The pain of MOT time

[Hazell B]

My elderly Land Rover Discovery has an MOT due in March. It won't pass and I'm worried it won't be on minor things, in fact I'm willing to bet the chassis is shot to bits :(

So, what's the most expensive MOT you've ever forked out for?

I'm torn between selling old Boris the Disco and buying something like him but newer, and paying to get him 100% safe and sound again. Last time I had this problem I ended up with a Land Rover 90 sitting behind my stables (it's still there :rolleyes: ) and another one on the road too. Not having that fuss again :p :

If Boris goes, be ready to offer me hankies and give me a hug. I'll miss the old lad, he's been brilliant :bigcry:

[Ian McC]

Mine is due in March, alas it won't make it to then as it has a fuel leak and has to go into the garage tomorrow :(

Expensive few months I guess :mad:

[viper_man]

Hope it gets through, know someone whos a member of a Discovery Owners Club and there have been no end of examples he has seen with +400,000 miles on the clock, some even more!

Apparently they run for ever so hopefully yours doesnt end costing you too much with any MOT bills you end up with.

Luckily Ive never had too many expensive MOTs on the cars Ive had, and a few have been right old bangers. Its mostly been replacing door locks, tires and exhausts, that sort of thing. Never been ridiculously expensive luckily.

[oily oaf]

The Beginner's Guide TO Passing Your MOT
by O. Oaf

Step 1 Identify any problem areas such as split gaiters, worn bushes etc

Step 2 Sellotape crisp fiver to problem zones

Step 3 Smile warmly and press crisp fiver into proffered hand of mechanic as he hands you pass certificate and who will have been struck down with a debilitating bout of temporary blindness ;)

Quick MOT tale

A few years back a young fella rolled up in a 4 wheeled shed that was barely recognisable as a Mini Mayfair and asked for an MOT.
In all my years in the game I have yet to see anything that approaches this object for sheer dilapidation and general deathtrapocity :eek:
From memory the wheel bearings were absolutely shot, the engine stabilizer mount was missing, the O/S/R brake was seized on, both subframes were rusted through, steering gaiter split, exhaust mount missing and rear silencer holed, hydro elastic suspension devoid of hydro and to say the bodywork was a bit tatty would be the proverbial understatement etc.
To cut a long story short when I told the geezer that he could put down a sizable deposit on an M5 for what the work would cost he sold it to me for scrap for a tenner.
That evening I hitched up to the recovery truck and dragged it round to my son and fellow grease monkey Steve's lock up.
Over the next few weeks the 2 of us plus my daughter's then boyfriend, now hubbie "Bigfoot" an HGV technician set to on the project to end em all in an effort to get this aberration back on the road.
First stop a huge wrecking yard in Sussex where we proceeded to throw bits of mini over the perimeter fence before going to the office and paying for a headlamp bulb.
Thus armed we spent most evenings and weekends welding, hammering, tightening and generally restoring the little rascal to something approaching it's former glory.
We then got a mate, a paint sprayer to finish her off with a nice deep metallic red and the ubiquitous union jack roof.
I have to say at the risk of blowing my own trumpet that she looked an absolute "minter" when she came out of the paint shop.
Why did I go to all that trouble?
Well my little girl had passed her driving test a month or so previously and as a student nurse was totally without the funds to buy a little motor. See where I'm going?
Anyway presentation day arrived and the family gathered outside in the street to have a butchers at what my daughter believed was Steve's new motor.
The look of envy on her face as he pulled up outside the house in his gleaming new acquisition had to be seen to be believed as did her expression of pure shock which quickly turned to tears of joy when he handed her the keys and said "Here are mate it's yours"
A very special day for me that one :)
Mind you I did give her a series of photos which chronicaled all the hard graft the 3 of us had put in in order to put another bloody female on the road ;)

The Mini? She kept it for 3 years before flogging i to another young girl for 900 quid.

Dat's my girl :D

Mind you you'd have thought she'd have bunged her old man a bloody drink on the strength of it wouldn't ya? (fume)

[Caroline]

MOTs! I am still grumbling about spending the best part of £800 to get my Subaru through the MOT last September. It failed on two things - a CV boot which costs next to nothing to fix and an ineffective catalytic converter. So a new one was needed. Ouch! There was no question however of the letting the car go. Looking forward to April when the Audi has to go through the MOT :s

Ah fun!

[Mark]

Got my first MOT in August. The car will only be 3 years old and should pass straight away, having said that I've already have to replace the battery, and the clutch is occasionally making a squealing noise, so you never can tell :s

[Iain]

Should breeze through it I would have thought, Mark.

[Hazell B]

The Beginner's Guide TO Passing Your MOT
by O. Oaf

Step 2 Sellotape crisp fiver to problem zones

Step 3 Smile warmly and press crisp fiver into proffered hand of mechanic ...


Far cheaper and easier is the now tried and tested Hazell Method.

First identify small family run garage, then engage youngest MOT mechanic in conversation in the pub. Mark the date of his birthday in your calendar. Book in for the test two days after said birthday. Never one day, never three, two is the number and the number is two (sorry Monty Python).

As he approaches the problem area simply say "Good birthday Mark?" and take one step forward or back out of his line of sight.

He'll be too polite to not look at you when answering and too hung over to notice the vast hole in the chassis above his aching bonce ;)

Worked three years running for me, that one. Eventually he failed my Vitara on a hole in the floor and gap in the chassis so big we were frightened my old Dobermann would fall through it :s

Nowadays I'm too health and safety orientated to use that method :mark:

[Ian McC]

Mine is due in March, alas it won't make it to then as it has a fuel leak and has to go into the garage tomorrow :(

Expensive few months I guess :mad:

Oh yes, that will be three new fuel pipes, oh and when we got it up on the ramp we found both the rear springs were broken, oh and both the rear tyres are nearly illegal.................

Do we have a smilie for someone hanging themself ? :rolleyes:

[oily oaf]

Far cheaper and easier is the now tried and tested Hazell Method.

First identify small family run garage, then engage youngest MOT mechanic in conversation in the pub. Mark the date of his birthday in your calendar. Book in for the test two days after said birthday. Never one day, never three, two is the number and the number is two (sorry Monty Python).

As he approaches the problem area simply say "Good birthday Mark?" and take one step forward or back out of his line of sight.

He'll be too polite to not look at you when answering and too hung over to notice the vast hole in the chassis above his aching bonce ;)

Worked three years running for me, that one. Eventually he failed my Vitara on a hole in the floor and gap in the chassis so big we were frightened my old Dobermann would fall through it :s

Nowadays I'm too health and safety orientated to use that method :mark:

Ah the old time honoured birthday ploy eh? First used in 12AD by Ancient Brit bint and Queen of The Icenae Boadicea when she took her chariot into a Wessex MOT station with a blunt wheel knife :mad:

Although I can see that your devious ruse could indeed bear fruit I'm afraid that it would cut no ice whatsoever with an abstemious, God fearing teetotaller such as yours truly :s mokin:

[Hazell B]

Although I can see that your devious ruse could indeed bear fruit I'm afraid that it would cut no ice whatsoever with an abstemious, God fearing teetotaller such as yours truly :s mokin:


Okay, I'd wait two days past your latest 'herbal' cigarette delivery instead :p :


Poor McC. Fat MOT bill and no suitable smilie. Life is harsh :(

[Ian McC]

Now they tell me that there are no spares available in the UK and they have to come from Europe :mad:

[Hazell B]

Now they tell me that there are no spares available in the UK and they have to come from Europe :mad:

I told you to expect this sort of thing when you got that car.

Astons are nothing but trouble :p :

[Ian McC]

I told you to expect this sort of thing when you got that car.

Astons are nothing but trouble :p :

You didn't complain when I gave you a ride in it :D