MOT On a 24yr Old Car

[Ninanina]

Well that time has come round again and my 'classic' 24yr old car with over 300,000 miles needs her MOT

I've booked her in for next Tuesday

Can I squeeze yet another year out of her, bless her ?? Wish me luck for next week ;)

:hotrod:

[Nigel]

Fingers crossed! I run an old Honda from 1989. Some mileage you have there.

[Kember]

Well that time has come round again and my 'classic' 24yr old car with over 300,000 miles needs her MOT

I've booked her in for next Tuesday

Can I squeeze yet another year out of her, bless her ?? Wish me luck for next week ;)

:hotrod:

Fingers crossed. I have a 1990 car which has gone through so far with a simple service year after year. Depreciated to b*ggery but the good news is that it owes me absolutely nothing. If only my daily runner were so reliable.

P

[Ninanina]

Thanks Nigel

Yep it's a bit high isn't it... it's a diesel Mercedes which is 'supposed' to do 500,000 without a re-build..... we will see

I would love to run it until it stops, which it shows no signs of yet....!!

I kinda get a bit of a kick out of running a car which is literally worthless.... if you know what I mean.... :D

[Ninanina]

Oh and every part of my hifi system is worth more than my car , even each cable!! :mental::mental:..... love it !!!

[Kember]

Funny that, mine's a Merc too. Last of the hand built etc...

[Ninanina]

If only my daily runner were so reliable.

P

I know what you mean Peter..... they definitely don't build them like they used to...

[Ninanina]

Funny that, mine's a Merc too. Last of the hand built etc...

Mine is and old E Class, W124 diesel

[walpurgis]

I like old cars. I had a twenty year old Merc 190E and I loved it. Last year I bought seventeen year old Golf 1.9D estate with 86k on the clock. I really enjoy driving this, it's just so lazy and laid back. These things do 300k too, so it's just about run in. It's comfy, roomy and the 60 odd mpg is handy too. New timing belt and heater glow plugs just done, so no more worries apart from basic servicing for another 50k.

[Ninanina]

Fingers crossed! I run an old Honda from 1989. Some mileage you have there.
Nigel if I were to get another car a Honda would be near the top of the list along with Toyota and Lexus, which Honda do you have? I did own a Civic for a while and it was faultless..:)

[Ninanina]

I like old cars. I had a twenty year old Merc 190E and I loved it. Last year I bought seventeen year old Golf 1.9D estate with 86k on the clock. I really enjoy driving this, it's just so lazy and laid back. These things do 300k too, so it's just about run in. It's comfy, roomy and the 60 odd mpg is handy too. New timing belt and heater glow plugs just done, so no more worries apart from basic servicing for another 50k.

Good on ya Geoff.... I'm not the only one then. The 190E was a superb car around the same time as my E Class, which is when Merc really did build a very good car, unlike the rusty heaps they produce now. It's kinda fun isn't it to run a car worth nothing?; I guess your Golf diesel fits that bill too?? :D

[Nigel]

Mine is an old battered first generation Integra. Used to be my fathers until he passed away in 2002. It's done about 130 000 miles. Have to admit, if I want to get past the next MOT in July it's going to cost.

[Ninanina]

Mine is an old battered first generation Integra. Used to be my fathers until he passed away in 2002. It's done about 130 000 miles. Have to admit, if I want to get past the next MOT in July it's going to cost.

That was a very good car in it's day if I remember correctly... Like all Honda's they do the mileage without too much work so I think 130,000 is well within it's life... Does it need much doing to it for the next MOT?

I think it also much depends on the MOT station you use, I use one that is very reasonable and practical in their failures/passes... if you know what I mean ... ;)

[Nigel]

The front windscreen has recently cracked. Not broken but defo MOT failure. Will have to check my insurance because I'm sure I have to pay the first £250. Maybe my windscreen insurance cover is different though. I can't open the rear off side door, it will require a strip down to suss the fault.

[Nigel]

We have a Zafira as the family car and I use the Honda for the twenty mile commute to work.

[Ninanina]

The front windscreen has recently cracked. Not broken but defo MOT failure. Will have to check my insurance because I'm sure I have to pay the first £250. Maybe my windscreen insurance cover is different though. I can't open the rear off side door, it will require a strip down to suss the fault.
Nigel I've got the same problem with my windscreen it has a huge crack right across it, and this will be replaced before the MOT on Tuesday, it will cost me the £70 windscreen excess, that's all

The only thing I have done in the last 12 months was to replace the 6 glow plugs which was an easy thing to do with one other person and pretty cheap too, and that's all I've done to her in the last year, apart from filling with diesel, and she still doesn't use any oil !!

Is a non opening door an MOT failure? I'm not too sure on that one

[Nigel]

I'm not sure either, I just assumed it would be.

[Nigel]

Think you're right, doesn't look like it is after all.

"So long as the back door secures properly (which by definition it must be doing if it cant be opened) then it will pass. Only the front doors need to be able to be opened and closed. You can't fail any vehicle on something that might potentially happen to it in the future otherwise no vehicle would ever pass. Only Reasons for Rejection that appear in the class 4 testers manual (cars, LGV etc) can be applied and must be adhered to strictly.
Be aware however that if the back door being stuck prevents the tester testing a different part of the car (like the seatbelts for example) then he might abandon the test and issue a VT30 failure notice."

[Ninanina]

I'm not sure either, I just assumed it would be.

I THINK if i mentioned this to my MOT tester he'd probably say as long as you can open the front doors that's all that matters... I really think it depends on your MOT station and how finicky they are, if they are too finicky go to another MOT station

I get on really well with my MOT station, he is a super chap, and I think that helps ;)

[Covenant]

My Lexus has done a paltry 120000 miles but has to go next month as I lose my car allowance when its eight years old. I will miss all the gadgets especially the reversing camera. Every car should have this feature.

[Old George]

I kinda get a bit of a kick out of running a car which is literally worthless....:D

So do thousands of Fiat owners.....;):D

[Kember]

I like old cars. I had a twenty year old Merc 190E and I loved it.

Geoff

The best car I ever owned except for the seats. Now if I had put Saab seats in, I'd probably still have. Brilliant car.

My 24 year old is the R129 SL 300.

I've had others including S600C V12 and various E classes - none as well built or good as the 190E or SL. I keep persuading myself that a Cosworth 190E for hooning around in should be my next car!

P

P

[Kember]

So do thousands of Fiat owners.....;):D

Reminds of the old joke - how do you double the value of a Skoda?




Fill the tank!

P

[Audioman]

No old car is worthless. Even a dealer offered me £80 for a 23 year old rusty Toyota but it's scrap value was £120 about 18 months ago. I've also got a low mileage 1991 Toyota that's been off the road for a few years but is like new mechanically but needs some playing around with the fuel system to get it going. Fans of old bangers can have it for scrap value if they can get it going.

There are good reasons for having a newish vehicle for safety and economy if you mainly do motorway driving but it costs. Difference in gadgets and ride/handling is a revelation but when these get older there could be a lot of expense. Bev new Mercs aren't rust buckets as modern cars are made out of aluminium. QC did drop off from the mid 90's though but believe things have improved in recent years. New German cars are generally very well screwed together.

Paul.

[loo]

what happened to your Saab rag top Bev
didn't flood I hope ;)

[walpurgis]

So do thousands of Fiat owners.....;):D

So true! :D

[Ali Tait]

I THINK if i mentioned this to my MOT tester he'd probably say as long as you can open the front doors that's all that matters... I really think it depends on your MOT station and how finicky they are, if they are too finicky go to another MOT station

I get on really well with my MOT station, he is a super chap, and I think that helps ;)

A good thing to do is find out where the local municipal garage is - they MOT buses etc. By law, they have to offer MOT's to the public, but as they don't do repairs, there is no vested interest in failing cars to make money. They have a higher pass rate than privately owned garages.

[Audioman]

The best is to find a specialist test centre that is not part of a repairs Garage. No vested interest in drumming up repairs business and also apply the criteria for pass/fail correctly.

[Marco]

Bev new Mercs aren't rust buckets as modern cars are made out of aluminium. QC did drop off from the mid 90's though but believe things have improved in recent years. New German cars are generally very well screwed together.

Paul.

+1, although I'm not a fan of the aesthetics of the current models of Mercedes. To my taste, the interiors are too blingy and 'boy-racer' looking (and also rather 'plasticy', in terms of how they're finished), and the exteriors are way too 'butch', bulbous and American looking. You can clearly see the influence Chrysler have had!

The current engines are excellent, though. However, overall, new Mercs lack the finesse and build quality of the better older models, and I can see that even with my 2007 C320 Avantgarde SE, in comparison with what's being produced now. For me, 'Real Mercs' (from the modern era) died post-2008.

Marco.

[Ninanina]

what happened to your Saab rag top Bev
didn't flood I hope ;)

Paul after owning the Merc for so many totally trouble free years the Saab just had so many little problems with it that I gave up with it and continued using the Merc. The Saab was an excellent car though and it was fantastic to drive but I constantly got error codes up on the dash and nothing seemed to put it right so I sold it on for a bit of a profit ;)

[nat8808]

Good luck!

This from someone who's regular drive was a 1988 Mk2 Astra which I got scrapped last year when it needed £400 odd on just welding and a '96 Alfa 155 came up for £500 near the same time..

Girlfriend's car is from 1985 (just got it MOT'd, just minor things done) and I've a 1979 Saab 99 Turbo at my parent's house needing me to get sorted and back on the road.

Read on the front page of a classic car paper that EU ruling is coming in, making MOT unnecessary for pre-1984 cars! Yay! haha... UK is yet to decide on how to implement this though. Think comes into force in April 2015. Some people may think that's terrible but seeing how few pre-1984 cars there are around and then you'd have to find one owned by someone so irresponsible to drive complete death-traps about, I don't think it's anything to worry about in reality.

[walpurgis]

That'll bump their values up a bit I reckon.

I still fancy something with an 'A' series BL. engine, so simple and easy to maintain. lovely exhaust note too, with the right LCB pipe on. A Morris Minor (with 1275 motor & front discs, etc.) or a pre 1973 MG midget 1275 (round rear arch). With a bit of 'breathing on' to make them go well reliably (easy), low fuel consumption, cheap 'Classic' insurance, no tax and soon no MOT. And of course loads of fun to drive. Brilliant!

I was behind an ancient, but obviously well sorted Austin A35 a year or so ago, driving back to London from Cornwall and this little motor was cruising between 85 and 95 mph, with apparently useful acceleration too.

[julesd68]

Nigel if I were to get another car a Honda would be near the top of the list along with Toyota and Lexus, which Honda do you have? I did own a Civic for a while and it was faultless..:)

I have a '97 Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC which has just done over 100,000 miles. Only ever needed the usual services with no nasty 'extras' and am hoping it will go on for a lot longer - don't know what we would replace it with and can't afford to anyway!

[Alex_UK]

Probably just me, but I get quite excited winding the windows down with a handle instead of pressing a switch and pulling up the lock instead of pressing a button on the key fob with my '91 Defender... Also love the fact that it has no electronics at all - no ECU or "Command Modules" to worry about - mark my words - that's what will kill off most modern motors...

[Ninanina]

She passed..... :yay::yay:

Just a couple of very minor advisories, nothing really....

Not bad for a 24 year old with 305,000 odd miles on her

[Firebottle]

Well done on that Bev :thumbsup:

[Ninanina]

Thanks Alan, yep I was pretty pleased

[Alex_UK]

Yay! Great result Bev. :)

[Ninanina]

Thanks all..... I'm pretty pleased too.... yet another year of zero cost motoring :thumbsup:

I might even treat her to an oil and filter change..... it's probably about time....bless her .... and it only takes us about 20 minutes to do ;)

[walpurgis]

Well Bev, mine's not as old as yours (the car I mean). But I'm off on a probably 1200 mile+ holiday Thursday and fingers crossed, I'm expecting no bother from the seventeen year old wagon. Hope not, I'll have my pooch and loads of luggage with me for the 3 or 4 weeks I'm away.

[Ninanina]

Well Bev, mine's not as old as yours (the car I mean). But I'm off on a probably 1200 mile+ holiday Thursday and fingers crossed, I'm expecting no bother from the seventeen year old wagon. Hope not, I'll have my pooch and loads of luggage with me for the 3 or 4 weeks I'm away.

I'm sure you'll be just fine.... what make of pooch do you have ??

[walpurgis]

'Tippy', the lurcher!

11597

He's very sweet with the family (and people he's been introduced to), but he's very protective and can get funny when strangers come near me and he's a powerful doggy (think black & white Doberman), so I keep him on a short leash!

[Ninanina]

Geoff he's lovely. I know exactly what lurchers are like, I had a Whippet which is another of the sight hounds and they are generally the most gentle of souls.. I would love another doggy but as I have no garden in my present property it's a bit tricky

I should, all being well, be 'borrowing' (looking after!!) a lovely Springer Spaniel in May some time... I can't wait to have another doggy around

[walpurgis]

My brother has a black and white Springer, he's a good dog too. I should see him tomorrow (the dog and my brother), as I'll be in Cornwall at my brother's beautiful place in Gillan, on The Lizard for a few weeks. Can't wait to get away from stinky, dirty London.