Preparing Your Vehicle for Its Annual MOT

It's a time of year every motorist with a vehicle over three years old dreads, the annual MOT test. We all approach this unwelcome event with an air of caution and sometimes unfounded worry, will my vehicle pass or will it fail? If it fails then how much is it going to cost me? People with older vehicles sometimes worry that the cost of getting their vehicle through the test will end up being more than the vehicle is actually worth. So can we better prepare our vehicles and ourselves for this event or do we just need to blindly blunder into the testing station a few days before our current MOT expires and hope for the best?
No, you shouldn't do this, ever, you should always prepare for your test and always take your vehicle in for its test early, whether your vehicle is just a car and it needs a standard class 4 MOT or whether you drive a minibus or own a heavy goods vehicle that requires a class 5 MOT or a class 7 MOT you are allowed to take your vehicle in for its test a full month before the current certificate expires and if you pass without a problem your new certificate will run from when the old certificate expires meaning taking your vehicle in early will not lose you any days.
Another reason for taking your vehicle in early for its MOT test is that if it fails you can still legally drive away and get quotes for the repairs or parts that you require, where as taking your vehicle in for its test on or just before the expiry date forces you to having repairs done and parts replaced at the MOT garage before you leave without looking around for the best price, and if you do decide to drive away any way to get additional quotes then you are actually breaking the law by operating a motor vehicle without a valid MOT certificate and risking points on your licence, a revoked insurance policy, a fine or worse. MOT test centre's know this which is why some unethical one's overcharge for simple repairs or renewals.Another way of preparing for your MOT is to check out the roadworthiness of your vehicle yourself prior to even taking it into a testing station. OK, so it takes a trained, certified mechanic to spot many of the major problems that can cause a vehicle to fail an MOT but there are thousands of vehicles each year failing because of broken bulbs, bald or damaged tyres, worn wiper blades and even empty windscreen wash, these are all problems that anyone can spot and fix themselves. So the advice is to make regular, routine inspections of your vehicle looking for problems with the minor items mentioned above, bulbs, wiper blades and screen wash will cost you a few pounds from a motor spares centre and are very easy to fit, you can't fit your own tyre but if you do notice the tread on one of your tyres wearing thin then you can shop around for the best deals on tyres and save a small fortune compared to what you would pay last minute to get through your MOT.