Took my car for an MOT test today. I'd checked it as thoroughly as an ordinary guy can but it still failed. The technician explained that a tyre was on the wrong way round. Sensing my bewilderment, he explained that some modern types are "directional" and are marked with the direction they should spin. Fortunately, I had a spare wheel with a tyre fitted the other way around so it could easily be fixed. I did consider offering to do some extra reversing to compensate but thought the better of it.
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| "Nearside rear Tyre not fitted in accordance with side wall instructions" |
Later, I started musing on the implications of this "improvement" in automotive technology. It means in the case of a puncture that there's a 50/50 chance that your spare wheel will be wrong. Apparently that's not particularly dangerous but it's wrong enough to fail the MOT.
My choice of MOT test station was interesting too. It was run by the local council. Not every council in the UK has a test station (for checking local taxis, etc.) but some legal quirk means that if they do, they must offer MOT service to the public. So why pay £50 for their test when lots of garages will do it for under £30? The council guys
don't offer repairs so they have no incentive to fail the car. This £50 MOT test is, in reality, the cheapest I've had for about 10 years.
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