In a quandary - help please

[banhim]

Guys would the MOT not have picked up if the bushes were on their way out?

If they were completely knackered yes. An ATL will test them more vigorously but a bloke with a bar having a wiggle won't prove an awful lot sometimes.

The rear bushes tend to get a far more cursory glance from experience! Rear compliance bushes are often overlooked, as psychologically these never seem as important as front bushes.

 

[jamie_duff]

If they were completely knackered yes. An ATL will test them more vigorously but a bloke with a bar having a wiggle won't prove an awful lot sometimes.

The rear bushes tend to get a far more cursory glance from experience! Rear compliance bushes are often overlooked, as psychologically these never seem as important as front bushes.

^ This. The MOT will only pick up "excessive movement" if it poses a proper safety risk. MOTs are about protecting other road users from dangerous cars. They're not about keeping a car in tip-top condition. The accelerative forces a 1500kg car can apply to a bush vastly exceed what a man with a lever can, so even if the bushes are not flopping about on his crow bar to a dangerous extent doesn't mean they're not moving a fair amount when driving. If it passed the MOT, your car should be safe enough as far as everyone else is concerned even if the drive isn't that hot and it's ruining tyres.

 

[backseateducation]

Thanks guys that's good advice.
It's going to be checked over on Sat.

 

[backseateducation]

Just an update - bushes ok and tracking adjusted (wasn't out by much, I reckon it was those sh*t tyres I had on before) so going to run with these 205s for now until finances improve. A bargain thanks Dave, I'm chuffed