M.O.T. roulette - place your bets

[Drago]

How it's been driven is absolutely key. There's no reason why a suspension bush on a Tesla, designed from the off to handle the weight and driveline torque, will last any less time or mileage to its ICE car equivalent.

We're on our 4th e-car, just deciding what to order for our 5th (BYD Seal looks likely, dont want to put a penny Musk's way), and I can confirm Andy is right.

Compared to even the best ICE cars they're trouble free, far less prone to wear (other than tyres, but they don't wear any quicker if driven sensibly), and a lot of forward looking industry types are becoming concerned with this.

Car sales may keep the lights on, but aftersales, servicing, repair, and (most especially) warranty work is what brings in the cream and these big dealer chains are worried that is going to dry up over the next decade due to the changing nature of the product. On average they simply dont wear or break in the manner of ICE cars and require a fraction of the servicing, so they're going to find it difficult to make any money from the spanners.

 

[CXRAndy]

No suspension bushes worn ? I seriously don’t buy into EVs need very little maintenance. I’ve read plenty especially about Tesla with clapped out suspension. I guess how and what it’s been driven on may make more a difference.

No, nothing in the way of servicing costs. it doesn't creak when driving, you would notice being almost silent to drive. It has had 4 sets of tyres in nearly 100K miles.

I looked over the pads and rotors, still loads of pad and no lips on the rotor edges. You literally don't use the brakes more than a couple of times per week and its usually slow speed touches when manoeuvring

Mt wife wants to keep this car.

I had the front upper wishbones changed in the first/ maybe 2nd year under warranty. They weren't causing me an issue, Tesla said they had design issue leading to water ingress into the ball joints so were changing them if requested. I asked. they did.

 

[MrGrumpy]

No, nothing in the way of servicing costs. it doesn't creak when driving, you would notice being almost silent to drive. It has had 4 sets of tyres in nearly 100K miles.

I looked over the pads and rotors, still loads of pad and no lips on the rotor edges. You literally don't use the brakes more than a couple of times per week and its usually slow speed touches when manoeuvring

Mt wife wants to keep this car.

I had the front upper wishbones changed in the first/ maybe 2nd year under warranty. They weren't causing me an issue, Tesla said they had design issue leading to water ingress into the ball joints so were changing them if requested. I asked. they did.

I drive an EV so understand the braking , unfortunately my wife doesn’t understand that !! There is certainly less to go wrong and service.

 

[Drago]

Mrs D likes the regen on minimum and prefers to use the brake pedal, whereas I prefer max regen (or KERS as MG call it) and minimum use of the chicken pedal.

 

[Slick]

Mrs D likes the regen on minimum and prefers to use the brake pedal, whereas I prefer max regen (or KERS as MG call it) and minimum use of the chicken pedal.

I had to explain all that to a cracking older gentleman who was having a it of a gripe about the amount of drivers braking because a crisp packet blew across the road. I'm not entirely convinced that he got it, although he does live in a very rural area and it may not explain every case.

 

[Drago]

Oh aye, you can tell how the smooth drivers are and who would be comfort braking if they were in a regular car.

 

[Gunk]

It bloody failed

On emissions, they were brilliant and tried three times to get it through. They’ve suggested using some Cataclean which they think is the only product that actually works, if it doesn’t then it’ll be off to East Oxford Garage who are our local Mini gurus, it’s either going to be replacement Lambda sensors or a complete Cat.

Real shame as they said how good it was, there were no other advisories.

 

[DCLane]

Forgot to post on here about my Mum's old Vauxhall Agila, which found a home with me as custodian until someone else needs it. It's from 2012 and ticked over the 15,000 mile point today.

The MOT was last month, having covered a massive 1500 miles over the last year - almost all of it by me since January.

It passed. No fails, no advisories. As a reward I bought some touch-up paint as there were quite a few paint chips and minor scratches, that have now been nicely touched in.

 

[CXRAndy]

It bloody failed

View attachment 744665

On emissions, they were brilliant and tried three times to get it through. They’ve suggested using some Cataclean which they think is the only product that actually works, if it doesn’t then it’ll be off to East Oxford Garage who are our local Mini gurus, it’s either going to be replacement Lambda sensors or a complete Cat.

Real shame as they said how good it was, there were no other advisories.

Put some cataclean in it. Drive it in 3rd gear around 5k rpm for 20 miles

If that doesn't work, then it's likely the Cat is dying.

You should be able to see if the oxygen sensors are playing up with a decent scan tool. If it has a double sensor with one after the cat that will help pinpoint whether the cat is on the way out. The waveform should be much smoother than the previous cat sensor

 

[Gunk]

Put some cataclean in it. Drive it in 3rd gear around 5k rpm for 20 miles

Bought some today, plan is to run it down to a quarter of a tank tomorrow and then put some in on Thursday, give it thrash and take back with the engine fully warmed up.

I’ll keep you updated 🤞

 

[lazybloke]

Those fuel additives seem a dark art.
I tried an evil red liquid in the engine of my very first car; the marketing blurb claimed it would decoke the engine.

All I remember as I drove down the road, is submerging the entire village in an impenetrable wall of smoke.
Total opacity.

 

[DCLane]

Those fuel additives seem a dark art.
I tried an evil red liquid in the engine of my very first car; the marketing blurb claimed it would decoke the engine.

All I remember as I drove down the road, is submerging the entire village in an impenetrable wall of smoke.
Total opacity.

Did the same when living in Belfast - I learnt that if I drove up the M2 the smoke would engulf all five lanes.

 

[Gunk]

An update on the Mini, just got it back after three days in the garage, an eye watering bill, but it’s had a new genuine cat and oxygen sensor fitted plus they sorted out an oil leak from the Oil filter housing gasket (all common problems) so it now has 12 months MOT with no advisories.

Got it home and gave it a celebratory clean and vacuum.

 

[DCLane]

@Gunk - Mini's, BMW's and VAG cars do seem to break a lot and have expensive bills as a result.

 

[Drago]

@Gunk - Mini's, BMW's and VAG cars do seem to break a lot and have expensive bills as a result.

Although the Mini electric is the most reliable EV.

I miss mine, but can't have an ever expanding fleet of vehicles that hardly get used.

I think that part of the problem with premium brands is folk can't afford to maintain them properly, or try to be clever and go to Fred in a Shed on the industrial estate. I mean, what kind of chump buys a 40k motor and then baulks at a £400 service bill?

When my Mini went to the dealer for its service it got all the software updated and an outstanding recall automatically done, neither of which old Fred could do, and as the years go by the list of missed opportunities just gets bigger.