Car maintenance

[crfriend]

Tom . I had an incomplete test as my rear seats were folded down and covered in junk

I had that happen to me precisely once, issued to me by a Chrysler dealership I'd had a years-long relationship with, and once they'd put the "red ball" on my windscreen, I shoved the crap that was on the seats into the back of the minivan and demanded an immediate re-inspection, no matter that it was close to closing time.

They passed it, then.

And had the audacity to have "customer service" ring me afterwards to ask if I was satisfied with the service, to which I flatly said, "No. They jerked my chain the wrong way and I will not be back ever again to this dealership." I don't know how many sales that cost them from me alone, but I'm on my third car since that one gave up the ghost.

[Tackleberry]

Good news tackleberry. The UK government has announced an automatic 6month extension on all MOTs due to you know what. Apparently vehicles are safe to drive during tha pandemic no matter what the problems. Panic over

Yeah but unbeknownst to me it ran a few weeks before they announced that and not having the funds to get it done by a professional means it’s taken a few weeks to get it to where it is now

[Shilo]

ouch

[weeladdie18]

I still say...how many cars with defered MO T.s are not fit to be on on the road ?
Is this a greater risk than the virus ?
How many drivers are just stressed up with this virus thing...We have enough problems
without the visitors who are not on the road for 8 hours a day.
We seem to be extra polite and I stay clear of the visitors.They can drive
down the motorways with a speed lock but we know where the hazard are.
But they end up with a brand new car on its roof...
I am getting into the area of driver awareness....We cannot drive to the local
speed limits due to the hazards of large agricultural vehicles doing 30 MPH
and the slower quad bikes and cyclists....one of my teenage friends died
going round a bend and meeting a landrover on the wrong side of the road.
One should always be able to stop in the distance one can see.
We can see a bus or a tractor coming down a gradiant half a mile away
but the close meeting point is on a double bend

[Tackleberry]

Well apart from no MoT and struggling to get the EML off the car is in “road safe” condition...
May have to risk it for a biscuit on Monday...

[Kirbstone]

All Irish vehicle inspection stations are State run and totally separate from any garage or private contractor. Their problem is the decision to equip all these stations with the same type of hoist. Part of the 'test' is an underbody inspection requiring a hoist. Only vehicles which would otherwise have passed are given this 'incomplete' cert.

The real solution to the traffic problems in both Devon and Cornwall....(Shropshire, Hereford, Gloucestershire, Dorset.....the list is endless) is to eliminate all those steep little bendy roads with high hedges overnight, so you all have ruler-straight roads with no hedges or banks alongside and they are all wide enough for two big artics to pass easily. (like the Dutch, Germans)

I have Dartmouth, Fowey, Mevagissy, St Mawes St Ives &c &c &c in mind.....

Tom

[partlyscot]

EV's solve most of these problems. Try that on for a bit of rancor.... Great for the environment too! OK, let's hear it.

When they start turning about 15 years old, and we can pick up a decent used one for under 2 grand then we might give it a try!

Of course it remains to be seen if an EV would even last that long....

My feeling is that some of the most recent EVs, (Tesla model 3 and Y as examples) will last longer in general than most internal combustion driven vehicles. While there are some aspects that will require more maintenance, overall they can tolerate a very infrequent maintenance schedule. There has been talk from them for a "world car" A smaller simpler type of thing, capable of highway trips, but mostly intended as mostly commuter, shopping, get around town kind of thing. They have several patents which are being worked on that if successful, will allow a huge cost reduction in manufacture, at the same time as raising durability and longevity.

[partlyscot]

You won't believe this, Tackleberry:

Last December or thereabouts there was a hoist failure at one of our State car testing stations, resulting in injury to a worker. Mssrs Elf & Soyfty came along and pronounced that hoist unfit for service and shut it and every single one of the same type Country-wide down. Result is that everyone who submits their vehicle for testing gets a certificate 'Incomplete Test' to show the Police in the event of being stopped at a roadcheck.

We are now in May and the problem has not been solved. The lockdown hasn't helped, but they weren't near to replacing all the hoists anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if those hoists were made in China, but I speculate.
With the advance of electronics, home car servicing has become a nightmare and I encountered this 'special tool' requirement as long ago as 1970!!

Tom

The company who makes the lifts is based in Germany, though that doesn't mean they were made there. Part of the issue seems to have been the routine inspection of those lifts, which was supposed to have carried out by the supplier.

[pelmut]

My feeling is that some of the most recent EVs, (Tesla model 3 and Y as examples) will last longer in general than most internal combustion driven vehicles.

Looking back at the veicles I have owned, the causes of their demise have been:

Standard Vanguard 6 - Failed back axle oil seal destroyed bearings and crown wheel (no spares available).
Volvo 240 - Heater matrix split, impossible to remove or replace.
Volvo 740 - Engine computer fault and rust made repair uneconomical.
Toyota Hiace - Rust.

The engines were never the limiting factor.

[weeladdie18]

Ever heard a car fail its test with rusty door sills
The welder covers the sills in masking tape.
The tape is painted with black sill paint.
The examiner touches the paint an says still wet .
Job done . Vehicle road worthy another year.

The implication is the strength of the body framework
with rusty sills ?

[Big and Bashful]

These days the failures due to rust seem to be mostly around suspension turrets and other areas which have a role in holding the wheely bits to the body thing. I can see sense there! I know my mate used to buy bangers and with the aid of a mig welder and some metal he used to get them back on the road. During one MOT the garage didn't like what they saw, until he pointed out that instead of tacking and the occasional spot weld that you tend to get from garages (and manufacturers!) he had completely seam welded it together, the weld was probably stronger than the rest of the car. I never really got into welding up rusty bits, mainly because once there is a weld, it will rust again fairly quickly, I guess because you often cannot paint and protect the back side of the weld because the rest of the car is in the way, also they come out of the factory with many coats of paint and lacquer, instead of a weld with a couple of cans of spray smoothrite on it. At least these days cars don't seem to rust like they used to, unfortunately they normally get condemned when the electronics climb out of their bathtub curve and die.