. Used to have to get an emissions test due to the Clean Air act but that was rescinded.

As far as I'm concerned, inspections of any kind on a vehicle are just a way to scam more money out of the taxpayer residents. How is a kid supposed to buy his first clunker (used to be $100, now probably a grand) to get him back and forth to school or to his part-time job?

I know people will respond about being on the road with unsafe cars but if that were the case, you'd be reading every day here in Michigan about accidents caused by these "uninspected" vehicles. The biggest risk in driving a clunker is that it'll break down on you, not that it'll kill someone.
 
Sam, I remember taking my old ('82) Range Rover in for a test one time about 1995 i think, anyway, the lad go it up on the ramps and walked underneath to start looking at it and got petrol (gasoline) dripping down his neck, turns out the rubber fill hose was about shot... he did get quite excited about it... They loved testing the Rangies as they couldn't rolling road test the brakes, had to take it out for a road test due to the full time 4x4... somehow it always came back missing a quarter tank of fuel, but then again, in all the years i owned it it only "failed" a test once for that fuel leak, which i fixed and took back the next day.

Been in Manitoba now for 15 years and no test required here unless you are/have purchased a new to you car and are registering it... then they want one, its about $80 i think. Got to get one for my 94 Range Rover i just bought... hope the cracked front screen gets through, apparently they are no longer available here.
 
The vehicle inspection in Louisiana is a joke for the most part. While some locals use parish employees most of the state contracts it out to local aute repair shops or full service gas stations in the past.
Use to be $5 for the inspection and another $5 if your lights needed aligning. Everyone was complaining the shops were insisting your car needed a light aligning every year even know you did not touch the head lights all year.
To combat the corruption the state went to $10 and light aligning was free. I have not even had one place check my light aligning since the rule change. You could hunt coons with some of the headlights you see around here.
It use to be so bad you could take all the paper work for every car you own up to the inspection station (while driving a friends car); slip the guy $20 extra and he would give you a sticker for every car you owned.
The state has cracked down some but if your windshield is not cracked; your lights and wipers work; and your tires are not flat; you got a inspection sticker.
 
John, I once had a mobile home moved, I was required to get an inspection sticker for it. I asked how I could get it to an inspection station?, They did not know...I was also required to place reflectors along its side, yet it could not be moved during dark. Only in LA
 
(quoted from post at 16:18:41 09/11/13) Mrs 40s car was up for MOT testing yesterday. MOT=Ministry Of Transport. Our cars have to go through a roadworty test every year after they are 3 years old in a proper government run MOT centre with sofisticated test equipment. First they check the cars milage and record it, then the lights, indicators, wipers, washers and horn are tested. followed by a check under the hood to see if the battery is properly secured and the ID plate has not been tampered with. Also a visual check on the condition of the inner wings and engine fittings. Next the seat belts are all checked and the car is ready to roll forwards for the headlight set test. At this point the driver is asked to leave the car and sit in the waiting area along side the testing bays. The tester takes the car onto plates to test the shock absorbers and springs on a computer read-out then he drives onto rollers to test the foot and hand brake efficiency....an imbalance of up to 21% is allowed across the axles. The car is then driven onto a hoist for a visual examination of the underside. All parts of the body are checked for rusting through. all welded patches have to be continuous seam welds and not covered with anything other than a coat of paint. the brake pipes and hoses are checked as is tyre condition and fuel lines. The engine and tranny are checked for leaks and all rubber gaiters have to be correct. Wheel bearings are also checked for play and brake discs checked for scoring. Exhaust systems also get a check for corrosion and leaks The springs are also checked. Mrs 40s people carrier failed on this section as it had shown up a slight imbalance on the suspension test computer. One of the nice shiny black rear coil springs was broken in the bottom cup! I am a bit annoyed at myself for missing this as I thought I had the 9 year old car (with only 175,000 miles) well prepared. I suppose if the spring had been rusty I might have examined it better! Now we have to pay out £18.50 for a retest($28) and cannot use the car until we get it passed.
To keep this story tractor related....I had to quit driving for nearly a day to prepare it for testing and to take it to the testing station ...and why am I telling you this story? Well now you know if you come to Northern Ireland the cars and trucks you meet on the PROPER side of the road are all safe.....But it is the drivers you have to watch out for!!!!
LOL.....Sam
Click to expand...
guess i would be walking then.
No muffler or exhaust pipe ,rusted body, holes in the box, cracked windshield with a couple rock holes,only 1 wiper, half bald tires, leaking oil, not much shocks left.
Very good brakes and steering though :wink:
Luckely they're not that fussy yet up here in northern Alberta,..no inspections yet. :)
 
Hi Sam, just got my 1996 Discovery through the MOT test OK. The testers farther has a Super Dexta and many yeras ago i used to work with his grandfarther in the farm machinery trade. Yes he did give me some adviseries. MJ
 
Sam, that's an interesting post. I had no idea, although I understand Japan has similar, even more draconian vehicle inspection laws. I'm told the reason is less to ensure public safety and more to limit the number of cars on the road.

Here in the US, at one time most states had vehicle inspection programs. Federal law required states to have some sort of vehicle safety program, but it was up to each state to decide whether to have private garages do the inspection, state inspection stations, random roadside checks or some other program. Most states opted for private inspections, which left them open to abuse by unscrupulous inspectors who might perform only cursory inspections or find non-existent problems in hopes of performing unnecessary repairs. At any rate, the inspections weren't very exhaustive: Tires checked for wear, lights all working, no cracks on the driver's side of the windshield. They would usually pull one wheel and check the brake linings. They might shake the front suspension to check for loose components. In the eighties and nineties, most states discontinued their mandatory vehicle inspections. Here in Michigan, if a vehicle has obvious equipment issues, police will pull it over and ticket the driver, but other than that you can drive pretty much any junker on the road. No muffler, headlight out, bald tires, you see it all. Honestly, I don't think the accident statistics for clunkers are much worse than they are for new cars.
 
Here in NY it's $21.00 for an annual inspection. I understand down around NYC there are emissions tests too. My complaint isn't with the idea of the inspection, that seems pretty reasonable to me froma safety stand point. My beef is that any vehicle 1997 or newer can not have any dash lights on. You know, the "CHECK ENGINE" light that indicates the computer picking up an issue like a loose gas cap, miss or something else wrong that affects efficiency. There is supposed to be a rule that says after $500.00 worth of parts and labor you can get a pass if they just can't get the light to go off. My mechanic/inspector has seen exactly 1 pass issued since this came in effect in a few years back. So if you have a 15 year old car it's supposed to pass the same test as a brand new one as far as efficiency. And the car can't just have the battery pulled and allow the computer to reset. Nope, it has to have so many stats and shut downs and time which the computer apparently records.

It's a scam on any car more than 5-6 years old. I put well over a grand $$$ into my 97 F150. Whole new exhaust from the block on back, new O2 sensors and a mess of other parts. Still can't get the dash light to go off. So now it's a field truck and I drive a 95 'Burb. I put $700.into my oldest daughters 05 Trailblazer last year. Amazingly, my oldest boys 01 Altima passed by some quirk of fate and some heavy prayer. I keep saying I'm going to get on my State Assywomans butt about this and try to get some flexibility into the law, but I'm just too darn busy I guess.
 
NC regs say that anything after 1996 has to be "Emissions tested" by hooking it to a machine, cost $30 plus. Otherwise, $9 and its basic, lights, tires, horn, wipers, brakes, etc. After 35 years, doesn't matter, no inspection done. In a city near me, if they checked like they did Sam40, they could cut down on 25-30% of their road overcrowding. But, like everywhere else, people still drive their junk heap no matter what the inspection says.
 
Here in MD a car or pickup has to be state inspected any time the car is sold. You can sell it "as is", but if it only needs minor repair I would repair it or have it repaired. Anything that has to do with safety is checked. The last car I had inspected in 2006 cost was $100.00. That's with no repairs required. You also need to watch these repair shops as some are crooked as a dog's hind leg. Hal
 
Japan sells a lot of used cars to Russia, the middle east, and Africa. Think of the testing as a way to encourage sales of new cars.

Of course those used cars that weren't up to standards will be driven forever in their new homes. Sort of like old school buses going to South America.
 
In Texas, before mandatory emissions testing with a computer linked to the TDPS, they had to diddle something. So they played with your headlights and they were ALWAYS out of adjustment. Then they ALWAYS found a bulb out or wiper blade out. Course extra charges were always attached.

Now they don't do much of anything from a safety point. Just get the green light on the emissions test and they look around under the hood to see of you modified anything emissions related.

Price is $39 and strings attached if you fail. State gets $12 as I recall and the inspection station the rest. I sold my farm truck because I got tired of crossing my fingers every year in finding an inspection station that would inspect a '91 F350 dually and it passing.

Mark
 
Heyseed,

Who is to say the headlight/brakes/seatbelt/etc failed just "after" the "inspection"?

I too had been a subject of inspection in Va, but they broke the headlight ring that they failed me for..

D.
 
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