In the UK, MOT testing on your luxury vehicle is crucial to keeping your car legally compliant and secure. The UK has some 32.5 million cars registered on its roads and each one is legally required to have a maintenance check once a year on cars over three years old to ensure everything from roadworthiness to driver safety standards.
A certified MOT tester will check over the car for a fee, checking vehicle components like the brakes, lights, and windscreen wipers. Failing to do this can incur a penalty of up to £1000 and this fine gets higher if you’re vehicle is deemed to be dangerous. If your car hasn’t had one yet this year, book an MOT test online so you don’t overlook this vital aspect of vehicle ownership.
Not all vehicles pass their MOT and here are five of the reasons why that might be:
Lights and signaling
The most common reason for failing the MOT was faults with indicators, lights, or other electrical components, accounting for 25% of the failures. Anything from blown bulbs and faulty brake lights to poor headlight aim means that your car won’t make it through but luckily, they are the simplest and cheapest faults to repair.
It’s recommended that before you go for an MOT, check all of the vehicle lights are working, including side repeaters and fog lights front and back.
Tires
As the only part of your car that physically touches the road, tryes need to be regularly checked to guarantee that they’re in good condition. Having the wrong tread depth will cause you to fail the test. In fact, tread issues are responsible for 12% of MOT failures.
Suspension
Worn suspension systems are the second highest reason for test failure and the potholed surfaces of Britain’s roads can cause havoc. An MOT will check all elements of your suspension, including suspension bushes, coil springs, and arms and joints.
There isn’t much you can do to check your suspension before your MOT but driving too fast over potholes and road humps can cause serious wear and tear.
Brakes
Arguably one of the most important elements of your vehicle, it’s no surprise that your brakes have a decisive say in whether it passes its MOT. On average, brakes need to be replaced every 50,000 miles but this could be even sooner, depending on your driving style.
Fuel and exhaust
As part of the MOT, vehicles undergo emissions tests to ensure the quality of a vehicle’s exhaust and fuel consumption. This evaluates the number of harmful particles present in exhaust fumes.
Before your test, you can give your car a pre-test run at high revs to warm up the engine and clean out the fuel system.
