General Chat

The MOT is only really a true validation of the condition of your vehicle on the day it is done.

Which is why you are encouraged to do for yourself throughout the year

Tyre Checks, Brake Fluid Checks, Water & Oil levels, these all help to keep the vehicle roadworthy and ensure that your vehicle stands a better chance of passing its MOT the next time.

It seems to me that passing the UK MOT is not always a good test of the safety of the vehicle :-)


My brother died in 1990 and I went back for the funeral, spending 10 days with my sister-in-law

She had only learned to drive about 5 years before, about the time she left my brother.

Her daughter had a friend who was a car mechanic, worked in a garage, and was alos licensed to test cars for their MOT, etc etc.

He had helped s-i-l to buy an older model car after she passed her test, and he maintained it, AND tested it.

It had passed its MOT a couple of weeks before I arrived.



I have never driven, but have ridden as passenger in cars for literally hundreds of thousands of miles.

I sat in the front passenger seat ............... and was more worried about the car than about her driving :-0

..................... and her driving was terrible!!!



The worst was sitting there, and being able to see the road through the holes in the car's underbody :-)


A dodgy mechanic obviously .............. who did (?) the work, and then tested the car

According to the MOT Inspection Manual, the condition of the spare tyre is not part of the MOT, unless of course it is in use.

The insurance on a vehicle is only valid if the vehicle is roadworthy. If it has bald / illegal tyres on it the insurance could be deemed void and the company refuse to pay out on a claim.

from the April 2013 version of MOT requirements........


•tyres and wheels: condition, security, tyre size/type and tread depth. Spare wheels and tyres are not inspected. Note: vehicles first used on or after 1 January 2012 - check of the MIL for Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).

unless there is a later version............???

If you have a spare wheel it needs to be legal for the MOT but I don't have ne.

Can't even look after the ones I do have.

I thought the condition of the spare wheel was not part of the MOT unless it was a spare wheel fitted externally, and this would only affect an MOT where the wheel carrier/holder was insecure or faulty.

Very sadly, I do know all these things.

Even more sadly, I have never outgrown my attitude problems.

Of course, had the mechanic thought to look before he put it in for testing, it would never have failed.

First class driver or not driving on slicks may be ok for Brands Hatch but they are not quite the thing going to Waitrose especially if it is raining.

Sharron may care to remember that the law requires you to check the tyres frequently not once a year. The penalty per tyre is £ 60 plus 3 points and the fuzz can - and do - impose this such that 12 points and £ 240 fine comes all at once! NB: The spare is included in any check inc MOT.

Bad tyres will not void insurance.

These things will cause tyres to wear out sooner than they should:

under inflated ( over inflated will cause loss of control )
steering out of alignment - tracking, toe in etc
worn suspension components
bumping into kerbs
heavy braking

A normal family car eg Fiesta, Focus should give 15 000 miles for the front wheels. Rotating back and front is NOT a good idea with FWD cars as the tyre picks up shape while in use and rotating them around can cause handling problems. If you must rotate them do it front/back same side never diagonally with modern tyres. Many tread patterns can only be used in one direction in any case.

Budget tyres are a good buy if you have a budget value on yr life, those of people in the car with you and sundry pedestrians, prowling cats etc. Otherwise stick to major brands.

Never ever buy remoulds or second hand tyres. They are liable to suddenly blow out and then you will need the driving skills of Fangio.

The MOT does not mean your car is roadworthy just that it has passed the test criteria. Current testing is especially poor at picking up suspension wear which can lead to poor handling and excessive tyre wear.

Why not go further up market and shock 'em at Waitrose. ;-)

Sharron is a first-class driver.

I'll go along to Sainsbury's then.

You must stop doing doughnuts in Tesco's car park after dark!! :-D

This is a case of cobblers children.

I am supposed to know, in fact I do know very well but I can always find something more interesting to do.

Do the words'slap' and 'dash' come together readily in your mind?

Normally at your MOT the guys will let you know roughly how long the tyres on your car could last.

Not an exact science, but a rough guide. Well worth listening to them....

I wonder how many get down and look at the inside edges of their tyres?? These days narrow road humps can wear the insides badly on smaller cars even though the treads are deep. Just as dangerous but out of sight.

That's right.

Braking distance increases as tyres wear down. An extra car length from 50 mph for tyres that are only just on the legal limit compared to tyres with 3mm tread. It is even worse in the wet.

You may also find that your insurance is invalid if you drive with tyres that fail to meet the minimum requirements so if you were unfortunate to be involved in an accident you could have been in big trouble.

The tyres have been on there five years.

No problems there at all.

The police don't bother me because I do nothing to draw their attention. Everything is legal apart from the tread on my front tyre being just worn enough to fail the MOT on one wheel and almost there on the other.

They were not smooth or scuffed, there was no wire visible,

Nobody has been lucky.I am no danger to anybody.

Sharron I'm sure it isn't your driving! whatever your understanding friends on here have said! would it be worth having the wheels' alignment checked out? you would have to pay, no idea what but it might be cheaper than replacing the tyres so often

It was the front ones this year, back ones last.

There's one who will be so concerned they won't be holidaying around here. Result!