Time to get the car MoT'd

It's that time of year when we will have to get the car MoT'd. For those who don't know what this is, particularly those readers who don't live in the United Kingdom, this is an annual mechanical test required by law for every car over two or three years to ascertain it's road-worthiness. Such things as brakes, sub-frame, steering, lights, windscreen etc etc are tested and in order to re-licence the vehicle you need the document in order to get the vehicle taxed as well as insured. I will be phoning around to get quotes as the cost of the initial test can vary from garage to garage. I know that one thing will need to be repaired before they will issue an MoT certificate and that is the windscreen wipers as they haven't worked for a good while. Which can make things difficult if we drive anywhere and it rains. We had to spend around £700 to get the car through it's MoT last year so we are hoping that we don't have to spend out that sort of amount this year. Obviously, as a car gets older, and ours has to be well over 10 years old, it begins to deteriate so that it will need more work doing on it, such as the sub-frame and bodywork which rusts badly, made worse by the fact that during the winter months, when we have frost, ice and snow, the use of salt and grit on the road, put down by local councils to melt the ice on the road surfaces, has a detrimental effect on car parts, particularly those bits which are underneath. Also, speed-humps or 'Sleeping Policemen', used to control traffic speeds and particularly in and around our estate have a really bad effect on the tyres particularly and the suspension of vehicles. We have to go over these confounded things several times a day every time we use the car. One tyre on the rear of the car is always low on air pressure, presumably because of these speed bumps as well as poorly-maintained road surfaces in and around Milton Keynes. Also, the number or roundabouts in this area must have some sort of effect on car tyres and steering mechanism, putting a definite strain on the mechanics of most vehicles.