GOV.UK
Horror story: Stapled belt
Ian, from Castlehill services, sent us this picture of a seat belt repair on a 2005 Suzuki Vitara which was presented for an MOT.
Horror stories
Horror story: Brake disc
When the owner of this vehicle dropped it off with Martin, at Discount Tyres in Sittingbourne for its MOT, they mentioned a noise which had been coming from the front of the vehicle when braking.
Horror story: Track rod ends
Someone attempted to remove the track rod ends. After removing a nut they replaced it with a wood screw to make what they thought was a safe repair.
Horror story: Something missing?
It doesn’t take long to spot what’s missing here. David Albin sent us this picture of a Saab presented for test after having new brake discs fitted and there appear to be split pins on the front ball joints.
Horror story: Bit of a knock
This photo sent in by Phil Green from Lincoln shows a front suspension ball joint completely separated from the lower suspension arm.
Horror story: Looking tired
We see a lot of tyres below the legal limit and it’s regularly among the top five failure items, but we hope you don’t see many like this.
Horror story: Don't do it yourself
This photo was sent in by Stuart Heath of the Porsche Centre Solihull. It shows that not even high value sports cars are immune to incompetent DIY repairs. It’s not uncommon for amateur mechanics to put brake pads in the …
Horror story: Wooden suspension
A novel way to stop that suspension knock! The owner said he'd done a repair to the suspension to stop a knocking noise.
Horror story: Pothole damage
Sent in by Andy Evans, this photo shows damage to the wheel and tyre of a BMW 5 series believed to be the result of a pothole.
Horror story: More hidden corrosion
Here’s another example of sub-frame corrosion, this time sent in by Tim Jones, as found on a Vauxhall Zafira. Tim says he was using the shaker plates on his ATL and initially thought the observed play was because of wear in the wishbone bushes. But closer inspection showed it to actually be the sub-frame moving.