My car has passed it’s MOT but….

It's well worth keeping an older car - the general opinion is that they are better made. We maintain ours because it is reliable, so comfortable and rarely needs more than the odd spare part. 'Problem will be when parts are no longer available, but we will hang on to it as long as we can. (It's twenty five soon - 175,000 miles on the clock.)

My husband has just had his 5 year old Mercedes MOT'd and was shocked to be advised (as part of the MOT) that the brakes needed replacing. However when he spoke to the service manager he said they were fine, it was just the advisory part of the MOT and they should be fine until the next MOT at which time they may well need doing.

I am going to have the work done. I may need some dental work doing soon so that’s going to deplete my crisis fund! It was more the scale of the problem that shocked me and the suddenness of it. I always assumed the longevity of a car was down to it’s mileage and, if I bought a second hand car to replace it I doubt if I would find one with less mileage. I would have expected a problem engine wise due to lack of mileage ( it really needs a good spin up a motorway) rather than a structural problem. I bet it hasn’t done much over 20,000 miles! I’m annoyed with myself in that, if I’d hosed the underside of the car down after the roads had been gritted it might have prevented this. I’m sure my ex used to put oil under the car. As I said to him years after we’d separated ‘ I never appreciated all the work you did on the house and the car’, and he replied sadly ‘I’m an engineer, nobody ever does’. I get frustrated by my lack of knowledge when it comes to technical or mechanical stuff.

My old Toyota Yaris was amazingly reliable every year. Bought from nearly new and finally failed the MOT on emissions some 120,000 miles later. Finally scrapped it but even then was given around £200 for it.

I have done some googling about this as I had mine replaced last year.

The concensus is that they will last you for somewhere between about 50,000-100,000 miles. If roads are bumpy and bendy or with speed humps it will be less, if a well maintained motorway it's likely to be more.
Also, if you are a more aggressive driver it will be less. Every turn and cat's eye contributes to their wearing out. It happens slowly.

How many miles are on the clock?

I read this on "honest john":
The problem with dampers is that they gradually lose effectiveness, and this means it can be almost unnoticeable. However, 'difficult' roads show the problem. I used to regularly use a road which had a mixture of undulations and bends, and really tested the suspension. It was clear from the way my car started to handle this road that the rear dampers were losing effectiveness. This was at about 70k miles. Seemed ok most of the time, but not on that road. Perfectly MOT-able, but fading. The risk? The car will not behave well in an emergency situation.

If there is corrosion and the rest of the car is OK. I'd speak to the garage i trusted but probably "suck it up", personally.

I don't think its a new thing in the MOT to be given info on what looks like potential work required. Take your car to another garage and ask them to check the SA, perhaps an independent wirkshop/garage, not one linked to a dealer of any sort. You need to keep in mind your car is 16 years old, how long do you expect it to be roadworthy without major repairs being needed.

If you're doubtful take it to another garage and just ask them to check the shocks. It'll cost you, but not £2000.

I have an advisory on my back tyres, July. The local family -run tyre co checked them last week and they are ok but they said to call back in a month for checking again. They don`t charge for this. Whatever, I will be asking for new tyres before next july, whether I need them or not

We had our car serviced and MOT’d yesterday. It passed, but the timing belt is overdue to be replaced.

Will cost about £1500, it’s a big job. The car is 11 years old, but our mileage is low. After a discussion with the chap in the service department, we are having it done.

Yes, the car is getting on, but it passed the MOT easily. We have used this local garage for many years, always been happy with them, so trust what they say and assume the price is pretty standard for our make of car. If the belt went, it would cause huge damage to the engine.

ABW, we shall hang onto it then for another few years.

Get a quote from a different garage.

An advisory doesn't really mean you have a year to do it Merlotgran. It means that it is passing that day. It may mean doing the work quite quickly to be safe (or not to cause further damage) for example.

It's very obvious with a tyre - which would maybe be fine (within the law) on Monday but if you drive 1000 miles over the next week because you visit someone in Scotland from (say) Brighton you could then fail the MOT the next week. You would still have the MOT pass for then on but it wouldn't be legal (or safe) to drive it.

We have had things just pass on our MOT or service and then had to decide what to do.
It's always a shock if it's a big job - but I'd rather know!

I hope you feel clearer about it once others have seen the video Maybe.
I don't think the garage is necessary "ripping you off" but still worth getting an estimate for the work being done elsewhere.

An advisory shouldn’t mean the work is urgent.I am sure that if the problem was that bad you would have noticed.I would say get a second opinion?

We had an advisory re tyres in March 2022 and March 2023.We went to the tyre garage every month to get them checked and they finally said to get them changed a couple of weeks ago.

No car goes forever Maybee70 and at 17 years old, it’s more than possible for a car to fail its MOT from one year to the next. That sounds patronizing - I don’t mean it to be. Try googling the importance of shock absorbers and what they do, as I’ve just done, but it was interesting to see an approx cost of up to £500 given. I don’t know if that’s per absorber, so if all 4 of yours are going, £2K is about right. Is it worth getting a price from another garage, as yours seems a little hasty in pushing for the work, especially as the car has passed its MOT.
What I’d think about, is that the repair is going to cost as much as the car is worth and as Merlot says what else might go, especially on an old car.
Obviously, I’ve no idea of your circumstances, your age and how much longer you hope to drive, but personally … I’d start looking for something else, while you’ve a long MOT and trade your ‘banger’ in. I’ve had an old car in the past, but a classic car and threw money at it, but in the end my head had to rule my heart and it had to go.

If it’s that urgent it wouldn’t/shouldn’t have passed the MOT. Advisories mean you have until next year to get the work done.

I think they’re having you on.

They want to do the work asap. It’s the time of year when they’ll start salting the road so any corrosion will get worse. I just don’t understand how it has got so bad so quickly. It’s in such good condition. To look at it it almost looks like a new car.

If it has passed you have a year to decide if you want to scrap it and put the £2,000 towards a newer car. The work needed is advisory so you could take the car to a different garage for a pre test examination before the next MOT. It’s cheaper than a failure in the long run because you can still drive it before the test date while you look for something else and you can ask for another quote to replace the shock absorbers.

Keep an eye on the mileage because as it’s an old car you may be throwing good money after bad if you decide to keep it, replace the shock absorbers and then the cam belt goes!!

Hi if, it were me, I think I’d pay for the new shock absorbers. To purchase another vehicle might let you in for goodness knows what problems. If you do the SA’s at least you know the rest of your current cars in good condition.