45 replies to this topic

[Lews_mini]

Hi All,


Took my Mini in for an MOT yesterday at a pukka station, never gonna make that mistake again! The bloke was a complete moany *melon* . He was not very polite and after an hour and 20 minutes walked in with a piece of thin metal in his hand. "This just fallen off your subframe...GET IT SCRAPPED" "You aint getting an MOT today mate". I was gutted. He wrote 2 pages full of Failures and a Page of advisories.

Here's the List (Mostly all rear subframe)

Page 1

Front passenger seat cannot be secured in the upright position (fair enough, that can be sorted just by bending the hook back in place!)
Steering column top bearing excessively worn
Rear sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened
Nearside front (floor) subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
Offside front (floor) subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
Offside front (inner wing) subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
Nearside rear (floor) subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
Nearside rear (panel) subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
Offside rear (panel) subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded

Page 2

Offside rear (inner valence) subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
Nearside front suspension has excessive play in a upper suspension ball joint **DANGEROUS**
Offside front suspension has excessive play in a upper suspension ball joint **DANGEROUS**
Exhaust has major leak of exhaust gases (Which the station supposedly sorted 2 weeks ago!!)
Exhaust engine idle speed too high
Nearside steering gaiter has split
Offside steering rack gaitor split
Offside front wheel bearing feels rough when rotated
Offside rear parking brake recording little or no effort **DANGEROUS**

Advisories...

N/S and O/S subframe attatchment rubber mountings deteriorated but not excessive
Nearside rear radius arm has slight play in a pin bearing
N/S and O/S tyres worn close to legal limit
Both front inner wings and sills corroded
Slight roughness in nearside front wheel beaings.

I was gutted. I knew it would fail on something but i've never known a vehicle to "fail" on so many points! I think this tester just got to the point of nit-picking every tiny floor he saw on the lil' car. "WHITE ROOF REFLECTS TOO MUCH LIGHT INTO ON-COMING TRAFFIC!!!"

Last year...She failed on 1 (ONE) item, which was a blowing exhaust. Took her to an ole' backstreet garage then.

So i'm in a bit of a dilemma. A lot of the stuff on the list can be easily sorted, is it just a case of buying a new rear subframe or do you think she has met the end of her day? Can't believe after failing on all this she drives like shes still on rails, still a pocket rocket! Guess everything wrong with her is under the skin Neither me nor anyone else think the car is in such bad condition! She's still a lovely, smart, tight car!

Should I just give up on the Mini scene? It's cost me an arm and a leg and need to start being sensible, but i'm gonna miss the fun and attention What should I do???


A very sad Lewis

Edited by Lews_mini, 05 May 2009 - 03:30 PM.

[coopermpi]

before being too hasty why dont you take it to another garage for an MOT and see what they say! Dont mention it failed just, but see what they say and if things come up twice just get those done.

[Lews_mini]

Yes, its certainly an idea im contemplating. Gonna have a sit down with me pop tonight and have a chat over what we can do.

[leaky]

I got 18 fails and 8 advisorys on my last MOT. Hope it dont you to much to fix.

[Jordie]

Your moaning because its failed on some many items? Well im afraid thats what a MOT is all about.

Moan about his attitude, the building, the price etc.

But the MOT is there for safety of yourself and other road users.

Looks like you need to spend some time and money and fix all those points before returning the car to the road.

Jordie

[notsoironman]

wow thats a loud bang....sorry to hear this

the mot tester might have took it out on you but if someone presents you with part of the subframe then perhaps the ole backstreet garage have let you down. The MOT test is not there to screw you its there to ensure that at the time of the test the vehicle was in a roadworthy condition. Its to ensure you are driving a safe vehicle and not something that may injure you if it fails or more tragically kill you or others.

I know that our car is going to hurt in July at MOT but with the Mini unless you can keep it dry and rebuild slowly and properly the MOT will always be a scary time. This is half the reason that there are dwindling numbers of our favorite four wheeled friend around.

But on a brighter note good luck with sorting it I am sure you will do what you can to keep the Mini going

Nick

[stardude]

whya not taking it to a mini friendly garage? or find an mot station run by men with white hair and beards

[Jordie]

A mini friendly garage will still fail it on the same things if doing the MOT correctly lol

All a mini friendly garage will do, is turn down the idle and adjust the seat so it locks in position.

Get the haynes out, do the bearings, steering bush, gaiters, brakes etc. Then look at the body work and decide what you need to do to fix it.

The clubman ive got, failed its MOT with 2 pages. But a hour with a spanner fixed 3 of the defects in one go. £50 of panels will fix the rest and also semi-restore the car, as the current floor pans and sills etc are patched like mad.

[Lews_mini]

Haha, I've never known a forum to reply to thread so quick!

I think I was just more shocked than anything to discover SO many fails. It's not as if the car is being held together with duct tape, she's still straight and true and very responsive.


Can anyone give me a rough estimate (a really rough estimate) on how much it will cost to get it through its MOT based on the information above?. I'm now only going to use her to do a daily 12 mile commute to work and occasionally down to the coast.

[Jordie]

Right, this is what my clubman failed on....

OS Sill seat belt anchorage corroded
NS Front suspension component mounting area corroded
OS Sill suspension component mounting area corroded
NS Sill suspension component mounting area corroded
NS Inner arch suspension component mounting area corroded
NSR Inner arch suspension component mounting area corroded
OSR Inner Arch suspension component mounting area corroded

OSF suspension has inadequate clearance with bump stop
OSF suspension arm corroded / weakended
NSF Wheel bearing as excessive play
NSF Track rod end balljoint has excessive play
NSF CV Boot split
Service brake below efficiency
Parking brake below efficiency
NSR brake recording little or no effort
OSR brake recording little or no effort
NSR parking brake recording little or no effort
OSR parking brake recording little or no effort
OSF tyre fouling vehicle

And the garage wanted £700 minimum to repair.

[Lews_mini]

Yikes Jordie! At least I don't feel as bad knowing Im not the only one to fail on so much stuff!

I don't know if I should put her on eBay later on just stating "MOT Failure" or "No MOT". She's just had a lot of servicing done on her. New discs and pads, exhaust system, Ultimate engine steady and is taxed till October. This may make her worth something? Feel so bad knowing i've just spent all that money!

[sazal]

That does sound like a lot of fails

Your probably best going to a few reputable places that are local to you and letting them have a look at the failure list and at your car to see what they need to do and then they can give you a quote But remember not to neccessarily go to the cheapest one, you want a good job doing and one that will last as long as possible.

Hope you get her sorted nice and quickly

[Jordie]

Yikes Jordie! At least I don't feel as bad knowing Im not the only one to fail on so much stuff!

I don't know if I should put her on eBay later on just stating "MOT Failure" or "No MOT". She's just had a lot of servicing done on her. New discs and pads, exhaust system, Ultimate engine steady and is taxed till October. This may make her worth something? Feel so bad knowing i've just spent all that money!

This car as never been restored and drove daily all year round, parked outside etc. It doesnt look as bad as it sounds. New sills and floor pans etc will make it like a new car. Its the first time its ever failed on anything this big, but non the less, made it a cheap car for me to buy.

Selling it on ebay, as a failure will only get you a few hundred pounds if your lucky. As said above, try to find somewhere to do the big jobs and do the little jobs yourself (with your dad) and the help of a haynes manual?

Jordie

[huntface]

""WHITE ROOF REFLECTS TOO MUCH LIGHT INTO ON-COMING TRAFFIC!!!""

Haha, since when has having good paintwork been a MOT failure?!?!

[blacktulip]

its a shame you live so far away. a friend of ours would weld your car up good for cheap.