Another year, another MOT, and a blot on my copy book!

[Lazy-Ferret]

Well...

4 years ago, we were financially in trouble, and had just had our faithful V70 written off by an insurance Scammer leaving us without a car or payout while the insurance company looked into whether we were involved in the scam. Luckily, we were able to borrow some money from family, and set out to purchase a cheap car that would get us out of trouble, but also be able to tow the trailers and caravan, and would hopefully last us a year or so allowing us to pay back what we had borrowed, and save up something for a replacement vehicle.

That cheap car we managed to land was my T2, and has turned out to be a "Best Buy". 4 years on, we still have it, and it is still the best £2K I have ever invested in a car.

Normally when the MOT is due, I go over the car the week before, and do a full service, then put it in for the MOT. In 32 years of driving I have only once had a car fail an MOT, and that was in my first year of driving. So 31 years of never having failed an MOT... Can our Uncle Rustic beat that?

Anyway, with the bad weather, and the higher mileage we did over Christmas, the Service needed to be done back in January, but luckily we had a mild spell, and I got it all done. As usual, I checked everything out, and apart form cleaning up the brakes, and bleeding the system, the only thing I had to change was the rear exhaust hanger.

4 months on, with the MOT looming, I had wanted to get out and give the car a once over, but with family/pet/personal issues taking up a huge amount of our time the last few months, coupled with the bad weather and time escaping quicker than I thought, I did not get the chance to get under the car. Last Thursday, while waiting at the Vets, I remembered that the MOT was due, and said to Suz that the MOT is due on the 17th, so I have to make some time to get out and under the car next week... She then pointed out that the 17th was in fact that coming Sunday, not a week Sunday like I had thought!!!

We got an MOT appointment for first thing Sat morning, and Friday between rain, Thunder, Hail, and having to sort out Suz's dad, I just about managed to get round and check all the lights, and look for anything amiss, but it was not up to my usual job, and very very half hearted as I was so rushed for time.

I took the car in for its MOT on Saturday morning, and when I picked her up, I was gutted to find she had Failed..... My second MOT fail of my life....

Luckily it was just the pesky rear exhaust mount, but I really kicked my self, as that one is always breaking, and I had only fitted a new one back in January when I serviced the car, so had not expected it to have gone already... I completely forget to check it before the MOT.

Still a 5min visit to the motor factor on the way back from dropping Suz off at the train station this morning, and a bit of messing around using bits from the broken mount, and £2.20's worth of some rubberised strapping, and I have a new design exhaust mount, which the MOT examiner approved of, and wrote me out a Pass certificate just before lunch.... Result...

Not bad cars these T2's....:clap

 

[Banshee]

Well...

4 years ago, we were financially in trouble, and had just had our faithful V70 written off by an insurance Scammer leaving us without a car or payout while the insurance company looked into whether we were involved in the scam. Luckily, we were able to borrow some money from family, and set out to purchase a cheap car that would get us out of trouble, but also be able to tow the trailers and caravan, and would hopefully last us a year or so allowing us to pay back what we had borrowed, and save up something for a replacement vehicle.

That cheap car we managed to land was my T2, and has turned out to be a "Best Buy". 4 years on, we still have it, and it is still the best £2K I have ever invested in a car.

Normally when the MOT is due, I go over the car the week before, and do a full service, then put it in for the MOT. In 32 years of driving I have only once had a car fail an MOT, and that was in my first year of driving. So 31 years of never having failed an MOT... Can our Uncle Rustic beat that?

Anyway, with the bad weather, and the higher mileage we did over Christmas, the Service needed to be done back in January, but luckily we had a mild spell, and I got it all done. As usual, I checked everything out, and apart form cleaning up the brakes, and bleeding the system, the only thing I had to change was the rear exhaust hanger.

4 months on, with the MOT looming, I had wanted to get out and give the car a once over, but with family/pet/personal issues taking up a huge amount of our time the last few months, coupled with the bad weather and time escaping quicker than I thought, I did not get the chance to get under the car. Last Thursday, while waiting at the Vets, I remembered that the MOT was due, and said to Suz that the MOT is due on the 17th, so I have to make some time to get out and under the car next week... She then pointed out that the 17th was in fact that coming Sunday, not a week Sunday like I had thought!!!

We got an MOT appointment for first thing Sat morning, and Friday between rain, Thunder, Hail, and having to sort out Suz's dad, I just about managed to get round and check all the lights, and look for anything amiss, but it was not up to my usual job, and very very half hearted as I was so rushed for time.

I took the car in for its MOT on Saturday morning, and when I picked her up, I was gutted to find she had Failed..... My second MOT fail of my life....

Luckily it was just the pesky rear exhaust mount, but I really kicked my self, as that one is always breaking, and I had only fitted a new one back in January when I serviced the car, so had not expected it to have gone already... I completely forget to check it before the MOT.

Still a 5min visit to the motor factor on the way back from dropping Suz off at the train station this morning, and a bit of messing around using bits from the broken mount, and £2.20's worth of some rubberised strapping, and I have a new design exhaust mount, which the MOT examiner approved of, and wrote me out a Pass certificate just before lunch.... Result...

Not bad cars these T2's....:clap

Well done matey!!! That's not a bad record :thumbs

 

[rustic]

I can manage 1 MOT fail in 40 years...

I'm not sure how far back I need to go to match that, I guess passing on one car a Fiesta, to our daughter and it was in her name that it failed... I guess that doesn't count, I knew there was a lot wrong with that, it was scrapped soon after, cost more to repair than it was worth.
The Picasso, passed every year but on one MOT it had around 4 advisories, two indicator bulbs were loosing their orange paint, two tyres were low on tread, but I knew that lol, but legal, but that passed every year and that was 10 years old when we gave that to our son, and had no failures, in all the time since new.
Now I need to go back to before 1983, when we bought our Austin Ambassador, had that 13 years, from new, no failures if I can recall, and a 1981 MkIII Escort, still under three years old from new, so no MOT, so doesn't count.
In 1978 we had a two year old Toyota, corolla, that passed, but with some pre MOT work, and prior to that a mini... ball joints, sub frame, handbrake... Not sure if that ever failed to be honest, it was always on the ramps...:doh
So Since 1976 to now....40 years I guess, but some of those years were MOT free years, as they were new for 3 years without an MOT requirement.
So I have to admit to one MOT failure in 40 years.... and this was wait for this,
It was my Mav last year, it was one of the bushes on the front ARB, the MOT guy was so sad to tell me, they replaced both for a nominal fee, around half an hour labour, and I then had a clean MOT with no advisories.
However, I had just had my shoulder replacement, so unable to do much about that lol, he said the waxoyl may have deteriorated the bushes, :doh only lasted 20 years, he was probably right lol...
Uncle Rustic