common MOT fails?

My car's (mk2 1.3) going in for its inspection friday and i was just wondering if anybody had any advice on things worth checking out before then?

one CV boot and 2 holes in the exhaust mean its gonna be expensive anyway but if theres anythign else i could check that would be great

cheers
Tony

 

strut top mounts

rusty brake pipes

rust holes underneath

 

Mainly things like pigbladder said, brake pipes rusting/perishing, bushes perishing, wishbones rusting etc. and check for rust.
Obviously check all the little things like bulbs, windscreen washers etc.

 

Wheel bearings, and joint boots.

 

number plates lights

 

Number Plates

 

tyres,very important
ball joints
track rods
washers/wipers
turn signal and reset(turn wheel back to center and stalk flicks back to off position)
rack boots
brake pipe clips(for secure fixing)
horn
seatbelts
exhaust rubbers
windscreen ok in drivers view(no scratches or chips)
god the list is endless

 

most of that list i know is fine, i.e. seatbelts tyres turn signal reset windscreen etc and i will check my wipers and all fluids tomorrow
ive just gotta hope about track rods and ball joints, im having most of the exhaust including rubbers renewed so they should be peachy.

Cheers for your help guys, just gonna cross my fingers from now and hope it passes with time for me to get home for christmas.

 

check the white plastic clips that clip over/inside your seat runners,
they pop off- and the seat can wobble a bit causing MOT failure.

 

don't hide otters under the carpet where the spare wheel may go.
It may seem funny at the time but that long in the dark and they will bite.

 

one thing iv noticed recently through ppl telling me is the mot testers are clamping down on the ferruls on flexy hoses,,making sure the corroded edges arnt cutting into the rubber

example on its way when my fone charges up

 

heres the example of one i took of a mates car,you can see the rust biting into the rubber

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My car was MOT'd in early September and it's never, ever had an advisory notice issued on any of the MOT certs dating back to 1998, when that owner bought it.

I bought it at the end of October, took it for a service and came back with:

Horn inoperable
Wishbone bushes worn
Rear axle bushes worn
NSF shock leaking
Front wipers worn
Rear wiper worn
Left turn indicator not resetting
Exhaust centre box blow
OSR wheel bearing has play

How the f*** does a car like that even pass MOT, let alone fly without advisories?

 

blind mot tester??
i was going to say any of these faults can occur after the mot but the fact you had it looked at 1 month after is worrying
i used to hate mot testers when they fail your car on silly stuff but a last year a tester failed mine on the rear pipes from comp valve and they were a right mare to do on ramps.i swore and cursed him but as i came to take the pipe off from the flexi i hardly touched it and it snapped in half-thus potontially saving my life,now i dont care what it fails on,it fails for a reason imo

 

you say they picked these up on a service , some of it maybe touting for extra work

bushes can be well worn and still pass the mot , same with leaky shocks

wipers dont matter

exh blow could be minor , or the seller wiped on some exh putty

 

MOTs are very basic safety tests, a service should show up more faults in theory as they should be more thorough... I'd prefer to know if bushes were worn weather they passed an mot or not, often these items mean the difference between staying on the road or not...

That brake pipe pic above is awful, they should be changed way before they get to that stage or when they do bulge and need changing they will be a nightmare to get off and often the rust welds itself to the solid line. 7 years is about the right time to change them but the cheaper pattern parts seem to expire in 3-4!

 

At least I know what ferrules are now. The Mk2 I looked at prior to the one I bought had corroded rear brake ferrules as an advisory. I decided to fork out an extra 200 for the "peace of mind" of a clean ticket.

Pah.

If wipers don't matter what would they fail you on, faulty motor?

 

i meant torn wipers still pass sorry...they need to work as do the washer jets

some garages will mention any tiny faulty they can to get extra money from you...example quick fit and the like , your cat is corroded and needs replacing = it has slight surface rust but will last for years

lets face it most mk2's arent in brand new condition , you need to find a garage that will reccomend new parts before they get dangerous but not treat you like you have bottomless pockets

 

Small really personal outfits are the best, I found a great guy who I will probably ask to do any and all work from now on.

That said the place I got my service was... Well it wasn't that small but it was fairly personal, and it wasn't a chain like kwikfit just the one garage.

By work do you mean move across the windscreen? Because the wipers I got with the car were horrendous they just smeared crap across the screen and made things impossible to see even if I used the jets. Not safe. And I didn't think blades could deteriorate that much in a couple of months.

 

yeah i think as long as they squirt and move its all good , although for your own sanity just bung some new ones on