The Most Common MOT Failures and How to Avoid Them

<p>Most MOT failures are not dramatic. They are small, cheap items that nobody looked at for a year. Here is the running order, worst offenders first.</p> <h2>1. Lighting and signalling</h2> <p>Blown bulbs, cloudy lenses and badly aimed headlamps. Walk round the car with the lights on and get someone to press the brake pedal. Headlamp aim often drifts after a front end repair or a heavy load.</p> <h2>2. Suspension</h2> <p>Worn bushes, tired shock absorbers and broken coil springs, usually from potholes. A corner that keeps bouncing after you push it down is a giveaway.</p> <h2>3. Brakes</h2> <p>Thin pads, scored discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold on a slope. Grinding or a pull to one side under braking means book it in now, not at MOT time.</p> <h2>4. Tyres</h2> <p>Below 1.6mm tread, uneven wear, cuts, bulges or mismatched tyres across an axle. Uneven wear usually means the tracking needs setting, which is worth doing anyway for fuel and tyre life.</p> <h2>5. Driver s view of the road</h2> <p>Torn wiper blades, empty washer bottles and chips in the swept area in front of the driver. Empty screenwash is an instant fail and takes a pound to fix.</p> <h2>6. Corrosion and body condition</h2> <p>Rust in structural areas, sharp edges and insecure panels. This often traces back to a cheap repair where bare metal was never sealed properly.</p> <h2>The pre MOT ten minutes</h2> <ul> <li>Check every bulb, including the number plate lights</li> <li>Top up the screenwash and look at the wipers</li> <li>Check tread and pressures on all four tyres, plus the spare</li> <li>Listen for grinding brakes and test the handbrake on a hill</li> <li>Check the horn, seatbelts and that the plates are clean and legal</li> </ul> <p>If the body is what is worrying you, <a href="/getaquote">get a free repair estimate</a> before the test rather than after a fail.</p>