Oooh, intermittent faults are everyones favourite type aren't they.
Dr Zoidberg wrote:
The MOT doesn’t include a road test. I don’t think there’s any realistic way that’s they can do more than check the light, which is a pretty reliable indicator of a fault.
Out here, the equivalent does include a functional brake test, but it's done on road with a little box that sits in the car and measures the deceleration rate (that's how our small local place does it - bigger places maybe have rollers, I dunno).
One of the things that led to the mighty Falcon failing its inspection was the replacement steering wheel not having an air bag. Because the car originally came with an airbag fitted, and the airbag light was on the dash, it was not acceptable even though it had passed in the exact same state the previous 3 times. The argument was basically summarised as "If it didn't come with it, fine, but if the the car originally came with this safety feature, it has to be there and working, or it's a fail"
I seem to remember some uncertainty about spare tyres, years ago, in a discussion with my dad. He was of the impression that a spare wasn't needed (indeed, lots of cars don't have them now) but if the spare was in the car it had to be in roadworthy condition. Come MOT time, if the spare wasn't looking good it'd just get left in the shed. We never really asked for clarification or looked any further into it.
Also, about LCDs and dead pixels, I see new cars with the fancy screen instead of dials looking all cool and fancy and I WANT, but have wondered about the longevity and the ease of replacement in future, in comparison to old fashioned dials.