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MoT failures rise to record 37%
Last edited by: Pugugly on Thu 15 Jul 10 at 09:36
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The Retail Motor Industry Federation said the increase in failure rates shows how the recession has impacted spending on servicing and repairs and underlines the critical value of the annual test.
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The cynical part of my brain briefly raised the the notion that there could also be an element of garages trying to create a bit more work for themselves, when times are tough.
Probably a bit of both.
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>> Probably a bit of both.
>>
I think more towards work creation, neglect is always there.
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As we've all witnessed and discussed before, many better quality and maintained older cars were took out of circulation by scrappage, and many of the better later examples have gone abroad, snapped up by sharp eyed East Europeans and Africans among others.
I wonder too if this fad for long life servicing has given some the idea that by pouring a gallon of Whizzo Lastforever oil in the sump means their 5 year old neglected example won't need looking at for 20K or probably 3 years.
When cars had recommended 6K oil changes at least someone got underneath and probably cast their eyes over whilst doing the business, now by using a sucker device i imagine some cars never get looked at underneath from one MOT to another... the MOT advocates might have a point.
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Also before scrappage car sales fell so people may have held onto cars for longer. I know some companies extended their leases and held onto cars rather than changed for new one, so probably ended up MOT'ing them when before they would have gone onto used car forecourts and been given a fresh ticket before sale.
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There are 35 houses in my Cul-de-Sac. I am the only person here who ever lifts the bonnet of a car, or takes a spanner to it.
It's hardly surprising that so many drive round with undiscovered faults.
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>> There are 35 houses in my Cul-de-Sac. I am the only person here who ever
>> lifts the bonnet of a car, or takes a spanner to it.
>>
>> It's hardly surprising that so many drive round with undiscovered faults.
Same here. I feel like some sort of freak, sometimes. In my 6 years here I've seen one neighbour change a battery, and another trying to work out where the contents of the expansion tank had gone on his Passat, only alerted by the low coolant warning on the dash. That, literally, is it!
Last edited by: DP on Wed 14 Jul 10 at 20:10
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>> Same here. I feel like some sort of freak,
Me too, years ago there'd always be some one setting about some in depth work on a weekend, i'm the only one who bothers doing anything except washing the car.
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I tend to have bonnet open every three weeks just to check the fluids. So far all it has needed is some more screenwash. With my dads I do a much bigger inspection and check the belt, battery security, condition of wiring, oil, PAS fluid, blake fluid, tyres and just a general nosey. Such inspections have prevented at least one break down as I noticed the serpentine belt was almost about to snap.
My car is too new to need any inspection other than tyres/fluids. Maybe when it gets to 1000 miles I will give it a good visual check over.
When I was younger and my dad was left to his own devices his cars would break down at least every six months but touch would he has not had a break down since 1998 apart from once when the battery died.
It really is just basic stuff too, checking the oil, belts and anything which looks odd.
My Clio friend really is the worse when she comes to cars. The cops could really have a field day with it.
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>> i'm the only one who bothers doing anything except washing the car.
If the bonnets up on any cars in my area, something has already gone badly wrong.
I don't actually check my car that often, but when I do, I'm the only one doing it.
Oh, there is an unemployed guy up the road who has gone through an old E class Mercedes, 5 series BMW and a Rover Cabriolet. He's always got the bonnet up, but I don't think he really know's what he's looking at. I heard the bonnet slam on his Mercedes and a voice saying 'b***** cars' one day.
Well, if you don't have a lot of money, buy something cheap to run man....
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My dads car is exactly the same, if I hadn't driven when my Corsa blew up I would not have known how bad the brakes were. Well actually I knew they were bad because they looked awful but it was only when driving it I realised they didn't work.
If it wasn't for my maintance I think my dads car would have blown up many years ago due to lack of oil.
I would be emberassed if one of my cars failed the MOT on something very obvious such as a snapped spring or no washer fluid.
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My car took 3 visits to scrape through its emissions test this year, although I keep on top of its mechanical condition I'm rarely solvent enough to pay for anything that needs fixing. At least until it's either completely ceased to function, or dangerous.
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Wed 14 Jul 10 at 20:39
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That is exactly the problem my dad has. What he really needs is an electric car on leaf springs but even then the motor could burn out.
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>> There are 35 houses in my Cul-de-Sac. I am the only person here who ever
>> lifts the bonnet of a car, or takes a spanner to it.
>>
>> It's hardly surprising that so many drive round with undiscovered faults.
It could be, perhaps, that modern cars are so reliable that they dont need to fettled every weekend, like the old days.
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>> It could be, perhaps, that modern cars are so reliable that they don't need to
>> fettled every weekend, like the old days.
>>
That is probably true, but I would rather find a fluid leak or other problem in my garage during my weekly checks than 400 miles from home on a motorway. I have not had a journey disrupted due to a fault for over 20 years. I intend to keep it that way.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 14 Jul 10 at 20:57
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after posting this today i mentioned to someone i know about how i used to do plug chops
he wanted to know if i braised them
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Modern engines are only as reliable as the weakest belt. If everybody did under bonnet checks I bet the AA and RAC would have nearly half the fleet size they have.
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doubt it most problems used to be caused by messers
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But come on, you cannot beat a bit of card board to replace a stuck open thermostat or my favourite when I rewired the temperature gauge sender in my old MK3 Fiesta by usingf crocodile leads! Or the best one when I used terminal block to repair the damaging wiring loom to the TPS again on my old MK3. It was the only car I had which had an engine laid out in such a way which just screamed the owner to do all sorts of dodgy mods to it.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Wed 14 Jul 10 at 22:59
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Life is strange.
When we were all very, very young we could only afford old bangers.
Gallon can of oil and a set of jump leads in the boot. Any journey of over 20 miles meant we put the trusty tool box in too.
Now we're all better off we have better cars, they're far more reliable anyway, and we all have breakdown cover that we never need to use.
Pat
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exactomundo. my very point.
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Nothing to do with recessions.. It's all those Renualts failing..
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>> Gallon can of oil and a set of jump leads in the boot.>>
It's a litre these days, Pat. My engine has not settled down yet and needed 500ml to bring it up to full at 3000 miles. No jump leads in the car though. The only use they have had for years was to start a neighbour's car last winter, my battery gets an overnight trickle charge most weekends.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 15 Jul 10 at 11:11
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My daughters SEAT Ibiza failed at 4yrs/37K miles on a suspension bush and rear brakes imbalance at different braking efforts.
This was at the dealership and it was being serviced at the same time. Apparently they have to MOT the car before working on it.
Then failed at 5yrs on headlamp alignment. This was at our village garage and he tweaked them and then issued a pass. No charge for this.
Car has always been fully dealer serviced, but they don't service bushes, alignment, or even the brakes.
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>>my battery gets an overnight trickle charge most weekends.
Do you really charge your battery EVERY weekend ?
We run 5 cars and don't own a battery chrager between us. Two of the cars are rarely used while the other three are used regularily and we haven't ever had a flat battery or vehicle not starting through insufficient charge - well, certainly not for years, anyway.
I simply don't think I could be bothered with something which needed that level of maintenance.
What sort of vehicle is it ? I assume some kind of classic vehicle rather than modern.
Last edited by: Webmaster on Wed 4 Aug 10 at 01:15
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>> What sort of vehicle is it ? I assume some kind of classic vehicle rather
>> than modern.
>>
Its a few months old. I have always done this, a few seconds to connect and disconnect.
After a week of winter short runs, heater, aircon, lights, wipers, audio, and several engine starts a day you would be surprised how long it takes to fully charge a battery. As the cars have become more complex this charge time has increased. I believe the most common breakdown call out is for flat batteries, as I know this why not avoid it.
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>>We run 5 cars and don't own a battery chrager between us. Two of the cars are rarely used while the other three are used regularily and we haven't ever had a flat battery or vehicle not starting through insufficient charge - well, certainly not for years, anyway.
You must have some pretty powerful batteries. My car doesn't get a lot of use and I have to check the battery every 4 or 5 weeks, by which time it usually needs charging.
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Chrysler, Mazda, Volvo used more or less daily.
Vauxhall, VW used sporadically - once a month or so I guess.
I can see how if unused for a while they might need charging, although it never seems to happen to me.
But surely not a vehicle in regular use ?
And as I said, I really couldn't be bothered to charge every week. And I can't see how that can be neccessary. What on earth is happening ot the car in a week ?
Now if someone wishes ot do that, then that's up to them. But if I had a car in regular use which required weekly battery charges it'd get sold pdq.
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>> Now if someone wishes ot do that, then that's up to them. But if I
>> had a car in regular use which required weekly battery charges it'd get sold pdq.
>>
I call it preventitive maintenance, along with fluid level and tyre checks. I suppose it helps that the car is in a garage with power, lighting, heating, (if req), a seat, bench, and coffee due to access direct into the kitchen.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 15 Jul 10 at 16:02
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>> car last winter, my battery gets an overnight trickle charge most weekends.
yeah, those Ce'ed alternators are made from old vimto cans and pan scourers. A wise precaution.
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Perlllleeese, Irn bru cans. Do you want me to bring my jump leads in case you need them Z.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 15 Jul 10 at 15:28
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Oh no, mine might catch something.
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>> Oh no, mine might catch something.
>>
At least it is a European Kia so it won't be anything exotic or tropical.
Not sure about hooking up to your oriental motor though..
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 15 Jul 10 at 16:43
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>> Perlllleeese, Irn bru cans. Do you want me to bring my jump leads in case
>> you need them Z.
>>
As any self respecting Glaswegian will tell you there's more iron in the drink than in the can :-)
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I have not had a journey disrupted due to a fault for over 20 years. I intend to keep it that way.
Nor have I, but nor have I spent weekends fiddling with my cars. Tyres and fluids get checked, of course, but I've never added anything but air or screenwash to any of them. They have, though, had main dealer servicing at the recommended intervals - in months or miles as appropriate - and I get to spend my weekends doing, erm, what Mrs Beest wants me to.
I can think of few places I'd less like to live than a road of DIY mechanics. There was one where I used to live: thoroughly nice chap, but his house was opposite mine and getting into my drive meant negotiating a path around his proper cars, which were parked in the road because his drive was full of his various projects. One of them barely moved in the 12 years we lived there - although it did grow a cover, which he would remove about three Sundays a year so he could rev it furiously with the bonnet open as if he was preparing it to go somewhere. But it never did.
My point is that working on cars - like rehearsing a rock band or slaughtering a pig - is something best done on premises designed for the purpose. It can be done at home but that doesn't mean that it should be.
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>> Nor have I, but nor have I spent weekends fiddling with my cars. Tyres and
>> fluids get checked, of course, but I've never added anything but air or screenwash to
>> any of them. They have, though, had main dealer servicing at the recommended intervals -
>> in months or miles as appropriate - and I get to spend my weekends doing,
>> erm, what Mrs Beest wants me to.
Much the same as me, OK I trickle charge the battery, or rather my charger does while I do Mrs Navy's designated chores.
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classic recession barometer - Bellboy
