The Complete Pre-MOT Checklist You Should Know

 I have been testing cars for a few years and I'm going to walk you around some useful tips which will increase the chances of your car passing it out. We're going to have some checks under the bonnet, going to show you a couple of checks with the tyres, some quick interior checks and also some checks on your lights.

Under the Bonnet Checks

So quick check, take a look I'm just under the bonnet now you just going to check the oil level of the vehicle. What I do is I find a dip stick, I'll just give that a quick wipe clean, reinsert the dip stick, make sure all the way down to the bottom, pull it back out and we're just making sure the level there is not below the minimum uh and just by the maximum there. So you can see that's perfect. If that was below the minimum level, that's a good reason that we could refuse to MOT in Oxford.

Before we check the coolant level
we just want to make sure the vehicle isn't too hot. We just look between this line and that line and we can see that's perfectly on the maximum so that's absolutely fine.

It will have a minimum line and a maximum line. So we're going to do another check under the Bonnet here, this is to check the windscreen washer level. This is a check that often gets forgotten, it's very simple to do. Find the cap with the windscreen jet wash logo on it, simply remove it, fit it to the correct level, cap back on.

Tyre Checks

So now we're going to do some quick checks on the tyres. When you're doing the front of the tyre it's a good idea to put the wheel on full lock. This gives you a really good idea of the Inside Edge of the tyre. If you haven't got a tread depth gauge, a quick tip is a 20 pin piece. On the ridge on the outside of the 20 P piece, if you stick that into the tyre and if you can't see the outside Ridge, that should be perfectly acceptable for anot.

So once you check the tread of the tyre, it's a good idea to have a quick look around the sidewall. What you're looking to see is there any bulges in the tread or any cuts down in the wall. Have a quick check of the pressures. Feel free to come down and see us we'll be more than happy to have that checked out for you.

Wiper & Washer Checks

Another check you want to do now is your wipers. The first thing you want to do is just grab your wiper arms and give them a pull and make sure they're nice and secure. Just make sure the ends are not loose and everything's nice and tight.

Once you've done that, lift your blade up, just have a quick check of the actual blade itself. Just make sure the ends aren't split, nothing's coming away, and then just give it a quick wipe down get rid of any dirt or anything on there. Lower it back onto the screen.

So you now want to check that your washer jets are working. So give them a squeeze and just make sure your wipers then clean the screen nicely and they don't leave any smears or any marks on the screen.

Windscreen Checks

So after you check your wipers and your washers, the next thing you want to do is have a quick look over your windscreen and just check for any cracks or chips that may be bigger than what they recommend on the MOT in Oxford.

We have two sides: you have Zone A which is the driver's side and we have Zone B which is the passenger side. There's two different sizes you're allowed. In Zone A (the driver's side) you're allowed up to a 10 mm crack or chip, and in Zone B (the passenger side) you're allowed up to a 40 mm crack.

Interior Checks

So now we're going to do some checks on the interior of the car. When you're sat in the driver's seat, just check it goes forward and backwards and locks into its correct position.

Next thing you need to check is that your passenger door will open from the inside and also just check that your sun visors don't move when you give them the thump.

Also something that doesn't get used that often is the horn so while you're sat here, give it a little beep and that's working perfectly.

Another thing you need to check if your vehicle's done high mileage is the anti-slip rubber on the brake pedal. Just have a look down here and just make sure there's no metal showing, just in case when you took your foot on the brake it may slip off.

Something you might want to check while you're sat here is the driver's view of the road. Things like air fresheners or your sat-nav and phone holders are classed as an obstruction of the driver's view.

Exterior Checks

So quick check you want to do on the outside is just walk around the vehicle and just make sure everything opens and shuts. So just check the doors, check the boot, your fuel cap, and just flip the Bonnet up.

Final Words

So if you've got any questions related to any of the tips that you've just seen, feel free to pop down to any one of our centers and we'd be more than happy to give you some advice.