This sounds bad to me...

hemophobic

I saw on another part of these forums a link which let me look at my cars past MOT details, and I found this:


Date of test:21/04/2009

Certificate issued (Pass)

Odometer reading:55,516 Miles

Test number:

Test station name:

Test station number:

Test station telephone number:

Test class:

IVTest expiry date:

25/04/2010Advisory Notice issued

Nearside Front constant velocity joint gaiter deteriorated (2.5.C.1a)

Offside Front constant velocity joint gaiter deteriorated (2.5.C.1a)

Nearside Front rearmost Suspension arm rubber bush

deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.3)

Nearside Rear near excessive Trailing arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.3)

Offside Rear near excessive Trailing arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.3)

All underside components rusty

Rear wiper blade broken

Front brake disc faces corroded/uneven wear

Off side rear bumper adrift


I only got this car in april and it doesn't look promising for its next MOT.
Are any of the faults serious and going to be expensive to fix? I am not likeing the "all underside components rusty" part :eek:

Hintza

Of course all underside components will be rusty if the are steel. I wouldn't worry about that. Before the next MOT a wire brush can be used if necessary. Either start working through the list as you can afford it or wait until your next MOT.

I would be keeping a closer eye on the CV joints in the first instance. Brakes next (again monitor closely for loss of effectiveness) and then suspension bushes.

What car and age of car?

harveybobbles

They are all basically routeen maintenence items. CV gaiter is the one to watch, cos if they start to go dry you could end up with replacing the actual joints rather than the rubber covers.

Take your car to a Council run MOT centre next time.

michaelro

On the MOT Certificate there is a section that says whether a Advisory was issued or not.

You mentioned you bought the car in April when the car was MOT'd.
I'm assuming that as you don't have it, the seller didn't give you it.

I'd be tempted to take this up with the seller personally as there is a lot of potential work coming up and it appears to have been hidden purposefully from you as there's no excuse for losing it in a few days.
If I had seen this advisory, I wouldn't have bought the car myself.

How old is the car and what make is it as this will have a bearing on costs?

For Example:
My car failed it's MOT last week with a split suspension bush and it cost me £140 - It may be less depending on whether the whole arm needs replacing or just the bush.

All of those Bushes will need replacing at some point and unless you do the work yourself is likely to cost £100's easily.

The discs could be that the car was standing a while before it was tested.

Good Luck.

anewman

What car and age? I think all underside components rusty is probably just them pretending to be thorough. The rubber bushes I wouldn't worry about until there is excessive movement which would fail the MOT. They're rubber so will deteriorate and crack etc with age, just like tyres do.

maninthestreet

Hintza wrote: »

Of course all underside components will be rusty if the are steel. I wouldn't worry about that. Before the next MOT a wire brush can be used if necessary. Either start working through the list as you can afford it or wait until your next MOT.


What car and age of car?

I would expect the car to have been undersealed when it was built. If the term 'underside components' includes the chassis itself, I would want to know what condition the underseal is in.

anewman

maninthestreet wrote: »

I would expect the car to have been undersealed when it was built. If the term 'underside components' includes the chassis itself, I would want to know what condition the underseal is in.

I'm sure components would just refer to rear trailing arm, wishbones, and maybe shock absorbers (but if shocks were excessively deteriorated that would have been a fail rather than advisory). Rust is quite usual on all these bits, and they're usually designed and made out of metal thick enough to deal with it so it's not an issue normally. In my experience underbody rust develops unseen underneath the polyurethane underseal stuff, and is only obvious after a good bang/prod.

hemophobic

Thankyou for the replies, I will read through them properly when I have time. The car is a 1996 ford fiesta so it is old.

Quentin

hemophobic wrote: »

I saw on another part of these forums a link which let me look at my cars past MOT details...........

To see the MOT history (you need the number from any computerised MOT certificate for the car you are interested in):

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp

anewman

Well your car will be fine until april. Try get the test booked in for 25th March then you'll know where you stand and have a nearly a month to get rid of the car or fix it (but if it's fixed sooner then you get the cheap/free retest). I think you'll find it will be ok and shouldn't cost too much to get another 12 months road worthy motoring, but remember it could just as easily fail on something not on your advisories.

missile

Looks like fairly common "faults" you might find on any 3+ year old car.

Where was it MOT'd? There have been several reports about Quickfit and other chains being overly picky to get extra income.