It amazingly passed it just needed a new hazzard light switch which they charged £34 for including labour (this is a Renault main dealer). I thought that was a decent price.
It has a long advisory on coil the following:
Rear coil springs - rusted
Front pads and discs 70^ corroded - wtf? I looked at them they were worn but didn't see any rust on them.
Hand brake effiency down to 25%
Rear tyres down to 2mm
They also gave her a seperate note not related to the MOT advising:-
Brake fluid low
Oil dangeriously low
coolent dangeriously low
Rear brakes not efficient (I assumed it was good enough to pass the MOT but to Renault standards).
I suspect her rear shoes are completly worn explaining low brake fluid. What is concerning me is the lack of coolent and oil. I will buy her a new header tank cap in case that has failed and will put down the lack of oil due to it being 20k since she last had the oil changed.
What do you make of this? I have advised her to get the tyres done and get a second opinion on the front discs/pads and get the rear shoes or what ever is causing the problem done ASAP.
I will check the springs when I inspect the car but I am guessing the outer plastic protection has simply come loose so the coils may well be ok and that the brakes need doing first.
Personaly though if I took a car to MOT in that state I would be ashamed, the oil reason it passed on the washer fluid is I made her top it up!
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All fluids low? Has the car ever been serviced?
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Lots of scope for losing fluids in 20k !
Was this the friend who had the prang ?
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Sounds like my daughter's Clio could be!
Fortunately, she visits us frequently and my wife always says "Go out and check tyres, water, oil, washer liquid, lights, wiper blades etc" to me. I also usually give it a quick shampoo.
Otherwise I think it would only get a check once a year on MOT day!
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....and my daughter's car too!
As well as emptying it out using a shovel, it usually needs a bit of action with a can of spray paint.
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I thought the driving test included checking oil, coolant etc?
Personally I'd be ashamed if my car's oil, coolant, brake fluid, or PAS fluid were at anything other than spot on the "max" marks. I also check my tyres weekly. Perhaps that's why, in 20 years of driving, the only times I've needed to call out breakdown services have been for catastrophic sudden failures (carburettor, gearbox, temperature gauge sender).
I bought a car about 4 years ago that took 2 litres of oil to register on the dipstick, and another 750ml to bring it up to full. Trouble was, it only used a dipstick-full every 2,000 miles. However do people neglect their cars that much??
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My dad would be the same, the only reason the engine his engine is now on 85k and still driving perfectly is because I always check fluids and top up the oil.
My dads Lada engine died at 60k because in the six years he owned it he never once had it served, he would get the plugs done if it broke down due to no spark, he would top up the oil but never change the filter, brakes etc only got done at MOT time. Its no wonder I Am such the opposite.
It is the same person who had the prang she does 20k a year and I remember I opened the bonnet a year ago and told her the fluids need topping up. Apparently her brother topped it up then.
Also I forgot to mention it had an advisory for a rusted brake servo so I will be checking that too. I bet it is just a spec of rust but I will check in case it is bad.
My friend bought this car at 35k it is now on 70k all she has done in that time is replaced two front tyres, two front discs and an oil change. It is now well well over due a service and cambelt hasn't even been changed. The most annoying thing is it was/is a damn good car with proper car it could easily do 200k but its probably too late for that. Despite it not having any oil for 20k the engine some how still sounds very healthy.
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Note that she is 'only' 2K miles over the recommended service interval of 18K miles. For everyones sake pursuade her to get a full service done asap!
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Its pointless as she is so skint :( She really shouldn't be running a car but then she needs it for her job. The threat of borrowing her dads second cousins twice removed best friend's sister M reg Toyota Corrorlla should make her thing twice though!!
I may just pay for an oil change if I can find a cheap enough offer at a fast fit but the biggest problem is the cambelt is well over due . I don't think she understands the simple fact that cars are expensive to run, she just takes it personaly that now her car needs about £1k spending on it.
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she needs it for her job, what will she done when the inevitable MOT fails? pack in the job too?
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Just checked the car out its not half as bad as she was told.
1) The oil is halfway between min and max - I topped it up, now on max
2) The coolent was about 1inch above the min mark, so did need topping up but not urgent.
3) The brake fluid was was on the low side but way above max. Topped it up.
4) The front discs are perfectly smooth, a little corroded at the top edge. The pads are still quite thick.
5) The rear springs look a bit used but didn't see any rust on them at all, they look like all springs do after 70k.
I suspect the dealer had been trying to scare he a little.
There was a tiny bit of mayo on the oil cap but the coolent was clean as was the oil, there is nos moke at all from the exhaust so I would be surprised if there is any issues with the head gasket.
I have advised her to have the coolent changed because there is a mixture of pink and blue in the head at the moment.
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The only thing that would worry me is that these days I wouldn't expect coolant or particularly brake fluid levels to change, so it'd keep an eye on them as presumably she won't.
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I suspect the rear shoes need replacing and I have urged to her to get the rear drums checked out.
I am not sure why the coolent is down and its something I am a bit concerned about. I couldn't find any leaks but the then its not really very easy to access there are a lot of pipes hidden away.
The cap didn't feel very tight when I removed it so the system may not have been fully preasurised.
I was surprised how healthy the top end sounded considering it hasn't had an oil change for at least 20k.
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>>I wouldn't expect ....... brake fluid levels to change
As the disc pads wear so the pistons come further out and stay there, largely the same with most self-adjusting rear brake shoes I've seen. So yes the brake fluid will go down as the brakes wear.
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>> The front discs are perfectly smooth, a little corroded at the top edge
Umm, brake discs don't have a top edge. :-)
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www.2carpros.com/discovery/images/rear_brake_pads.jpg
I meant the bit round the out edge.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Thu 1 Apr 10 at 21:04
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On a visit to Aston Martin's factory (Newport Pagnell) I saw a guy applying paint to that edge, so I tried myself the next time I fitted new discs.
It didn't make a bit of difference, they still rusted.
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I can't see a problem with a bit of oxidation round the rim of the disk as there is no contact with the pads. Obviously, if it started to eat well into the disc there could be a problem.
Many years ago I visited the Rolls Royce works at Crewe and saw dozens of RR discs left out to rust. Apparently the engineers could spot defects better on a rusted surface. When they were needed for fitting to a new car the discs were given a final turning on a lathe to their final tolerance & removing the surface rust.
John R @ Home.
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clio"s delaminate their shoes once they get to a certain age so i would recommend these are changed soonest seeing as they only work at best just
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>>3) The brake fluid was was on the low side but way above max. Topped it up>>
Minimum, surely?
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>> >>3) The brake fluid was was on the low side but way above max. Topped
>> it up>>
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>> Minimum surely?
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I don't top up my brakefluid, I check for leaks when I service the car, and use the the fluid level as a guide (between services) as to pad/shoe wear.
The way I see it, IF I had a major leak, it wouldn't matter if the fluid was at min or max, when the warning light came on, I would still have the same amount of pedal pushes left.
And of course, Id hopefully notice a major fluid leak when checking my tyre pressures and levels weekly.
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Friend took her Clio for an MOT - Oops - movilogo
