Upon arriving in the UK, after some negotiating and lobbying on my behalf by my manager at the time, I was loaned a car to drive as part of the "company car scheme" on a temporary basis. Three weeks after receiving the car, when I was still fresh off the boat, I received a letter in the mail notifying me the M.O.T. was coming due. At the time I was barely driving the car, and had many other things on my mind and promptly forgot all about it. The second reminder came and then the third indicating this time my M.O.T. was now expired and my insurance has become invalid. Ooopsies.
What is an M.O.T? Yeah, I asked myself that too and got laughed at when I told my colleagues the story of the notices "slipping my mind" and asked for help. I mean, no one told me so how was I supposed to know?
M.O.T. is a prescribed annual check-up on the safety of your car.
Key info here:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/mot-insurance
What's covered in the M.O.T? Most Americans would be familiar with an emissions test, required every few years in the USA for older cars. This yearly required test covers that, and much more. Including if you are carrying a spare tire, your license plate is readable, brakes fuctioning, your seatbelts are operating, horn works and your windshield wipers wipe.
In the UK, once your car is 3 years old you are required by law to pass annually.
What?! When I heard all this news all I could think of was how corrupt this system could be if this test was required of every American.
What happens if you don't pass the M.O.T? Your insurance is invalid until you do, and you're not allowed to drive your car for the safety of society, unless you're driving to get the test done. For convenience, If an issue is found, people typically get whatever fix is required to pass from the same place they got the M.O.T test done. More money for the garage that got your test business in the first place.
See the problem? When the work is completed, you then pay again to have another test, going through all the checkpoints once more. Double whammy.
How could this system not screw over little old ladies bringing their car in? What I'm told is that it is against the car dealership or repair shop's best interest to be fraudulent with the M.O.T results just to collect the repair costs and double test fee.
The prices of the test are set by the government and they certify the garages to conduct the M.O.T, running regular check ups on their results and processes. If you're certified to do M.O.Ts, you make a lot of money on that service with a steady stream of customers. There are massive fines if they're found to be dishonest and the license would be revoked. Bye bye endless guaranteed business. In some ways, if a place is certified to do an M.O.T, it is one indication to a consumer that it is a trustworthy garage.
I bought my own car last year and took it in for its first M.O.T in my hands.
The results:
001 nearside front lower (rear) Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement.
(Never heard of this brush, but sounds important)
002 offside front lower (rear) Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement.
003 Wiper blades deteriorating
(yeah, I knew this and hoped I'd get away with it... Have since bought new ones).
004 Offside rear seatbelt slow to retract
(eh... Rarely have rear passengers...)
005 Nail in offside rear tyre
(Really?! Surprise!!)
006 Both rear tyres perishing and have minor cuts in tread
(Sad...££ in my future)
Even with the above, I
PASSED
