Worried about taking the MOT and potentially failing? Did you know that there are some things you can do to check the likelihood of failing, and you can even check the ways that your vehicle is most likely to fail and take care of certain things before you take your vehicle in?
While there are many ways that your car can fail and MOT, there are three main reasons why most vehicles fail. 10.2% fail due to the brakes, 12.5% fail due to suspension, and 18.7% fail due to lighting and signalling. These are all things that you can check yourself before you take your vehicles in for an MOT check.
Your lights should obviously be operational, and you should check the front and back lights, along with headlights, hazards, indicators, dipped lights and the high beam indicator on your vehicle’s dashboard.
If you’re worried about your suspension, push down on each corner, and if your car settles back quickly into the same place, it’s likely that the suspension is fine. Your breaks are also obviously one of the main things that get looked at during an MOT check, and you should check that they’re not unresponsive or loose and that the brake pedal is still completely covered in rubber. Be sure to check your handbrake as well, and if there’s no resistance when you pull it up, it’s likely that you have a problem.
Be sure to check your tyres, and you should be able to find the recommended tyre pressure for your car on the doorjamb of the driver’s side.Your tyre tread legally needs to be at least 1.6mm, and you can see if this is the case by using a 20p and sticking it into the groove of the tread. If you can see the outer rim of the coin then you can expect the tyre to fail. Don’t worry though, your spare tyre won’t be part of the test.
You may be surprised to learn that having blocked washer jets on your windscreen can result in you failing the test. This is an easy fix, simply take a needle and poke it into the little hole to clear out any blockages. Your wiper should also easily and effectively clean the windscreen, so examine them for tears or any other damage.
Whether you have a new or used vehicle, MOT tests will include an inspection of your exhaust system, checking for a Diesel Particular Filter. If your vehicle doesn’t have one and it did when the vehicle was built, you’ll automatically fail the MOT.
Did you know you can fail your MOT simply by not having all of the fluids filled up in your vehicle? Before you go to get your MOT done, make sure you have enough oil reserves, gas, screen wash and brake fluid. Your mirrors, seatbelts and doors should also all be in good condition, regardless of the age of your vehicle.
If you think, your car isn’t fit for the test, you better start looking for a new car today.
