I normally check over my car before mot - tyres, brakes, exhaust, bushes, springs, bulbs, wipers and so on. basically i check everything for wear, play, corrosion and generally that it still works!
this year i had a track rod end and ball joint to replace - that i had spotted before xmas. so after replacing them with genuine ford bits and had just had 2 new front tyres i thought sod it and put it in for its test...FAILED. turns out i had a noisy rear wheel bearing and 2 rusty brake pipes! OOPS! still had 2 weeks before the test expired though so plenty time to fix it
I didnt even notice the bearing, no noise when driving - nothing. but when i jacked the car up and spun the wheel it was very noisy! strange, even more so that i have replaced it and there is still no difference when driving :lol:
However i have now sorted the car and had it retested today.
What im getting at here is, you can check over most things but sometimes its best just to put it in for its test and let them pick up on whatever it needs and worry about it later.