It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that the MOT system in the United Kingdom was recently overhauled to a pretty worrying extent. In fact, experts believe that official testing standards introduced will result in tens of thousands of additional cars being taken off the roads permanently and scrapped.
The thing is, if your vehicle really is in a rather sorry state, you can’t expect it to pass its MOT. After all, these tests are carried out to ensure the ongoing safety and roadworthiness of vehicles – not just simply for the sake of it. So if your car is deemed dangerous or unhealthy, it’s game over.
Nevertheless, research would seem to suggest that the vast majority of MOT failures are attributed to nothing more than silly mistakes that could have easily been avoided.
So with this in mind, what follows is a brief rundown of just a few helpful tips to help ensure that if you do fail your MOT, you won’t be kicking yourself for having played a role in making it happen:
1. Check your brake fluid
If your brake fluid levels are too low, the MOT inspector won’t adjust them on your behalf, they’ll simply fail you. As such, you might want to take the time to check them yourself, before heading to the garage.
2. Handbrake
If it’s become necessary to pull your handbrake somewhat aggressively for it to have any real effect, you should probably think about having it tightened. Both for the sake of general safety and to pass your MOT, it’s worth getting it looked at beforehand.
3. Windscreen checks
While rudimentary cracks and chips won’t necessarily guarantee MOT failure, those directly in the driver’s field of view might. If there’s any damage that’s clearly visible, you might want to think about arranging a cost-effective repair, rather than failing your MOT.
4. Lights
Be sure to fully test each and every one of your car’s exterior lights, in order to ensure you don’t need to replace any bulbs. One of the worst ways to fail your MOT is on the back of a broken bulb, which probably would have cost you no more than around £2 to repair yourself.
5. Mirrors
It’s also worth remembering that thousands of MOT failures every month are attributed to cracked, damaged and broken mirrors. Unless you can honestly say that all mirrors in your car are in good condition, it’s worth getting them repaired or replaced.
6. Windscreen washer fluid
Fail your MOT due to having insufficient windscreen washer fluid in the bottle and you will be beating yourself up for quite some time. If it’s not at least relatively full, get it filled immediately and keep an eye on it!
7. Tyres
Remember that the legal minimum tyre tread depth is 1.6mm. Grab yourself a cheap yet accurate measuring device, see what kind of condition your tyres are in and replace any you’re concerned about ahead of time.
8. Cleaning
Last but not least, thousands of cars fail their MOTs every month, simply due to having been deemed too filthy to pass. MOT inspectors have the right to refuse inspections of any cars that are too dirty, congested with debris or unsanitary to inspect. On the outside, dirty number plates, lights, mirrors and so on could also wreck your chances of passing.
On the plus side, if things don’t go quite the way you’d hoped, you can always contact the team at Take My Scrap Car for the best possible price on your scrap vehicle!
