GazRallye 0 Posted September 18, 2007 Couple of things i'm not too sure about in regards to MOT testing My XS has lower arms that are less than 12 months old, however the balljoint rubber has torn (because I was a bit ham fisted after fitting a new driveshaft a few months back). Theres no play in the ball joint, just this torn rubber, still loads of grease in there. Also I have a crack in the windscreen about 6" long, starting at the top in the middle, its behind the rearview mirror so isn't in my line of sight. Is it likely to fail on either of these points? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted September 18, 2007 split balljoint gaitors aren't a failure. Not sure on the screen, they have a special card they place on the screen with the different zones on it that come into the test. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
large 33 Posted September 19, 2007 Glue the ball joint rubber. Get chating to the tester ask things like what car do you drive? Become his best mate, book it in for the end of the day all he will want to do is go home like all of us. Make the car clean and tidy as 205's dont rust thats half the battle. the mot is the minimum standard for the road as the mot tester told me only last week "the car is battered but it is good enough to pass". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Owain1602 0 Posted September 19, 2007 Split balljoint boot wont fail, if the crack in the screen is within the arc that the wipers take and larger than a certain size then it will probably fail, the test piece size is quite small really. To be honest I would leave him alond to test, if someone is watchin and standing around me during a test I can get quite annoyed, it can worry some testers because it could be a random check by the VOSA inspectors who always watch the test. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peetypug 5 Posted September 19, 2007 i know its a bit off topic To be honest I would leave him alond to test, if someone is watchin and standing around me during a test I can get quite annoyed, it can worry some testers because it could be a random check by the VOSA inspectors who always watch the test. my mate is another tester that doesnt like people watching while he does it he refuses to mot any of his mates cars, he says he would feel pressured into passing thier cars and its his licence that would be taken away if they were checked and found to be faulty i always have a good look and chat with my mot tester, that way if it fails he can show me exactly whats wrong and i get to have a good poke around while im under the car. the place i go to is 25 miles away but he likes the fact that im interested in cars and he's more than happy to give me a few pointers on fixing my cars if im stuck (tight git wont do any foriegners for me though) some garages i've been to are quite funny about people going under the car while its in the air for health and safety reasons, but once you find a good one stick with it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GazRallye 0 Posted September 19, 2007 Cheers guys, think I'll get someone to have a quick look at the screen before I take it, its only a £50 excess on my insurance policy anyway. Other than rust around where the jack screws into the engine bay, I'm not worried about much else! Say for example my MOT runs out on the 30th, and I take it in on the 20th and it fails is it still legal until the 30th? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jrod 7 Posted September 19, 2007 Yep, legal until the old one runs out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted September 19, 2007 Pretty sure you get 14days to rectify things if it fails anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jackherer 543 Posted September 19, 2007 I actually phoned VOSA and asked them if I could still drive a car on its last mot if it had failed a later one and they said yes but its a grey area in that if you have a crash or something there is documentary evidence that you knew the car was faulty so your insurance may not pay out. Basically its fine unless it fails on something obviously very dangerous I would say. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pugrallye 0 Posted September 21, 2007 (edited) its 40mm inside if swept area of screen AND outside of width of steering wheel (10mm inside) And to be honest I would not define a 'good' MOT tester as one who lets you underneath car and be distracted by car talk at the end of the day. A good tester is one who doesnt hang on the grails every written word and can deciphre it correctly and be lenient where necessary... have seen people fail balljoints on split gaitors before and its a big no no.. its only advisory MOT testers job is a hard one with VOSA trying to trip him (or her) up at every turn, they go out of their way to achieve this so tesyers are quite rightfully worries, have seen two testers get the boot by not following exacting methods of testing although its highly debatable if the way they tested was wrong (both caught out by phantom cars and being surveillanced) Most garages have viewing areas and they are basically there for a reason chaps... Edited September 21, 2007 by pugrallye Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
