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I was convinced my front sussy had sh*t itself again so was particularly nervous over the impending MOT expiry 18th Jan and expecting all kinds of Wishbonery, Drop Linkagery and bushery failages.

Slipped it in for an MOT next-door at work today and it came up squeaky clean not an advisory nor nuffin I R surprised but *very* pleased.

Best bit is the £39.00 fee which aint to be sniffed at these days. Granted I did fork out for a new Windscreen over Christmas but I can't blame the Car for that one.

Congratulations Although it does beg the question what's up with the car if you think there's something going on with the front suspension? Or is it just Ford parts paranoia?

Good news Welters.

My last two MOT's have been simular, also at the place just round the corner from work. Both £30 a throw.

It feels a bit 'wandery' up front on certain roads and I get the occasional clonky noise particularly in the wet.

Two things though; first I think the Mobile Tyre operative set the tracking a little too dead-centre as although it doesn't pull left/right anymore it has a strange 'dead' feel which has never happened before (both front wheels are supposed to point slightly towards each other. Or something) I think mine are both allowed to follow cambers and white lines too easily.

Second is that the new Ford Fishbones fitted 3 years ago might be starting to go off and although not enough to bother an advisory these cars are *extremely* sensitive hence I feared the worst.

Just treated myself to some Volvo Wiper Blades £39.00* before my old wipers scratch my nice new screen

*they're £29.00 but had to pay £10.00 carriage because the boxes are about 750mm long (and I can't be arsed driving round for wipers, and the Volvo ones are good, and fit proper).

If you took it round to Tanvic for a 4-wheel alignment check, do they charge you anyway or only if they adjust it?
(Last time I had mine done in Harket Marboro, I think it was £30, but only needed tweaking at the front).

The used to offer an alignment 'check' for free but I wouldn't imagine many cars come up 'clean' as it were (a bit like Kwik Fit offering to check the thickness of your Brake Discs ). They wanted £65.00? this time for a 4-wheel job and because I'd asked for the Winter boots to be fitted the total was going to be £116.00. I seem to like the 4-wheel service as mine does adjust.

They do a great job with the Hunter machine but I couldn't justify the cost knowing also the MOT was imminent and new Wishbones may be needed (and further alignment), consequently I went with the Mobile place which was more convenient for me at the time but many Capers followed

The MOT lady operative has just knocked on the door with my Invoice copy and 4 x pound coins.

"what's the money for?" I asked.

"when we did the Invoice we saw we only charged you £35 last year so here's some money back"

What service!

Good on you Welly! I got caught for headlights out of adjustment & steering column controls loose, picky barstewards

Welters - Result!

Teamy, room for improvement but still very good!

Welly wrote:Just treated myself to some Volvo Wiper Blades £39.00* before my old wipers scratch my nice new screen

I don't find the Volvo's wipers brilliant, I mean they're fine but nothing special. Not sure if the screen needs a proper clean with some proper screen cleaning stuff or something, or if they just aren't awesome wipers....

The Focus is still on its original wiper blades (it'll be 8 in April) and they're still good! That's good going!

Fitted than yesterday and they seem vastly improved actually, different in a few areas. They are supremely smooth and quiet and leave no water on the screen. The last Volvo set 'went off' after about 3 years and sounded dry on the glass (hard rubber) and always left water residue and smears.

I'll get some pics up later (how sad am I)

Yeah, I like it when new wipers are silent, just the swishing noise when they're doing their stuff. It doesn't last long though

My expert* photos, definitely* not taken too close or anything.

The drivers side one now sports these little clips, but both wipers have a rubber spoiler for added downfarce:



Pretentious wipers are for winnaz:


Seriously Dai - try them they are better now. One thing they now don't do is 'splash' the passenger side when completing the sweep that used to be annoying.