Help Required After Service & Mot

[Iceman2010]

Evening,

Just want to start by saying thanks in advance!!

I feel like im either been taken for a ride or my car needs some work maybe you guys can help me out!

Took my car to my local garge for an MOT at the start of march, car passed no problems but was given an advisory on the back disc's, though fair enough will get these sorted soon as.

Took my car for a service yesterday to Pentagon Toyota , they have advised me that the front pads have about 1mm left on them and the o/s/f bottom ball joint has excessive play.

Would my MOT have picked up the stuff from the service??? and why didnt toyota advise me of the rear dics's if that was flagged on the MOT, seems like 2 completly set of opinions.

With what my car requires is there anyway i can check these things my self?? or should i notice by the way the car drives??? should it underperform in a certain way if the problems above are true??

Also done a bit of looking on good old e bay & found the following Can you dvise if they are any good?

Ball Joints

Discs & Pads

Once again thanks

[BRUC3]

You should be able to tell if the pads need replacing by just looking at them! You should be able to see how much pad is left!

If your not sure, im sure if you nipped into kwik fit they should be able to advise you free of charge!

Bruce

[true blue]

Hi ,I would have expected the ball joint problem to have been picked up at MOT as a fail if the wear is excessive ! with regard to the brakes if they pass the test ok but are worn you would normally get an advisory. As said previously I would try and take 1 front wheel off and you can check the pads easily. you might be able to find a garage doing free safety checks and get a report off them .I think one of the problems with garages and long service intervals is if they think the pads won't last for another 10-12,000 miles they will recommend replacement. In practice this could mean early replacement I have found this several times on checking friends cars in this situation when the pads have been just over half worn.

I hope a second opinion will help

[Iceman2010]

Any idea weather the discs & pads i showed above are any good????

[kam05]

Any idea weather the discs & pads i showed above are any good????

Link doesn't give you the brand? Buy Mintex or Blueprint discs/pads- they are good quality parts.

[Felix]

check it out, have 3rd party view is important.

Mine last MOT advisory said rear pads need to be replaced, got booked in and the dealer rang said" it's still have half left, any reasons you want to change them?". so I asked them to put everything back on, (free of charge, but the handbreak got tider tho)

wasted my half day....

[Iceman2010]

Well a bit of an update, checked the pads out & they seem fine to be honest, on the ball joint issue there is something wrong, the car seems to have a mind of its own when doing minor movements & does come from the drivers side at the front, i managed to hangle toyota to come down to £160 for the part & fitting, i could have sourced the part & got this fitted for about the £100 mark but couldnt get it done till next weekend but as i use my car for about 70 miles a day i really wanted to get this sorted, so in at toyota in the morning, will post bk & just hope the annoying problem goes away.

[fil4362]

An mot test doesnt including a check of the brakes. If the tester can see thr brakes through the wheel then he may check and give advise or even fail them. wheels are not removed as part of an mot test so depending on what wheels you have your pads may not have been looked at. Standard wheels are pretty easy to see through so i would presume the pads were checked.

For a brake pad to fail it must be less than 1.5mm in thickness. Can you see 1.5mm with the naked eye, with the wheel on and pads in the caliper?? We did a test once of how thick 1.5mm actualy is you would be suprised how far wrong people were.

The basic mot test as far as brakes go is vesual inspection, if you can see the brakes, roller brake tester if the wheel stop turning its a pass afterall all you can ask a brake to do is stop the wheel going round. you dont even need all 4 wheels to stop if 3 stop and the fourth does a half an attemp to work then thats a pass as well.

The mot test is a basic very basic safty test, a car at 25% of its condition when new should pass a test. So in theorey thats everything on the car can be 75% worn out and it will still pass, this is the figure v.o.s.a. came up with. A car regulaly serviced should be at 80/85% condition this is why theres diffrences between service and mot reports.

[true blue]

Hi thanks to fil 4362 for the low down on the MOT; I have always understood it was a basic test and not put a lot of faith in a pass certificate on older used cars , but I did not realise

in this age of safety and risk assesment the braking test was so basic. I have just checked a friends car which passed the test 3 days ago ,as 1 rear brake was obviously not working properly and the handbrake was very poor .the tester said the handbrake efficiency was poor but still a pass. I have rebuilt this side now and all is OK but I could not understand how it could pass the main brake test now I know ;thanks ;as they say you learn something new every day ;) ( the car was not a lexus and had rear drum brakes )

[fil4362]

You would be suprised what people think is involved in the mot test mate. I have had phone calls after an mot test saying the car wont start it you rfault you only mot,ed last week. The Battery was flat on that one. Cars reported on service for low brake shoes customer complaining we only mot,ed it last week. You certainly cant see brake shoes inside the drum can i !!.

You rear bumber can be dragging along on the floor beind youand as long as your number plate is secure on the car, the bumper isnt in the test so i cant fail it.Rear fog light on passenger side can be smashed and showing real bright white light to the rear, again not in the test cant fail it.

There is actually a disclaimer on the mot certificate saying it doesnt mean the vehicle is in good condition, so thats how bad the mot test is.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Yet a side repeater on the indicators showing white light is a fail.

[fil4362]

Yep side repeaters have to be the correct colour.

The problem with the fog light is the mot testers manuel states "must have centre or offside fog light" it doesnt mention a nearside one, therefore its not in the test and is not failable regardless of colour or condition.

I have mentioned many times about the mot test, its not a condition check of the car mearly a basic saftety check. I have also shown, in the past, that not all mot testers know the test, whats in whats not in.

Best thing you can do is go library and get your hands on a copy of mot tester manuel. You will find it online also, but beware since the paperwork side of it went computerised they update stuff about once a month and are forever changing stuff.

mot testers manuel

[ormi]

Hi thanks to fil 4362 for the low down on the MOT; I have always understood it was a basic test and not put a lot of faith in a pass certificate on older used cars , but I did not realise

in this age of safety and risk assesment the braking test was so basic. I have just checked a friends car which passed the test 3 days ago ,as 1 rear brake was obviously not working properly and the handbrake was very poor .the tester said the handbrake efficiency was poor but still a pass. I have rebuilt this side now and all is OK but I could not understand how it could pass the main brake test now I know ;thanks ;as they say you learn something new every day ;) ( the car was not a lexus and had rear drum brakes )

the lexus has got rear drums as well as rear disks.... :winky: :winky: :winky: the hand brake works on the drums(inside the rear disk)and the foot brake works the rear disks.