If you get a service and ask for a 'pre-MOT check' in December, then you'll have a good idea what (if any) work will be required for the MOT in January

Back in the day when I owned a mid 90s Nissan Micra (first car, the Mazda is only my second over 20 years), my local dealership for that one did that, though I still had both the service and MOT done on the same day. Unfortunately it didn't prevent the car failing its MOT twice in the space of a week, when the first fault (bad corrsion on the bottom sill) was fixed (new patch welded on) but the rear left (I think) brake cylinder failed (the garage had said it was leaking and might fail the MOT).

Luckily, that was the only year it did fail, and it was when I was looking for a new car (my current one), but I spent best part of £400 on the service (MOTs were free as theey all were at the time for 2nd hand Nissans bought at main dalers) and two repairs, just to get £450 PX when I bought the Mazda3 at Motorpoint. Still, I wasn't complaining - 8 years of faithful (and value for money) service and I was already getting a new car (well, essentially new, only 15 miles on the clock showroom car) for £3.5k+ off the RRP, and £1.5k better than any broker could do at the time.

I'll have a word with my service agent tomorrow when I'm in town shopping to see if they can do a 'pre MOT check', though it might not be free as Nissan used to do - it doesn't help that they don't do the MOTs in the actual garage, but at one of their fellow group dealerships (a Pug dealer round the corner) so may not have all the necessary equipment on hand, although I'm less concerned about it failing emissions tests etc, more about corrosion and parts problems.

I can't say I've noticed any problems (odd noises, porblems with the drive, handling etc) since the last service and wheel bearing replacement/brake service back in last winter, and have only really done about 3k miles this year tops, most when I was working up until March, then once a fortnight for a 25 mile round trip to keep it in good nick (mainly the battery and brakes) and a good 750 - 1000 miles when holidaying in the South West.

I just want to be better safe than sorry, but not ripped off with claims of 'problems'.

The VOSA (or whatever it's called now) regulations relating to MOT Testing state that, when a vehicle is brought in for a service and MOT, then the MOT should be carried out first before any additional work is carried out.

The reason for this, apparently, is that they want to see the actual sort of condition in which vehicles are being brought into testing premises.

A Mazda 3 with 63,000 miles is barely even run in. Assuming it's bodily sound it should give reliable, cost effective service for years yet. I flogged a 2004 1.6 TS around 6mths ago that I'd been using as a runabout and loan car with 117,000 miles up and it drove perfectly, cost peanuts (rear pads only) to get through its last Mot and the current owner (who paid £650 for it) recently emailed me to tell me how delighted she is with it. In fact its previous owner who bought an Astra from me is talking about asking me to find another one as he finds the Astra too dull.

One of my former companies ran one of those (mine's a TS2 saloon variant, Oct 2005 build) as a 'pool car' and had done roughly the same mileage and looked fine, apart from needing a new clutch (understandable), though, as you say, rust around the wheel arches can be an issue with the earlier build 3s. Mine still looks OK on that score other than the odd spot, though I will check again to be sure before the service/MOT.

Maybe I'm being a bit over-cautious. I must admit the car runs almost as sweet as it did on day 1, but obviously I can't check everything, and frankly I don't want to other than general items (I'm not one for getting my hands dirty looking under the hood!).

I may ask the dealer to clean the air intake valve and MAF sensor (or at least investigate the following small issue), as I did notice some hesitation/lurching when depressing the gas in low gear (not all the time), though things seem to have improved to a degree (though I'm not using it enought to really know) since I started filling up only with Shell V-Power and added (one dose left of four) some Redex to hopefully clean the injectors (onmy long holiday trip and after) to see if that was this issue.

I always have my cars MoT's a month early at my trusted independent.

Servcing bears little relationship to the Mot, IMO - at least for properly maintaine cars.

"Any thoughts on this subject would be welcome."

Forget the 'service'. Waste of money in a car this old. If you have only done 6,000m since the last one, it won't need much attention. I would just check it over (light bulbs, corrosion), take the wheels off and grease the brake pipes then put it in for MoT 3 weeks before it expires leaving plenty of time to remedy any problems.

Just a quick update - I've effectively 'checkien out' by having the service and MOT done on the same day, as before (service first), mainly because the delaership said it was 'personal preference' (they sadly don't do specific 'pre-MOT checks' to cover all the areas checked on the MOT, though some are as [as shown in last year's service as described above]) and because I've had varying opinions on this thread about the merits of having the service done before or after the MOT. The dealership did say that if I had it MOTed early, its a bit of a grey area legally to be driving round (unless patently dangerous) after failing an MOT whilst the previous one is still valid (date-wise).

Unfortunately for me, I HAVE to have use of the car over the Christmas - New Year period (visiting family and friends), and of course, what I forgot, was that around that time, much of the service/repair shops and probably the spare parts side of the busines is on holiday, meaning that any item requiring repair to either pass/re-pass an MOT (even if not dangerously unsafe and the car couldn't be driven) would have to wait until very near the actual due date of the MOT in the early new year anyway.

I'll see how the cards fall this time around, and, depending upon what happens, report back. Many thanks for the contriubutions - they may well be more suited if and when I get my next car, especially if I don't get one registered around the Christmas/New Year period (which it might, given there's normally quite a few discounts at that time).