My much-loved smart green Seicento has failed it's M.o.T on just one thing- corrosion to the inner and outer sill at the rear on the drivers side near, in close proximity to the fuel lines, dammit! Having seen it for myself up on the garage lift, it was indeed the case, sadly. I did wire-brush and Hammerite any surface rust under the car when I got it over a year ago, but could see that some corrosion had already appeared in that tricky area. The Seicento's M.o.T. expires next week (I usually M.o.T my cars with much more time to spare but circumstances were against me this time). As I need the car for work I booked it in for the repair next Tuesday.
As the car is a 'keeper', on reflection I'm wondering if it would be better to take it off the road for now and have the repair done properly by the local classic-friendly mobile welder, rather than just being patched by the garage for the M.o.T. like so many other low-value cars of this age. I'm concerned that any residual rust inside the sill will be left to fester rather than being nipped in the bud. A more leisurely approach may give more time for things like this to be addressed.
I wonder what others would do in this situation? I do have a Cinquecento on the road with a short M.o.T. which I could press into service if I retire the Seicento for the moment. I only acquired the Cinq the other week and have not had a chance to get to know it so its something of an unknown quantity.
Incidentally, I paid £54.85 for the M.o.T. test. Is it me or is that a lot?!
Steve
As the car is a 'keeper', on reflection I'm wondering if it would be better to take it off the road for now and have the repair done properly by the local classic-friendly mobile welder, rather than just being patched by the garage for the M.o.T. like so many other low-value cars of this age. I'm concerned that any residual rust inside the sill will be left to fester rather than being nipped in the bud. A more leisurely approach may give more time for things like this to be addressed.
I wonder what others would do in this situation? I do have a Cinquecento on the road with a short M.o.T. which I could press into service if I retire the Seicento for the moment. I only acquired the Cinq the other week and have not had a chance to get to know it so its something of an unknown quantity.
Incidentally, I paid £54.85 for the M.o.T. test. Is it me or is that a lot?!
Steve