How to save money on your MOT and cut motoring costs.

Are you looking to save money on your MOT? Is your MOT a blot in your year? A time when you worry that you will have to lay out money you can hardly afford to have niggling little adjustments made to your car? In fact, your MOT can literally save your life – that is its reason for existing, after all. You can save money on yours so that it becomes a painless exercise that provides you with months of peace of mind! Let us take a look at how:

Why an MOT highlights those small problems to help you know how to save money on your car.

Your MOT is a thorough check of the many small parts in the car that we tend not to think about – until they fail, that is. This can be horrific and sometimes occurs in fast-moving traffic or when you’re on your own which can be very problematic!

By picking up issues like a loose number plate, failing lights, or a small crack or chip in the windscreen, a cheap MOT near you can help to promote costly repairs while they are still not too much of a problem. Windscreens can be almost magically repaired for just a few pounds and are covered via the excess in policies from most insurers (it’s worth checking your excess when renewing, particularly if looking to buy car insurance for young and new drivers). A simple screwdriver can tighten the number plate and almost anyone can change a car headlight bulb! Once these items are sorted, you will have peace of mind on the road for several months at a time.

Service and MOT: Save money by booking them together.

By getting your car serviced while it’s in for the MOT is a great way to save. As it’s being conducted by the mechanic or MOT garage nearby, they can often perform small maintenance tasks as are needed to get you through the MOT without greatly adding to your costs. Often, everything they do is included in the combo price and booking them together usually includes a large discount on the standard maximum of £54.80 that an MOT costs. In some case garages even throw in a free MOT with service.

How to check before testing to save money on your MOT.

It is easy to find a full listing of everything the MOT testing centre will be looking at and for you to check these things yourself. Anyone can use a 20p piece to check the tyre’s tread depth, get a friend to help you test your lights, regularly top up fluids like oil, water, and hydraulic fluid, and find somewhere peaceful to test your brakes by performing an emergency stop. Try your horn too, to make sure it sounds clearly when deployed. Finally, check your windscreen wipers, cleaning them and testing them to be sure they work effectively.

Clean up your car to spot hidden issues that may cause MOT failures

Think about giving your car a wash before you take it in for its MOT. This will clean the number plate nicely (something they look at!) and will also give you a chance to visually inspect the exterior of the car, looking for anything out of place or damaged. Check for visual distractions like hanging air fresheners and remove child car seats in order to check seatbelts thoroughly. 

Can you save money on your MOT by booking early?

You can take your car for its MOT anything up to a month before the due date without losing the anniversary date. If you do this, you can haggle a little on price and also shop around to find the best deals. If you leave it to the last minute you might panic and accept the first offer to complete the MOT, even if you end up paying the full legal charge!

How to keep a list to track issues and maximise sell-on value.

Whenever your vehicle is serviced or repaired, make a note of what your mechanic says. If there are a lot of items on the point of failing, you can begin a savings scheme to slowly build up a kitty so you can afford the spares and labour necessary to keep your car safely on the road at all times, and not just around your MOT. If you know there are items that will fail your MOT, do get these fixed before the test. Otherwise, you might find yourself needing to pay for a retest once the car has been made safe. A good maintenance record also helps support the resale cost for a car.

Avoid Problems in the First Place!

Drive with care and attention at all times. Driving within the speed limit, avoiding sudden acceleration and deceleration, and generally looking after your vehicle can keep it in good working order. It is quite surprising how much damage can be done just by driving too fast or using poor or rough roads! Driving with costs in mind all the time can help you sail through your MOT without having to pay out a fortune in repairs and replacements!

Read the Manual

This seems like a silly point to make, but, in fact, an awful lot of people do not bother to thoroughly read through their instruction manual. You may know how to drive well, but your instruction manual has so many useful tips and pointers in it that you are actively losing out by not reading it from cover to cover! It will give you the precise recommended spares, such as spark plugs, filters and gaskets a car needs, tyre choices and sizes, fan belts, recommended fuels and brake fluid. An instruction manual will also provide the details of suppliers with authentic spares and authorised service garages nearby. As if that was not already enough, they can also offer useful troubleshooting sections that can guide you through some basic car problems and teach you how to both fix and avoid them going forward.

The main benefit your MOT gives you is peace of mind. Knowing that your vehicle is road-worthy and not likely to cause an accident in which you, your passengers or complete strangers could be injured or worse, is easily worth the price paid for an MOT. Additionally, think about how much you would have to pay to replace the entire car, in such an event. The cost of preventative repairs and replacement will always be less than that – and that is only looking at the cold financial aspect of the matter!

So, if your MOT is due and you have been delaying it to avoid that extra cost, we recommend that you take a proactive approach and schedule your test now. You can book MOT in London at Elite Direct. They are a credible garage that starts its MOT for as low as £39. Get their expert help today!