It was time to take the winter car for it's annual MOT today.
The MOT's are done by a state owned organisation here. A time is booked on the internet, and when you turn up at the selected station you enter your reg number into a computer terminal, then go back to your car to wait. At your alloted time a matrix sign on the side of the building shows your reg no. and tells you which bay to go to. As you approach, the door glides up and in you go. A traffic light tells you when to stop in just the right position over a grate so the water and melting snow doesn't run all over the floor.
A guy appears with a little handheld device, checks the mileage, and does the usual with the lights and seatbelts. Then he shoves on the exhaust extractor that contains the analyzer nozzle. Does the emissions test and checks the headlight aim.
With the exhaust extractor still attached he moves onto the brake test. After the brake test he drives onto the ramp. Up with the ramp and he gets under while the ramp (remotely controlled) shakes left and right and he watches the ball joints etc. Then the ramp turns the wheels left and right while he observes. The same then happens at the back. He does a quick check of the brakes pipes and exhaust, and the job's done. He doesn't even get the hammer out to check an obviously very rusty car (even though the sills and floor are all solid).
Down with the ramp, the door at the end of the lane opens and out he drives for a quick spin round the block, and the exhaust extractor automatically detatches itself and powers it's way back to the other end ready for the next car.
2 minutes later he comes back just as the paperwork is coming off the printer. It took 20 minutes, and cost 300 kronor (£28).
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Felicia - first MoT!
Are cars 10 yrs old before they get a Swedish MoT?
Felicias are at least 10 years old - at least thy are in the UK.
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It's been done that way in the official TuV places in Germany for years but there are also much smaller plces.
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>>He does a quick check of the brakes pipes and exhaust,
>> and the job's done. He doesn't even get the hammer out to check an obviously
>> very rusty car (even though the sills and floor are all solid).
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I must say I did see more seriously rusty cars over the summer in Stockholm than I've seen in the UK for a long time - but then I suppose a -30 to +30C temperature range doesn't help.
Sounds like Sweden is much easier on MoTs then Finland, where they're really fussy about rust IIRC.
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Ha, I meant it was my first MOT, not the Skoda's.
They don't mind seriously rusted sills here, as long as there's a bit of solid steel around the suspension mounts.
Things do like to rust here, that's for sure. I think it's heavy salt useage for a good 3 months solid, and absolutely no way in that time for it to ever dry off or be washed off. The salt goes down as a slurry, and I think they mix something like sugar or molasses with it to help it hang around for longer. It certainly seems to be very aggressive.
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In Kista they seemed to prefer lots and lots and lots of grit to salt, although I must admit I wasn't there over the worst of the winter.
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>> Things do like to rust here, that's for sure.
Watch out for the spring retaining collar on the front suspension struts rusting through on the Felicia - I'm told by SWMBO it makes a VERY loud noise, and the spring end will go through the tyre sidewall if you're unlucky.
Our tame and observant MOT man issued an advisory about the rear struts a year or two before "the incident", but didn't spot the front ones.
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Well the Fiesta will pass another 20 MOTs in Sweden then! Seems are far cry from the UK where even small amount of rust on a sill can fail it.
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>> Well the Fiesta will pass another 20 MOTs in Sweden then! Seems are far cry
>> from the UK where even small amount of rust on a sill can fail it.
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Is a Swedish MoT OK for the UK? if so you could have a mini adventure driving it out there and back once a year. In Finland even small amounts of rust in non structural areas cause MoT failure I think, much tougher than the UK.
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There is no rust round there but the one of the sills need replacing for the MOT and the other will will probably go next year. In fact it was so bad that the brake pipe was just held on by nothing as that part of the body had coroded!. One of the rattles was actually the flexihose knocking against the chasis.
One of the wheel arches (the same side as the sill which needed replacing) has also gone.
But no a Swedish MOT is not valid in the UK if the car is resident in the UK.
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I had a look at the MOT stats before I took it down there, and suspension mountings were a popular fail point. He gave them a quick look as apparently they start to go around the drain hole in the cup first, but they appeared to be ok. But tbh I'm not sure it's actually very easy to see when they're about to let go.
Surprisingly, the rear (drum) brakes worked well. Just as well, as I didn't fancy trying to get them off and repair all the rusty mess.
The front strut top mounts are very worn, but he didn't seem too concerned. If it lasts me for another year I'll be very happy. The studded tyres only have about a years life left on them, so that may be the dciding factor.
I'm putting a towbar on it next week, so I have to take it back for a quick inspection to make sure it's been done properly.
Interestingly, you can drive to the nearest MOT station without an MOT or road tax, but also insurance isn't required either, nor winter tyres in winter. And studded tyres can be on the car in summer even though they're not normally allowed outside the prescribed dates.
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Skoda Felicia - First swedish MOT - Falkirk Bairn
