How to Make Sure Your Car is Ready for its MOT

The annual MOT – drivers dread it.  There always seems to be something that pops up you never expected and means you end up having to have work done.  Now it is true that there are lots of things you need to have a garage check to find a problem, but you don’t need to be a mechanic to make sure the most common fails won’t catch you out.

The general stuff

To start with, it helps to check over some of the most basic systems on the car to ensure they are working before your MOT.  These are all things that the garage will have to check and can mean a fail if they aren’t doing their job.

Things to check include:

• Does your horn work?
• Do your windscreen washer work and is there plenty of screen wash in them?
• Are your windscreen wipers in good condition with no chunks missing?
• Are the seat belts in the car in good condition and work properly?
• Do the seat belts lock if you pull quickly forward (as they are meant to)?

Lights and tyres

Two of the most common areas for failing an MOT are relating to lights and tyres and both of these can easily be checked before the test.

With your lights, wait until it is dark enough to see them easily and grab a friend.  Then go around and try all of the lights to make sure everything is working.  This includes headlights (both dipped and main beam), front and rear side lights, front and rear fog lights if you have them and reversing lights.  Also, check things like number plate lights.  In daylight, also make sure there are no cracks or damage to the light casing.

With your tyres, you want to ensure that the tread is at least 1.6mm deep.  If you aren’t sure about measuring this, pop into a local Dorset tyre specialist who will be able to check it for you.  There should be no bulges or cuts in the sidewalls or the tread of the tyres and the set should all have the same size and construction type.  Check your spare is roadworthy as well.

Other areas to check

Look at the general bodywork of the car and make sure there are no spots that could cause injury.  This might be if you have knocked the bodywork and something has come loose – if this could catch someone or fly off, it could be considered dangerous.

Cracks in the windscreen are another reason for failing an MOT.  There are very specific rules about how big a crack can be before you need to replace the window screen and it must not obscure the driver’s viewing area.

There are quite a few areas on the MOT that you can’t check yourself and you need a mechanic to look at.  One way to handle these is to have a service before your MOT to handle many of the common problems and give the car a quick check over to spot those MOT-fail points before the big test day comes around.