MOT Problems

Well... my SmartCar failed its MOT, which was very surprising as I'd put it in for a thorough check up about a week prior to the test date. The reasons listed for the failure are:

• Offside side repeater incorrect colour [1.4.A.2d]
• Nearside front anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint [2.4.G.3]
• Offside front shock absorber has a serious fluid leak [2.7.3]

I replaced the side repeater bulbs just to be on the safe side, and took the car to my trusted SmartCar specialist with instructions to fix the defective items. However, he says that he can't find any play in the anti-roll bar and that the shock absorber is not leaking - but was dirty due to damp road grit all up in the wheel arch. I contacted the MOT testing station about it and they gave me lots of waffle saying that there are many reasons why I probably wouldn't notice either a wobbly anti-roll bar or a seriously leaking front shock absorber. The guy on the phone sounded extremely nervous as well, which put my guard up. The SmartCar specialist would obviously have been very happy to bill me for extra work, but he insists that it absolutely does not need anything doing to it and should not have failed an MOT based on those last two items.

The MOT testing station charges £30 for the test and £20 for a retest if you take the car away for repair. If you leave it with them, then they'll forgo the £20 retest fee... which made me think they have incentive for failing cars and coercing people to get the "necessary" repairs with them. So I asked about other procedures for verifying the test result based on those items and the MOT tester was very vague about "sending forms away", so I've contacted VOSA directly and asked them to verify this test result for the last two items. I told them I'd already replaced the bulbs but could fish the originals out of the trash to put it back into the same condition for the previous test - they say not to do that though.

As it stands now, the SmartCar is without an MOT and because I didn't have the MOT certificate I wasn't able to tax it and now that's expired too. So the car is now left inside my trusted SmartCar specialist garage and I've told the DVLA about it, who say I have 14 days to either tax the car or declare it off-road. They say as long as I'm not using it on the roads in the meantime then I've got plenty of time to get it sorted.

VOSA said they'll contact me in the next 2 days about scheduling a retest. It'll be interesting, to say the least, to see what happens next...

All the best,
Andrew.

 

The SmartCar specialist does have a recommended MOT tester next door to him, but I used these guys because they were much closer (not a 40-minute drive away). The reason my SmartCar guy doesn't do MOT tests himself is because apparently you cannot become an MOT tester just for one type of car and have to accept all bookings. He only services and repairs SmartCars so didn't want to have to handle all the non-SmartCar MOTs that would have to go along with it.

Definitely. I've arranged a re-inspection with VOSA, who are sending their independent tester to the garage who failed the car. I'm taking the car back in tomorrow afternoon to meet him there and it should settle the matter as to whether or not these issues exist. If the car does have faults, I'll repair them and re-test. If it doesn't, then I want my certificate. But I need to know definitively what's going on and what the genuine condition of the car is.

Strangely, the independent guy phoned me from a mobile to arrange the appointment rather than from a VOSA office number. This is probably intense paranoia...(says Andrew, forging ahead)... but I feel that something unusual is going on here so I'm not taking any chances on anything else unusual happening. After all, the garage in question has both my home and mobile number too - and given how vague they were with telling me about "sending away forms" to verify a test result, they obviously didn't want me to get in contact with VOSA and I wouldn't put it past them to have someone pose as a VOSA inspector. I may just ring VOSA's landline office number again tomorrow just to double check the name I was given and that the mobile number that called me is genuinely linked to them.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Thanks Neil, I'll let you know how it goes.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

OK, the VOSA inspector really was a VOSA inspector.

He did a full MOT on the car and overturned the flag on the anti-roll bar ball joint. However, my shock absorber really is leaking. I've left the car with the Smart specialist with instructions to fit new shock absorbers and I'll do a partial retest as soon as that's done. Then it's off to the post office to pay more road taxes - which hurts a bit considering the current state of the roads.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the MOT testing station now hates me. As the test by the VOSA inspector came back without full agreement with their test result, they had to pay for the VOSA inspector's time (a normal test price). By the time I get my MOT certificate, I'll have paid the full MOT price and the MOT garage will have just passed it all along to this VOSA inspector. They looked pretty unhappy with Nicky and me while we were there for the inspection and I'm pretty sure they feel like we swindled them for a "free" MOT even though we'll have paid the same amount they will have.

The thing is, with two completely conflicting reports, the VOSA guys were the only ones I could think of as truly independent to give me a verifying report. It was interesting to find out that the reality of the car's condition was bang smack in the middle of the two conflicting reports - but at least now I know the score and can order the appropriate repairs knowing they're necessary.

Before all this, a few years ago my dad had a BMW under warranty that failed an MOT while my old Skoda passed and I would occasionally remind him that I'd never had a car fail an MOT... sadly, I can't say that any more.

And that concludes the tale of my MOT problems... hopefully.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

You have no idea how many different people say those exact words to me about so many different scenarios in life.

I had a look at it too and it appeared that it was just a bunch of grime/dirt throughout the wheel arch. It was only really apparent when the tester used a bar levered under the shock absorber and pumped the wheel up and down rapidly to reveal fresh oil leaking out after sticking his finger down inside the dirt covers of the shock absorber. It was a pretty eagle-eyed catch... I don't know if I'd call it "serious" leak, but it is leaking. I wouldn't have spotted it, but I guess a mechanic normally would have.

I've had a look on the SmartCar forums and shock absorber leaks seem pretty rare on the Smart. I guess it's just not something he's seen much. I would have been a little happier if he had caught it first time, but I still trust him as he's been so good to me in the past and seems a very genuine guy when you talk to him. Also, turning down the authorized repair wouldn't work in his best interests, so I'm absolutely certain he had no devious intentions there - he just missed it for whatever reason.

He's made many saves and, it seems, this one mistake with the SmartCar so I'll keep going back.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Why wait? My MINI is due one by the end of the month...

The BMW dealer tells me my brake discs won't pass the MOT. However, they're uprated aftermarket ones (I set the OEM brakes on fire) and they're always telling me my modifications are untested/unsafe/invalid/etc to try to get me to buy OEM parts from them. Last year they told me my Koni FSD shock absorbers were non-standard and wouldn't pass an MOT, but of course they were fine. I know brake discs are now a consumable item and need to be replaced every 2 or 3 of sets of pads, but I don't think I'm quite there yet. I've got a guy I like to use for the MINI too when I don't have to do major things like steering columns (for which I get forced to return to BMW), so I'll run the car past him and get his assessment.

All the best,
Andrew.