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Is the EU's tightened MoT going to drive people off the road?

My car went for its fifth annual service and MoT at 39,000 miles. It failed because the brake pedal rubber was worn. In my judgement it was showing a fingernail size piece of metal through the bottom right corner of the pedal. Guess what? Parts were not in stock at the franchised garage and had to be ordered. Result: car off the road for several days. Those nice Burghers of Brussels will drive us off the road yet.

Asked on 14 September 2013 by TB, via email

Answered by Honest John
Thanks for the warning. Very soon we will be publishing MoT data for 2012, enabling owners of all cars to know what their model is most likely to fail on and rectify it before the test. Interestingly the EC now seems to be pursuing Mercedes-Benz for not using CFC-free refrigerant in its a/c for the past 10 years. But in a stand-off between petty Eurocrats and mighty Mercedes-Benz I know who I’ll back to win.

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