Im wondering if the general apperance of a car can affect the way the tester approaches the car.
My old Mazda is pretty tatty as cars go. It has scratches, fair sized dent on front wing, lots of surface rust, a badly dented front valance, a dent in the sill, a scrape on the rear wheel arch and there is plenty of untidy paint in general.
Its also had a lot of welding done and is obviously a car that doesnt sail through its MOT every year without something or other.
I just wonder if that even though ive had the car MOT prepared and hundreds of pounds spent on making it pass, will it still be at a slight disadvantage and attract a more critical eye on account of its general condition?
I ask because I bought an apparently sound Sierra estate years ago which looked exceptional for its age, yet underneath, i discovered that the garage that had MOT'd it had missed a section of the chassis with a 2x3 hole in it. The MOT station was a BMW main dealer...
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Certainly an otherwise proudly kept, well maintained, car, and relationship with the testing station can help; my wife's 306 passed its MOT test last year with a blown brakelight bulb (yes, I had checked all the bulbs and other obvious items the weekend before!). The tester knew damned well that I'd call in at a motor factors on my way home, which I did, including to fit the bulb in the car park, so he trusted me.
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Absolutely.
When my first marriage ended I left my car under a tree somewhere in Hampstead and spent the next three months in a bar. I eventually paid a mechanic to collect it and get it MOTd and I was surprised to find the cost of a valet on the bill. He told me that it looked so dreadfully neglected that he couldn?t possibly submit it for MOT in it?s current state as the tester would have looked upon it "unfavorably".
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i dont take any cars for mot unless they look immaculate
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Well, im not spending the best part of £1500 making a £200 car look immaculate. My car is clean and polished, just tatty and worthless!
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I used to make my cars look immaculate but they failed. Now I just clean them and they pass. I don't know whether the two are linked.
Maybe if it's too bulled-up it looks like you have money to spend on the car and enjoy doing so!
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I was told once by an MOT tester that the best time to take your car for an MOT is when it's raining. A wet underside of a car can hide a multitude of sins.
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I would rather know of any faults in order to have them rectified and keep my car in a safe condition.
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Well im gonna coat the underside of my car with new underseal, so that will hide most things, but I dont think there is anything too serious - I had a small patch of welding done on it, but that was all it needed.
On another issues, damn battery failed today, as I went to its storage unit to fit the new numberplate id just bought for it, so after lunch, back to Halfords!
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Absolutely. When my first marriage ended I left my car under a tree somewhere in Hampstead and spent the next three months in a bar. I eventually paid a mechanic to collect it and get it MOTd and I was surprised to find the cost of a valet on the bill. He told me that it looked so dreadfully neglected that he couldn?t possibly submit it for MOT in it?s current state as the tester would have looked upon it "unfavorably".
If there was so much birdmuck on the windscreen that made it difficult to see out of, or all over the door handles, I'm not surprised a valet was required. I would look unfavourably if it meant getting muck on my hands!
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I think MOT testers are within their rights to fail a car if it's so dirty they can't check for structural damage.
My uncle, who lived in the country, used to get the underside of his car steam-cleaned before an MOT to remove any animal manure for this reason.
A dirty windscreen can also cause the wipers to smear (another failure point) so I always clean mine first.
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Please forgive the pedantry;
I think MOT testers are within their rights to fail a car...
Actually, they may refuse to test a car if it is too dirty for an adequate inspection to be made.
Of course, the net result is that you leave without a new MOT, but I'm not sure if they can charge you the test fee in this case, because they won't have carried out the inspection.
One of the other possible reasons for refusal to inspect is that a vehicle is obviously in such a dangerous condition that it might damage the tester's equipment.
Number_Cruncher
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