22 replies to this topic

[hecj]

I was at the garage today with my mini, the mechanic suggested to me that my car would fail an MOT as I have fitted Cobra racing seats that don't fold (even though they move forwards and backwards).

He suggested that this would fail the MOT as I carry passengers in the back and doesn't allow them enough space to exit in an accident.

Anyone know what the actually law is on seats whilst carrying passengers?

[oltonlad]

take the back seats out when you take the car for its m.o.t, then they cant say anything about your seats being fixed in place as you can tell them that you dont carry passengers in the back!

[oltonlad]

i had cobra monaco 's' seats in my last mini and that passed the m.o.t, and passengers had to climb through the middle of them to get in or out because there was no chance of getting into the back of the car otherwise!

[surfblue63]

I was at the garage today with my mini, the mechanic suggested to me that my car would fail an MOT as I have fitted Cobra racing seats that don't fold (even though they move forwards and backwards).

That is not a reason for failure.

Reason for Rejection
1.
The security of the driver’s or any passenger’s seat is significantly reduced.
2.
A seat back that cannot be secured in the upright position.
3.
The driver’s seat fore and aft adjustment mechanism not functioning as intended.

[L400RAS]

The driver’s seat fore and aft adjustment mechanism not functioning as intended.

I apologise for the slight tangent, but if a seat is bolted down, with no runners, ie never "intended" to move fore / aft, is this ok?
Ryan

Edited by L400RAS, 09 February 2012 - 07:34 AM.

[JonnyBMX]

LOL well i have cobra bucket seats, my car passed MOT fine (after i either removed the back seats or put the rear seat belts bacc in) And this is the same garage who decided to fail my car after creating a hole and then getting pretty pissed off when i said i was welding it myself ahah!

anyways dont see why that would cause an MOT fail

[hecj]

If I was to remove the rear seats for my MOT in order to pass, would just taking the bottum cushion off and removing the belts be enough?

[Brigbeale]

Have you asked the MOT tester why he failed the seats??

Scrub that - didn't grasp the problem properly and got lost in all the replies.

Edited by Brigbeale, 09 February 2012 - 05:18 PM.

[Dan]

Some of our members are MOT inspectors and they will come along sooner or later with a definitive answer, but I don't think you have any problem. The reasons for rejection don't include anything that remotely comes close to what you've been told and you can't fail an MOT for anything that isn't given as a valid reason in the manual. Whether you value your passenger's safety is another question entirely but many of us have had buckets up front and carried passengers happily. I don't think it's a huge problem personally.

[hecj]

Cheers for the help, Im going to call a garage that only does MOT tomorrow for their take on it

[tommy13]

The backrests of all seats must be checked for security. The Cobra seats will not cause the car to fail because they cannot be hinged forward, but the tester may refuse to test the vehicle if he cannot gain access to check the rear seats, see below from the manual, introduction, refusal to test.
A proper examination cannot be carried out because any door, tailgate, boot, engine cover, fuel cap or other device designed to be readily opened cannot be readily opened.
You may therefore have to remove the rear seats so there is nothing to inspect. The seat belts may be left in as they are not considered a belt where no seat exists, again from manual ,
Where a belt is fitted with no corresponding seat or if there is a buckle/stalk but no corresponding belt, it is NOT to be considered a seat belt for the purpose of this inspection.

[surfblue63]

A proper examination cannot be carried out because any door, tailgate, boot, engine cover, fuel cap or other device designed to be readily opened cannot be readily opened.

That does not apply to seats.

From the Seat Belt part of the manual

Every effort should be made to lift folded seats to facilitate the inspection of seat belts provided this does not require the use of tools or specialist equipment. However, this is not mandatory where it would be unreasonable, such as due to the presence of heavy, fragile or numerous passenger effects or other articles.

You will most likely get an advisory to say that the rear belts, if fitted, could not be tested. Last year I had a Baby Seat in the rear of a car and they could not see or check the belt. As it would have meant them removing the baby seat to gain access it was put as an advisory that t was not tested on the pass certificate.

Edited by surfblue63, 09 February 2012 - 11:02 PM.

[TheOriginalMiniator]

A proper examination cannot be carried out because any door, tailgate, boot, engine cover, fuel cap or other device designed to be readily opened cannot be readily opened.

That does not apply to seats.

Why not?? Surely a seat is classed as "other devices" even though they cant be opened as such

Edited by TheOriginalMiniator, 10 February 2012 - 07:10 AM.

[Dan]

A fixed back seat is not designed to be readily opened.

[Frisco]

You will most likely get an advisory to say that the rear belts, if fitted, could not be tested. Last year I had a Baby Seat in the rear of a car and they could not see or check the

Off topic but over here you would fail the test completely just for having the baby seat in the car

Edited by Frisco, 10 February 2012 - 09:12 AM.