MOT question 12 November 2022 at 12:27AM in Motoring 2 replies 273 views

mrcactus

My car (right hand drive) had an MOT last year and had the advisories were Nearside Front Suspension rod ball joint has slight play. I knew this before the MOT so had them fixed. but i get confused with near side /offside. Had a service done a few weeks back and asked the guy to check around the wheel area for damages and he said the driver side wishbone (cant remember exactly) thing will need replaceing before the next mot.

so...im mixed up on what needs fixing as i can hear a knocking/rattle coming from both sides. Do mot testers get the sides mixed up or is it common for them to record defects on the wrong side by accident.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense...It doesn't really make sense to me now I've read over it   

cymruchris

Nearside is the side near the kerb when you're parked up, and offside is your drivers side (as you've said you're RHD).

You said that some work was done on the nearside last MOT - and this year there's a part that's needing to be changed on the offside... They are opposite sides, so whatever was needed last year has been done on the nearside, and this year there's something new on the offside.

It's unlikely to be the same part/same side failing twice from what you've said - if that's what you're asking, generally MOT testers don't get their sides mixed up - they do it day in day out - not to say they can't make errors - but it's not so common in terms of writing down a wrong side. I ran an MOT centre for a year and don't ever recall there being an issue with a tester recording the wrong side for a worn item/failure.

And if something was worn on the suspension last year, then I imagine most other parts of the original suspension will be the same age as the part that failed, and each similarly aged part could well be in a similar condition, hence it's another suspension part needing replacing this year. 

If I've got the wrong end of the stick of your post - you'll need to try and explain your question again  

DanDare999

cymruchris said:

Nearside is the side near the kerb when you're parked up, and offside is your drivers side (as you've said you're RHD).

You said that some work was done on the nearside last MOT - and this year there's a part that's needing to be changed on the offside... They are opposite sides, so whatever was needed last year has been done on the nearside, and this year there's something new on the offside.

It's unlikely to be the same part/same side failing twice from what you've said - if that's what you're asking, generally MOT testers don't get their sides mixed up - they do it day in day out - not to say they can't make errors - but it's not so common in terms of writing down a wrong side. I ran an MOT centre for a year and don't ever recall there being an issue with a tester recording the wrong side for a worn item/failure.

And if something was worn on the suspension last year, then I imagine most other parts of the original suspension will be the same age as the part that failed, and each similarly aged part could well be in a similar condition, hence it's another suspension part needing replacing this year. 

If I've got the wrong end of the stick of your post - you'll need to try and explain your question again  

It might have been better so say when driving, as they may park offside to kerb.