After its third birthday your car needs an annual MoT safety check.
Just think about this for a moment.
If you drive 20,000 miles a year, that’s 60,000 miles before too many cars get any independent safety checks.
This is because many motorists do little or no car maintenance until and some 40% of all cars in England, Scotland and Wales then fail their first MoT test. Which equates to a high percentage of cars on our roads in an unsafe condition.
Now imagine if our Government gets its way and decides to delay the first MoT test for vehicles until the fourth year? As FOXY sees it, this means even more unsafe cars on our roads than before.
We cannot see how this would be a good solution for anyone, even if it could potentially save motorists a one-off £50 (per car) by delaying the MoT by one year. Think of the associated road safety and accident handling costs you’d cause here, Mr Chris Grayling MP.
And let’s also remind ourselves that the 3 year first MoT regime is the same for vans. Yet vans are more likely to do an average mileage closer to 50,000 per annum. That’s a total of 150,000 miles before a van needs an MoT. And they fail this test in higher numbers than cars at 3 years old. How long have these vans been unsafe through maintenance neglect we’d like to know.
What An MoT Includes
We were reminded about this by an infographic we liked which was supplied by Motorparks.
Today’s MoT test looks at safety elements relating to Lights, Suspension, Brakes, Tyres, Windscreens, Exhausts, Fluids, Mirrors, Seatbelts, Doors, Horns, Registration Plate, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), Bodywork and Fuel.
If you know you have a problem in any of these areas, it might be wise to get this addressed/fixed before the MoT.
Remember that your MoT test is but a safety snapshot on the day. Even if your car passed the MOT, make sure you read and know about any ‘advisories’ listed. Chances are these will need safety-related attention soon.
If it’s to do with car tyre tread levels, ask the MOT station to estimate when you’ll need new ones – you don’t have to buy them from that business of course but at least you’d have some time to save.
FOXY Advice: “I’ve driven a range of tyres and I always say buy the best ones you can afford, especially if you drive a lot. You’ll know the legal tyre tread is 1.6mm but that tyre is virtually worn out. I always go tyre shopping when my tread is closer to 3mm. I’ve seen the difference this makes in wet conditions. And even 3mm tread is a long way short of new tyres at 8mm tread.”
Remember that your MoT doesn’t include engine checks. This is what your car service does and why you need one regularly.
You probably need a car expert to make sure all’s well on the mechanical side of things before the bills start to ramp up – or your car lets you down.
And whilst YOU might be mechanically-savvy, few of us are (male or female) so a professional mechanic will likely spot engine problems we’d miss, so they can be fixed more cheaply than when the part in question (or engine if it’s been starved of good oil) finally gives up the ghost.
Is there anything you suspect your car’ll fail its MoT test on? Maybe you could remedy this in advance?
New car tyres for instance? If your tyres don’t pass the 20p test (see side image), chances are they’re both illegal and dangerous. And could kill if you need them to stop and they can’t in time.
In all cases, the driver is responsible for the condition of the car they drive and we all know accidents happen. So best not to wait to be told that your car caused or contributed towards a bad accident. When it’s easy to run a safe and reliable car – once you know how.
FOXY
If you want to know how to run a safe and reliable car, why not join The Club and we’ll get there together!