My car is due to reach its third anniversary soon and therefore due to have its first MOT. Few questions therefore that I would like to ask:
1. MOT's can be booked 28 days before they expire. Can I also book the car 28 days before its third anniversary?
2. In people's personal experience, are the nationwide garages like KwikFit ok for MOT tests?
3. Any tips for when I take the car in? e.g. I was told in the past that it is a good idea to warm the engine up properly so that the CAT can work better.
4. I also have some blue sidelights, foglights and main lights that I DIY installed. When I say blue, I mean that they look blue but their light is a bit whiter than the yellow OEM bulbs. Now do they look at things like that in an MOT (i.e. do I have to replace with the OEM bulbs before the MOT)?
Thanks.
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1. Yes it can be done, in fact it's a good idea as you can then try to claim under the warranty for things it fails on.
2. No it's not - places like kwikfit will look for work such as your shockers are leaking and you need new brakes. Best off with a recommended local place or somewhere that just does tests only and no repair work.
3. Before taking it in give it a good long drive not only warm it up but also by driving it hard it will blow any crap from the exhaust and give it a better go on the emission test.
4. Yes they do look at things like the brightness of the lights - if they think it is too white a light on the indicator they can and will fail it.
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Take in your V5c and even if it is 28 days before the 3 yrs the MoT will be dated on the car's 3rd birthday.
In the past I took my cars in "early" but suffered creep of the dates - avoided if you showed them the old MoT then it was 12 mths from that MoT expiry.
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One way of getting an genuine MOT is, as many have pointed out before, to use an outlet that doesn't do repairs.
A method of doing this is to ask your local council where its own MOT station for testing council vehicles is situated.
By law, as it is a Government test centre, it must be open to the general public.
As no repairs can be undertaken, there isn't an incentive to "find" any work.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Personally, would steer clear of the nationwide chains - a mechanic friend of mine worked for one for a very short while. On his first day, his manager handed him a can of WD40 & told him to spray the shock absorbers of cars in for MOT so they could tell the owners the shocks were leaking.
I woudl either go with testing stations that have been recommended or with the local council depots.
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