Can Xantia fail MOT on Soft Front Suspension

gjb0535 · Post by **gjb0535** » 17 Dec 2009, 09:53

Re above can a Xantia fail an MOT on soft front suspension. It failed on this and a few other hings as well. When I spole to the Mot tester he said he would give me a pass if I did the other jobs and left the ssupension alone.

Problem is I have taking it for retest and this tester is off today. Someone else will be re testing the car.

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 17 Dec 2009, 10:09

They should only re test the failed items, HOWEVER, if they know anything about citroen they should know they are soft! If they dont, they shouldn't be MOT testers!!

So, in a word no they shouldn't really fail her, but its down to Testers opinion

Paul

deian · Post by **deian** » 17 Dec 2009, 11:26

Is this for a hydractive version where you can have soft and hard? Obviously you may know yourself anyway, but...

Reason I'm asking is, hard is harder than the 'usual' non hydractive version, and soft should be softer, if so then the guy may have been testing with the engine running and the doors closed hence the 'softness', if the guy is an idiot then make sure he tests the suspension with the engine off and one of the doors open, this makes sure it is in hard mode, which is the mode the car chooses when you do 'what the car thinks justifies needing the harder mode, cornering, braking etc, hence what is needed for the safety and handling of the car in the said situations, which is what an MOT is really, a safety test.

If the car isn't a hydractive and you feel it is nice and not overly soft then the MOT guy is obviously ignorant to what the car is and how it works. Obviously you yourself know it's ok, so tell the 'other' tester what the deal is.

I hate MOT time, it's hard to choose a garage who will REALLY pass the car if it 'is' safe to pass or just pass for the sake of it, and ones who will fail it for the 'right' reasons and not just to make money on repairs.

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 17 Dec 2009, 12:42

Dei,

you should come and see me then, I ALWAYS get my Xantias through with my garage man!!

As his signiture says, the car is an SX non hydractive then, and im yet to beleve about the softer being softer then an "Normal" SX setup..

I think his man is beingh Over Sensitive towards the suspension..., HARD Yes, it can bounce off the road if seriously bad..

Paul

Post by **CitroJim** » 17 Dec 2009, 12:44

Provided it passes the rebound test (damper efficiency) then it should not makker how soft it is.

deian wrote:I hate MOT time, it's hard to choose a garage who will REALLY pass the car if it 'is' safe to pass or just pass for the sake of it, and ones who will fail it for the 'right' reasons and not just to make money on repairs.

I agree. I always take mine to a local garage who is nicely Citroen-savvy even though he swears he hates the "f'ing things" (his words).

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 17 Dec 2009, 12:53

My MOT man actually beleves the Citroens are better then the Pugs, and quite likes them, specially when they have a good milage on, which my girl will end of the month when she goes in - but first, I need to swap front struts, put a better strut top on drivers side, and front drop links... oh and I bush some were, either anti roll or bottom arm.. not looked yet to see which..

Paul

gjb0535 · Post by **gjb0535** » 17 Dec 2009, 13:03

Thanks for all your advice.

When I was waiting for the car I made the owner of the garage aware that if the tester failed the car on soft front suspension then I would disagree with his decision and exercise my right to appeal.

I left and when they called me later they said the car had passed.

I hate MOT time. I have had so many problems in the past with brake pipes and the mot testers view that they are corroded to excess. My other car a 22year R5 GT Turbo had this problem with the original pipes. I rubbed them down and painted them and the car passed. This was 5 years ago and the pipes are still ok.

Again thanks for yor help.

deian · Post by **deian** » 17 Dec 2009, 17:35

yea, rear brake pipes are always a favourite with MOT testers, (for obvious reasons, brake pipes are important, but i have never ever heard of a corroded/broken brake pipe break off while on the go)

what i find is, if they know of a particular common problem on certain cars they will leech onto those problems as an excuse to fail an mot and get some money off you

i had a micra once, and they guy said ooooh they fail on rust etc, etc, obviously it did fail, but after he said that i wasn't surprised it did, otherwise the car was running like clockwork, as the japs do but they have paper body work, so maybe in that case he was right, but there was other silly remarks too

overlooking an mot tester at work on my wife's golf... he says "ooooh rear brake pipes mate", at that point i explained to him how hard it is to find an honest mot tester, and he quickly changed his tune and advised me sand them down and put vaseline on it, he marked it as an advisory,

if you can speak the lingo i reckon your chances of passing an mot honestly is better, they know you know they may try pull a fast on over you and back off, no garage wants bad word of mouth these days!

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 17 Dec 2009, 17:38

Especially here on Anglesey, its a TOO SMALL cummunity here, and word gets round quickly..

Paul

lexi · Post by **lexi** » 17 Dec 2009, 17:55

Your right Dei. If you think or even know they are trying it on just ask them what Vosas views on these matters are. They do not want visits from Vosa.

I don`t advocate it as a cheap trick, but you have the right to call on them if a Station is being unscrupulous. My Mot station is brilliant. The car is gone through properly and everything shown to me faults advises the lot.

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 17 Dec 2009, 18:38

My MOT man did his apprenticeship at the Slough Citroën factory when they made DS's there so he has a "little" understanding of them

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 17 Dec 2009, 18:40

Lucky Sod!

Paul

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 17 Dec 2009, 18:43

citroenxm wrote:Lucky Sod!

Apart from him I've also met a couple of other guys who worked there and had some interesting conversations about what went on there with car's that were "in stock" AKA left in a field for a year or two prior to being sold as new,,,,,,,,,,,,

lurchy666 · Post by **lurchy666** » 17 Dec 2009, 21:02

my mot bloke admitted to me at mot time he doesn't know how soft a hydrolic citroen should be, alth he knew to put the suspension in high to get the best out of the back brakes lol

mark21td · Post by **mark21td** » 17 Dec 2009, 22:11

deian wrote:yea, rear brake pipes are always a favourite with MOT testers, (for obvious reasons, brake pipes are important, but i have never ever heard of a corroded/broken brake pipe break off while on the go)

if you can speak the lingo i reckon your chances of passing an mot honestly is better, they know you know they may try pull a fast on over you and back off, no garage wants bad word of mouth these days!

I was a passenger in an old mini years ago when a break pipe burst, we where trying ot slow down from 50 for a roundabout, luckily there were no other cars about, we managed to stop after going over the top of the roundabout, scarry stuff when they burst.

I've found a good MOT station, when I first went I was speeking to the owner and told him I was not happy about the last place I used and how they put a screwdriver through a drivesharft gator thinking they would get the work, I then exsplaned that I do all my work my self including welding so the only money they were getting from me was the price of the MOT itself.

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Can Xantia fail MOT on Soft Front Suspension

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