MOT Advisory - Driver's Side Front Wheel Play

[Bumblebee]

I had an MOT done today on my Gen 4 (2016) Prius, which it passed. The mechanic told me there was a small amount of play in the driver's side front wheel, but not enough to cause it to fail. The certificate reads "Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement Offside Front [5.3.4 (a) (i)]." This particular garage is almost exclusively MOT only, and does very little else. I like them due to the fast customer service and lack of BS, but they could not advise on the repair cost due to the above.

I plan to have a full service done at a Toyota main dealer in a few weeks and will ask them about it, but in the mean time can anyone advise on how much I should expect to pay for the repair at a main dealer or an independent garage? I live in London.

Thanks.

 

[TonyHSD]

What is the mileage of the car? I won’t be surprised if you really need to look into changing a suspension arm prematurely because of the horrible roads in London. The biggest enemy to a car suspension are the speed bumps and mounting the kerb for parking or any other reason plus deep and sharp potholes which off there are plenty within all London boroughs. A new suspension arm can be price £200 -£300 + labour per side , best to ask dealer to check for you, but don’t tell them the mot has noted, because they may play you and say yes you need to change urgently., everyone is looking for cash these days. Good luck 👍

[BhxTrev]

45 minutes ago, Bumblebee said:

I had an MOT done today on my Gen 4 (2016) Prius, which it passed. The mechanic told me there was a small amount of play in the driver's side front wheel, but not enough to cause it to fail. The certificate reads "Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement Offside Front [5.3.4 (a) (i)]." This particular garage is almost exclusively MOT only, and does very little else. I like them due to the fast customer service and lack of BS, but they could not advise on the repair cost due to the above.

I plan to have a full service done at a Toyota main dealer in a few weeks and will ask them about it, but in the mean time can anyone advise on how much I should expect to pay for the repair at a main dealer or an independent garage? I live in London.

Thanks.

 

Hi Philip, what you mentioned would worry me. I’d need to get it sorted pronto because as far as I’m concerned any play in a wheel can surely only get worse & must in my opinion be dangerous. I always take my Prius to a Toyota dealer for all services & MOTs. That way I’m fairly sure my cars safe. I’d certainly get a second opinion on the play on your wheel! U

[Bumblebee]

Hi Tony. Currently at 32800 miles, with about 15600 of those added in the two years I have owned it. There are indeed plenty of potholes in my area and along my commute, but i have never hit any big ones. Speed bumps are absolutely all over the place around here and cannot be avoided, although I do go slow over them. The only other possible cause of premature wear I can think of is one time last year, not long after the last service, I managed to scrape the ground on a bumpy country road in Kent after taking a wrong turn. I don't think the scrape was close to the wheels, but the very bumpy surface might have contributed.

Edit: Trevor - noted. I have decided to bring forward the service to early next week, and have booked it in to a main dealer. I did not previously have a service and MOT together as they were due more than a month apart, but any delay is possibly a false economy.

[TonyHSD]

4 hours ago, Bumblebee said:

Hi Tony. Currently at 32800 miles, with about 15600 of those added in the two years I have owned it. There are indeed plenty of potholes in my area and along my commute, but i have never hit any big ones. Speed bumps are absolutely all over the place around here and cannot be avoided, although I do go slow over them. The only other possible cause of premature wear I can think of is one time last year, not long after the last service, I managed to scrape the ground on a bumpy country road in Kent after taking a wrong turn. I don't think the scrape was close to the wheels, but the very bumpy surface might have contributed.

Edit: Trevor - noted. I have decided to bring forward the service to early next week, and have booked it in to a main dealer. I did not previously have a service and MOT together as they were due more than a month apart, but any delay is possibly a false economy.

Hi Phillip, 

at these low mileage I doubt it the suspension arm will be gone even driven in London. Sometimes mot testers can look and diagnose wrongly, they are humans and humans does make mistakes right . Best to seek second opinion from Toyota tech and see what they will suggest. Scraping the car undercarriage also won’t affect arm bushing, you had probably touched cross bar or stabiliser bar brackets which are lowest details on these cars. No worries here. 👍

[BhxTrev]

4 hours ago, Bumblebee said:

Hi Tony. Currently at 32800 miles, with about 15600 of those added in the two years I have owned it. There are indeed plenty of potholes in my area and along my commute, but i have never hit any big ones. Speed bumps are absolutely all over the place around here and cannot be avoided, although I do go slow over them. The only other possible cause of premature wear I can think of is one time last year, not long after the last service, I managed to scrape the ground on a bumpy country road in Kent after taking a wrong turn. I don't think the scrape was close to the wheels, but the very bumpy surface might have contributed.

Edit: Trevor - noted. I have decided to bring forward the service to early next week, and have booked it in to a main dealer. I did not previously have a service and MOT together as they were due more than a month apart, but any delay is possibly a false economy.

My Prius is due for its 6th year service & MOT during August. Just received the reminder today. If they say anything about my steering & wheels bearings being worn or indeed anything else, I shall get them sorted asap. I’ve found in the past what false economy it is not to get things sorted as soon as any problem is identified. The rural roads where I live are generally smooth & speed bump free so hopefully the car will get a clean bill of health. 

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, BhxTrev said:

My Prius is due for its 6th year service & MOT during August. Just received the reminder today. If they say anything about my steering & wheels bearings being worn or indeed anything else, I shall get them sorted asap. I’ve found in the past what false economy it is not to get things sorted as soon as any problem is identified. The rural roads where I live are generally smooth & speed bump free so hopefully the car will get a clean bill of health. 

Most likely will be fine. I have 218000 miles in Auris hybrid from 2010 and except rear springs that had  been recently changed everything else on the suspension is still original and in good condition. Perhaps soon I will need to replace more things but that’s to be expected for that age and mileage. 

[Bumblebee]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will be having them look at it during the service. I mentioned it to the representative when I booked it in for the service, but I’ll have to wait until they’ve seen it before knowing the full cost. Fortunately, I won’t have to add many more miles until then.

[BhxTrev]

50 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Most likely will be fine. I have 218000 miles in Auris hybrid from 2010 and except rear springs that had  been recently changed everything else on the suspension is still original and in good condition. Perhaps soon I will need to replace more things but that’s to be expected for that age and mileage. 

Hi Tony, that’s very reassuring. My previous Prius Gen 3, did over 70,000 miles & other than new tyres, services & paying for MOTs there was nothing else to pay for. I kept asking about brake pad replacement because they’d never been changed, but even after all these miles I was told they were only about 50% worn!

Hi Philip, I hope the Toyota garage give you some good news regarding the MOT report. I would certainly advise using Toyota to MOT your vehicle in future even if your cars not due for service.

[Rhymes with Paris]

It may help to think about the logic of this.

Advisories are what they say they are, they advise that something may become a problem at some time in the future.

The future being after the next MOT is due,a year later,so not dangerous or urgent in the opinion of the tester who has to prove that they are competent to MOT vehicles to VOSA standards.

Some MOTs pick up different things at different times, for example the dampers on my tsport were showing signs of failing 4 years ago, according to MOT, but are still fine according to the last one in June.

A dealer will in my experience, find a reason to lift your leg up, relieve you of your wallet, and leave you poorer, but wiser.

As regards cost of this in London area, I am guessing an arm,a leg, and several other parts of your anatomy.

But if it worries you get it done of course.

 

[BhxTrev]

3 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

It may help to think about the logic of this.

Advisories are what they say they are, they advise that something may become a problem at some time in the future.

The future being after the next MOT is due,a year later,so not dangerous or urgent in the opinion of the tester who has to prove that they are competent to MOT vehicles to VOSA standards.

Some MOTs pick up different things at different times, for example the dampers on my tsport were showing signs of failing 4 years ago, according to MOT, but are still fine according to the last one in June.

A dealer will in my experience, find a reason to lift your leg up, relieve you of your wallet, and leave you poorer, but wiser.

As regards cost of this in London area, I am guessing an arm,a leg, and several other parts of your anatomy.

But if it worries you get it done of course.

 

Let’s put it this way, my experience of taking cars to the Toyota dealer has been very positive. I can’t think of a time they’ve purposely found something to fix simply to relieve me of my wallet. I’m pretty wise yo the going’s on in the garage industry & as a student many many years ago I worked part time & holidays in a garage. It does go on but as far as Toyota are concerned it seems they’ve got enough to do without trying to find extra work for no reason. 

[Chris Dance]

I would only let a Toyota dealer service and MOT our Prius. I have always found the dealer honest and trustworthy. I have owned lots of Prius cars. Regarding any Steering or suspension issue I would have to have it fixed.

My neighbour thinks Toyota prices are too high and takes his Toyota to an independent garage. He had serviced by the independent but shortly after it failed MOT.

Toyota insurance is also more expensive but I pay it as if involved in a collision the car will be repaired by Toyota using genuine parts. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Trev and Chris, I am pleased that you have had good experiences with Toyota dealers.

Note I was referring to dealers in general, although plenty of anecdotes on here from members who have had poor and expensive treatment by Toyota dealers also.

Only the other day there was a thread about a Toyota dealer wanting to charge £340 for a £150 diagnostic that should have been covered by the warranty IIRC.

And of course I would never suggest that anyone ignores safety advice, but advisories mean that the car has passed its MOT, not failed on the advisories,so in the opinion of the tester good for another year.

Some drivers do not want to carry out unnecessary work before it's needed for various reasons.

Others want, and are able to pay dealer prices for any little thing fair enough.

But I see the choice as subjective unless it's really needed.

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Rhymes with Paris
To complete post

[Duffryn]

On 7/29/2022 at 11:15 AM, Bumblebee said:

I had an MOT done today on my Gen 4 (2016) Prius, which it passed. The mechanic told me there was a small amount of play in the driver's side front wheel, but not enough to cause it to fail. The certificate reads "Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement Offside Front [5.3.4 (a) (i)]." This particular garage is almost exclusively MOT only, and does very little else. I like them due to the fast customer service and lack of BS, but they could not advise on the repair cost due to the above.

I plan to have a full service done at a Toyota main dealer in a few weeks and will ask them about it, but in the mean time can anyone advise on how much I should expect to pay for the repair at a main dealer or an independent garage? I live in London.

Thanks.

 

My 9yr old Gen3 (42K miles) has just had a successfui MOT at a Toyota dealer but has returned with an advisory exactly as the OPs. They also included a quote of £480.51 (!!) to presumably replace the defective item. 

Have to say I'm very disappointed in this in such a low mileage car with a full Toyota service history, but it doesn't look as if I've got any option other than to get it fixed.

[TonyHSD]

4 hours ago, Duffryn said:

My 9yr old Gen3 (42K miles) has just had a successfui MOT at a Toyota dealer but has returned with an advisory exactly as the OPs. They also included a quote of £480.51 (!!) to presumably replace the defective item. 

Have to say I'm very disappointed in this in such a low mileage car with a full Toyota service history, but it doesn't look as if I've got any option other than to get it fixed.

Well, it really surprises me how a low mileage cars can suffer from these parts been worn out. I know London it’s the worst place in uk to own and drive a car but even so it is kind of strange to me these suspension parts been done. If it’s me I will seek second opinion from independent garage and a quote. Good quality aftermarket suspension arm will cost anywhere between £120-200, and perhaps another £120 for fitting, almost a half from a Toyota dealer. 

[Joseph D]

If it is just an advisory, there is no need to get any work done just now.  If it was a safety issue the car would have failed.

It is merely a courtesy so you have a heads up of future work that is coming up.

Even when I have passed my inspections, I will often ask the inspector if there was anything of concern he noticed of which I should be aware.  Often the response is no, but I do like to be forewarned so I can prepare and budget.

[Sooty]

If it is a rubber suspension or anti-roll bar bush just remember that the bush is mainly or completely rubber.

Rubber will perish with time and probably more so in UK as the roads are treated with rock salt during very cold weather. This salt will attack the rubber over time.

On my car I had the N/S anti-roll bar bush renewed in 2021 and now have been advised the O/S needs doing.

Fortunately the price I have been quoted is not as high as the OP's.

[Duffryn]

Thanks for the replies/advice guys, all noted.

I have been getting my car serviced & MOT'd at my closest Toyota dealership (13 miles), who I don't particularly care for, so I intend to travel to the next nearest dealer (30 miles), who I do like, for a second opinion and possible quote. 

I don't really want to move away from  the Toyota dealers atm as the car is still within the 10 year warranty scheme, although my current issue presumably won't be covered in it.