Hi there

I had my 1.4 Sporting in for its first MOT today - 31k on the clock.

It had a few advisories, for brake pads and discs, the centre section of the exhaust and an oil leak. The oil leak is covered by the 3rd year warranty which still has 4 weeks to run.

Quite a relief as I thought it might fail.

Rob

Stupid question, but if it's under warranty why's it need an MOT?

Or is it automatic after a car is three years old?!

afaik its automatic 3 yrs from date of first registration then every year after

mine passed with 2 advisories 1 exhaust being loud and being Pass side seat jammed (made it harder for tester to get into back seat to check seat belt)

It's 3 years old on 28 June but I'm going on holiday at the weekend so I had it MOT'd early...and got the oil leak into the warranty

Iirc there are a certain number of days, (i think its 16 ) before the car is 3 years old when you can get an MOT, allows for any warrenty work to be carried out if required.

This is from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) website

An MOT can be carried out at any time
If the vehicle is tested within the calendar month prior to when the MOT is due, the test certificate will run from the date of the test to one year after the expiry date of the current certificate. For example, if the current certificate was due to expire on 1 April 2007, and the vehicle was presented on or after 2 March 2007, the certificate would run from the test date until 1 April 2008.

The same rule would also apply when the vehicle is taken in within a calendar month of its first MOT. In this case, the vehicle owner would need to present their registration document.

If the vehicle is tested earlier than one month before its due date, the MOT will only run for twelve months.

Checked my paperwork and it's was Registered 1/3/2007 so it'll be 1/3/2010.



I shall of got rid of it before then.

I'd planned to get rid of mine before it needed an MOT but decided 3 weeks in the US was more appealing than a new motor

I don't have a passport, so a week in America is a fail.

I don't know how, but I don't want my car by March next year.

Got a call from the dealer, the 3rd year warranty claim on the oil leak was passed. Took the car down this afternoon for them to do the job tomorrow.
They gave me a Fiat 500 1.4 Sport to play with for a day - great fun to drive but I wouldn't want to own one. Lots of space too considering i'm 6' 2"

GP's seem to be flying through their first MOT's, which is a good sign.

T14086 said:

GP's seem to be flying through their first MOT's, which is a good sign.

Click to expand...

Yup, bonus. Although I really want to swap mine/get a new car before it gets near one.

tbf i would be really annoyed if my 3 year old car failed the mot...

T14086 said:

GP's seem to be flying through their first MOT's, which is a good sign.

Click to expand...

The only one that seems unable to pass first time round is the Sporting 1.9 MJet (like mine, ), shock absorbers and front coils springs being the culprit. Thankfully warranty is replacing them, expect to pass with flying colours tomorrow.

your shocks/springs need replacing? didn't you notice the broken spring(s)?

T14086 said:

your shocks/springs need replacing? didn't you notice the broken spring(s)?

Click to expand...

The only reason I knew I had broken springs was I heard them break, and found one of the broken bits on the road. Because both times it was just the end bit of the spring, there was no noticeable change in the look for the feel of the car (at least, not to me.)

I hate MOT's, they're worse than sitting your driving test! i've got 2 years till my first one and i'm still dreading it! but i need to keep this motor for another 3 1/2 year, so theres no way im gonna be able to bypass this one!

T14086 said:

your shocks/springs need replacing? didn't you notice the broken spring(s)?

Click to expand...

It was only the offside spring which snapped at the bottom end, the bit that snapped was entangled further up on the coil spring and rattled on every single road undulation, hence I spotted it! Had the snapped bit fallen on the road, I doubt I would have realised it.

Fiat UK, to their credit, replaced both front coil springs. They also replaced the nearside shock absorber, which was leaking. They did not replace the offside one though, seems to be ok, at least for the time being!

When my dealer lifted the car to carry out the work at the front, he told me that the rear shocks were leaking as well! They were replaced under warranty.

Now, having 3 shocks replaced under warranty, what makes Fiat UK think that the front offside shock is not faulty as well? And before other people on the forum start commenting on my driving etc, you may note that 90% of the 45k miles I have done so far are motorway and A-road based. I seldom go to Swansea centre (once a week, sometimes twice, no more) which is the only place to hit speed bumps, and I tend to negotiate them at low speed.

Anyway, I simply hope the remaining shock will last a bit... :shrug: