Owning a car affords you many advantages when it comes to getting around and going where you please, but the annual costs of car ownership can end up being quite high if you’re not careful. Your MOT will likely highlight a number of reasons why your car isn’t in pristine condition anymore, but the following tips could help you to look after your car to keep MOT costs down, so ways to save money on MOT:-
Give your car a once over regularly
Keeping on top of your car’s maintenance can help you to remedy smaller problems before they have chance to turn into bigger issues:
- Lights – check every essential light on your vehicle (front, rear, headlights, hazard lights, indicators, etc.) and replace any broken bulbs. This will ensure your car is as visible on the road as possible to avoid accidents.
- Tires – your tire pressure and tread should be maintained so your car handles properly and has proper grip on the road. Do a quick 20p tire test on your tire treads to be sure they meet the legal requirements.
- Windscreen – if there’s any damage to your windscreen, get this repaired before it becomes a bigger crack. Windscreen issues can potentially negate insurance claims if you get into an accident, but many fully comprehensive policies can include windscreen repair.
- Fluids – go over each fluid required for proper operation within your car (brake fluid, windscreen washing fluid, oil reserves) and check for any leaks.
While driving, you should also keep an eye on your suspension, brakes, and steering. A change in any one of them can be an indication that a particular part has become worn and needs replacing.
Taking care of repairs before your MOT can give you more flexibility for how you want to fix these issues. If you feel confident you can undertake these repairs yourself, using a trolley jack can give you proper access to the underside of your car to check for exhaust leaks and perform essential car maintenance.
Drive carefully
Most daily wear and tear to your car will come from how you drive on the road. Being careful and sensible with your car can help to avoid parts from becoming excessively worn down quicker than normal.
Taking speed bumps too quickly, overly sharp cornering, and needing to heavily apply the brakes on a regular basis can put a strain on certain parts, potentially resulting in maintenance being needed more regularly.
Do a pre-MOT self-assessment
Before taking your car for its MOT, perform a thorough check of the basic reasons cars fail their MOT. If you’ve been checking your car on a frequent basis, many of these things will be the areas you review anyway.
You can look over a list of the car parts checked on an MOT and perform the simple checks yourself before taking your car to a garage. This way, you can fix these issues yourself and avoid extra repair costs from a mechanic.
Compare garages and go with the one you trust
Although you can look after your car as well as possible, it’s likely that different garages would give you varying outcomes of your MOT based on their assessment. Some might be overly cautious, while others might try to charge you for things you don’t necessarily need.
At the end of the day, it comes down to how much to trust the mechanics and agree with their assessment based on your understanding of your car. Shop around for a local garage with a good reputation where you think you’ll receive a fair MOT.
These tips will help you to keep the overall MOT repair costs down, but you can also shop around for garages offering an MOT check at a cheaper rate than average.
