[Nick]

MOT day today for my wife's car, often for me that means an early drop off (7am today), which is fine with me as I'm an early starter!

This morning though as I got out of bed to get ready, I suddenyl remembered that my wife had mentioned yesterday (or maybe the day before), that the screen wash fluid was low, or out. Being pretty sure that was a fail on an MOT I made sure to fill it up before taking it and dropping off.

What other tips and checks do you folks have for MOT day - what should we be checking to make sure the car passes?

FYI - it passed, got the call 35 minutes later that it was ready and all good.

[TC1474]

Just got the call 30 minutes ago, mine has failed the MOT on emissions.

Just waiting for the call back with the result of the diagnostics..

I do the usual checks looking for the obvious before it goes in (making sure lights are OK, tyres are legal, horn and washers work, fluids topped up etc) but these days I cannot climb underneath like I used to, and emissions is something I do not have the equipment to check so I am in the lap of the gods on that score, and I also make sure the car is washed and clean as I know speaking to various examiners first impressions also count for quite a bit in a favourable way.

I suppose I cannot complain after 16 years of trouble free ownership.

[Santa]

I always combine a service with the MOT. This puts the onus on the garage to rectify any minor faults, like lights, before they issue a certificate.

I know that in practice, most garages do a dummy MOT inspection first. Any faults that come up are rectified, and then the cert is issued.

[TC1474]

Car has just been delivered back with a new MOT certificate. A whole load of fuel injector cleaner and a quick thrash down the M4 seems to have sorted the emissions for now, but it has hammered home the point that I need to change sooner rather than later.

Another good reason to go for a 13 month MOT as it gives you time to rectify issues early whilst your current ticket is still in date.

[Rolebama]

A couple of points from TC1474's post above.
I always take the long way round to the MOT Station. Give the engine and exhaust a good blast through, and get the engine hot enough for the Test itself.
As I no longer have access to an off-road place to park, I also take advantage of the 30-day rule. You can take a car for a Test 30 days before the last Certificate expires. If it fails, you get the 30 days to carry out necessary repairs, and yes, you can still drive the car on the existing Certificate. However, the car still has to be safe.

[TC1474]

@Rolebama

Hence the reason I mentioned it is a good idea to get a 13 month MOT which is why mine was done early as per my post.

My car was driven 20 miles to Slough for its MOT on the Motorway so it was very warm by the time it got to the test, but it still failed initially on emissions, so no guarantee's even when given a run and is fully warmed up.

[Drivingforfun]

Something I'm slightly proud of (and like bringing up when it comes up in conversations to emphasise my use of it 🙄) ... My otherwise roadworthy car once failed an MOT because the horn wasn't working - one of the easiest things I could have checked!

I'm not sure how long it had been in that state, but it could have happened any time since the last MOT

[Drivingforfun]

I spotted a car with a full beam light out the other day

I was with my dad and we wondered if that would fail an MOT? My dad said perhaps if the dipped lights are fine - do you even need full beams? I said I think the full beams are considered a substitute for the horn late at night so maybe a fail for similar reasons? Also, only one was out, how would that affect things?

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

I spotted a car with a full beam light out the other day

I was with my dad and we wondered if that would fail an MOT? My dad said perhaps if the dipped lights are fine - do you even need full beams? I said I think the full beams are considered a substitute for the horn late at night so maybe a fail for similar reasons? Also, only one was out, how would that affect things?

Yes, it would fail.

MOT manual says "You must test all mandatory headlamps.
Mandatory headlamps’ are a matched pair of main beam headlamps and a matched pair of dipped-beam headlamps. These can be separate or a single pair of headlamps."

The manual goes on to say that a missing or inoperative headlamp is a major fault.