How to prepare your car for an MOT test

Not many people know that there are things as a vehicle owner that you can do to prepare your car for it MOT. By preparing your vehicle for it MOT you may give it the best possible chance of getting that pass certificate.

For starters is your vehicle clean and tidy? Now this does seem very simple and you might think what the cleanliness of your vehicle has to do whether it passes or fails? But by presenting your car in a reasonable state will tell the MOT tester that the vehicle is well looked after and maintained so will get your MOT off to the best possible start.If your vehicle is in such a condition that it is too dirty (been off-roading) to see relevant components to test or it’s so cluttered inside that certain items such as seatbelts are inaccessible, the tester can actually refuse to perform the MOT test.

Other simple things that you can check yourself:

Can you open all doors, boot and bonnet? these all need to be able to open so that the tester can gain access and test other items.

Do your lights work? Get a friend or family member to walk around the vehicle whilst you operate the lights to check that they all work, for the MOT you need the side lights, dipped beam, main beam, indicators, stop lights rear fog and hazard lights all to be working.Make sure all lights are the correct colour.

The drivers view of the road in an area where many vehicles fail the MOT test. Check that your windscreen washers work? (if not you probably just need to top up the water!), check that your wiper blades clear the windscreen effectively and are not split? Make sure that your windscreen isn’t cluttered with stickers and gadgets such as SAT NAV’s, and, those dangly things from your rear view mirror, are best put somewhere else. Also have you got the correct obligatory mirrors, you must have the driver’s door mirror and at least one other.And make sure they’re not cracked.

Finally you can check your tyres, the legal minimum limit for tyre tread depth is 1.6mm, so if you know you got a bald tyre might want to get it checked or changed beforehand. As well as tread depth try and have a look at the tyre side wall for any damage such as cuts and bulges. Also check your tyre pressure because your vehicle could fail on something as simple as a flat tyre.

Hopefully, if you’ve check all of these things, your vehicle will be entering its MOT with the best possible chance you could give it, and maybe make that dreaded MOT slightly easier to bare because as we all know it can be almost as bad as going to the dentist!

If you are unsure about any item on your vehicle and whether it will fail the MOT please do not hesitate to call one of our team now on 01242 525555 we are here to advise you.