Possible dodgy MOT, what to do?........

there is an answer: buy a car with electric memory seats, when you get back in just press the button and it goes back to your exact setting (there are usually at least two memorised positions to allow for different drivers)

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Or, like me, you can only afford cheapskate cars, stick a bit of masking tape on the seat runner that lines up with the seat when in the correct position.

Chris

Or like me, shove it back until your legs are the right distance from the pedals ;-)

(can't beleive seat position is an issue - what do people do if their mirrors get knocked, laser alignment tool? ;-) )

Mrcheerful wrote

Good idea.

Once you get a car with toys on then you always want more and it is really difficult to go back to shopping cars. Oh, and the memory button also resets the seat belt height, door mirrors and steering wheel position on some cars.

And positions the car neatly in the middle lane of empty motorways?

Mrcheerful wrote

Mmmm but - say ones wife is very much shorter, if I accidentally set the memory button to her setting while I'm sitting in the seat, I might be crushed against the steering column.

Given a particular make of vehicle you could knock up a VIN label in an hour or so on a PC, slap a bit of sticky backed plastic over it and it would look indistinguishable from that produced by the manufacturer. With forensic examination it wouldn't, but how often do you get SOCO at an MOT testing station?

I'm sure the last time I had a car tested a few months there was no visible electrical connection from the emissions analyser and the PC connected to VOSA in the back office. I can't see them using WiFi either!

I do know from the banter I have with the tester who I've known for a few decades that from the moment the vehicle is 'logged on' at the start of the test VOSA can be sat up the road, viewing the activity on the PC and wait for the test to finish at which point they can swoop to do a spot check. Keeps them on their toes but they've never been a bent test station either way.

What is the 'given time' for an MOT test - ie the minimum time they allowed to take, and thus how many can they do per day?

A couple of times my station has 'can't start the test yet, system won't let me log another one yet'.

If you assume around an hour per test with paperwork, I can't see how my local station makes any money - they have one ramp and two blokes, allow

8 tests a day @ £40 = £320 a day, £1500 a week, they don't do ANY repairs - not on failures nor on general car repairs - just MOT's. £1500 isn't a lot to cover two blokes wages plus overheads...

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It's a particular difficulty for me because a motorcycle accident in my teens left me with restricted movement in my right ankle. If I don't get the seat position at its optimum, either I can't raise my foot enough to get it on the pedal, or I can't press the pedal all the way down.

Chris

Unless it's old enough not to need one on the vehicle. What's the cut off date, early seventies sometime, isn't it?

Are you allowed to leave it blank in the above situation?

Jeez, you sound like my mother! Asks me to do some grotty job on her car, then complains like hell when the seat's not back in its correct position.

Quite right too, and if you've a minute could you polish the tyres as well please, or there's no supper for you.

Ah ok...

My mrs drives mine crammed up against the steering wheel - I then can't even get in to slide it back! ;-(

Same here. She also keeps old shoes and rubbish on the floor, behind and under the seat, jamming the sliding mechanism!

Wrong. My Capri never dripped when the rear master cylinder seal went. The only sign it has was paint lifting off the servo.

Go read what I said. I've left it in the quoted text.