Door handles and MOTs.

[Derivative]

I am going to assume this doesn't fit in the Workshop because it has four wheels.

Civic is due for its' MoT soon. The drivers' inner door handle is knackered - I think the plastic wore through on the part that catches the door lever. I've tried putting it back on and it works for a while but eventually slips off or something and the handle is back to being for show.

I have taken it off. To open the drivers' door from the inside you pull a bit of metal and then push it back in a bit to avoid issues with locking.

Question then is, will this pass an MoT? The door opens and closes fine, I've probably done it hundreds of times and it's just me manually doing what the handle does.

A handle only costs about 15 quid but this is bangernomics.

Outside door handle is fine and all the others are too.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Possibly depends on the MOT tester.

A reason for failure is:-

[Derivative]

Yeah. That's my problem. The wording is kind of vague. The relevant control is just the actual metal lever rather than the plastic handle connected to the metal lever. It's no more difficult to use in practice (as long as you know how).

[Ste]

Being able to open the doors without messing around is quite important really.

"2.8 Doors
These will be inspected to check that:

the latch is secure in the closed position
the front doors open from inside and outside the vehicle
the rear doors open from outside the vehicle
hinges and catches are secure and in a good condition"

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/car-parts-checked-at-an-mot/car-parts-checked-at-an-mot#car-parts-tested-in-the-mot

And

"Reasons for rejection:
1.
b. a drivers or front passengers door cannot be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle using the relevant control in each case"

https://www.ukmot.com/manual/6.2/Seats-and-Doors#MOT

[Derivative]

All of that applies.

To be honest I'm thinking it's worth sorting out if only to make the car look like less of a shit heap and draw attention to other potentially questionable bits...

Car in question also has the (prior to my ownership) horn bodge of installing a switch somewhere else (presumably because replacing the button/wiring/whatever inside the steering wheel would be more hassle)

[Lord Percy]

Price of handle replacement - £15

Price of re-MOT if the first one fails because of that handle - £55

Or at best you'll get a reduced fee for a partial re-MOT that just tests the bit in question. Probably still £15 or more though

I'd say just fix it.

If it's not a hugely intricate mechanism you could even make a bodge with a spoon handle or something. As long as you can get a good grip on the 'door handle' and the mechanism works soundly, it would surely be fine.

[Nb]

Can you tie a bit of string to it? If you can it will pass. I mot'd a navara with a bit of string on the inside handle mechanism a few weeks ago. Advised on it anyway but its still a pass.
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[bugeye_bob]

[Derivative]

[M.C]

[MattEMulsion]

[Ste]

Here, have some free retest information:

https://mottesting.org.uk/mot-retest-information-fail.html

[M.C]