common MOT fails?

I did, though it was more to placate my passengers than anything.

That said, the contact between the new wipers and the screen is still suboptimal... =\

 

Your idea of a good handbrake and the MOT stations may not tally - make sure both sides work. It's easily missed if the car stays put on a hill!

And it always pays to clean the car inside and out, and under the bonnet (not concours just not covered in oil).

Barkstar

 

Yeah according to Haynes if your car looks neat and tidy and presentable the tester's more likely to go easy on you.

 

very true about having a clean car for mot,i know a tester and he said once to me if they cant be ar5ed looking after the inside,chances are the otside will be as bad
dont agree with the fact shockers leaking and wiper rubbers fecked arnt important and dont fail an mot,mine failed on these exact things bout 6 years ago,the 2 combined could be fatal ( IMO )
the pic i put up from my mates car with the heavilly corroded ferruls was a mare to get off and when i showed him it checks his car over very regular now ,,poor sod iv made him parranoid

 

What's the deal with headlamp beam angle and how do they check it? I replaced my OSF light and want to make sure it's aligned correctly.

 

they have a beam tester...all you can realisticly do is park it a few feet back from a wall and level it the same as the other side

 

i did this too but i got the bumper right up to the wall,drew a + on the wall(middle of the + being level with the centre of the light,back the car up a few meters and make sure the beam is shining in the bottom left of the +,,its not accurate like the testers they have but i got it thru the mot this way

 

Oh that's a cool idea. At least that way you know it's pointing in vaguely the right direction.