Ah. Not everything that wears or fails on a mechanical device is a danger to safety. I can see that a strut coming loose could lead to sudden loss of control but don't really follow how rotted sills could do something similar. It's very easy to gather every possible defect under a huge safety umbrella but such an act would soon make a vehicle uncertifiable by the feds or unusable or impractical because it would always be in the shop for inspection or repair of some inconsequential 'fault'.

My background is commercial aviation and in particular engineering, reliability and field support for one of the big three engine manufacturers. My career happened to coincide with seeing a particular engine series go from basic pencil sketch to full production in the late 70s to seeing the most elderly examples being pensioned off at about the same time as I myself retired.

Part of the great learning experience was sorting out what was and was not a safety concern. Obviously a missing wing was of greater concern than a non-functional entertainment system at one passenger seat.

Once actual safety concerns have been identified and prioritized, how does one go about ensuring that an aircraft never finds itself without a wing in the first place ?

The industry now uses a system called MSG 3

https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/MSG-3

to review and assess all such matters with goal of minimizing the probability of an actual hazard becoming a reality while maximizing the serviceability of an aircraft at an acceptable cost. This process has contributed immensely to the safety of today's commercial aircraft and in large part brought the cost of flying within reach of just about everyone. Dragging airplanes into hangers every few flights to look at widgets that have a well demonstrated service life of many decades without issue is naive, ineffective and would bring the industry to a standstill.

In looking at the British MoT system even briefly it fails just about every test of being a robust system that enhances road safety in a meaningful and cost effective manner. Holding an annual midnight exorcism 'just in case' might prove to be just as effective.

Again- I live in an area where no safety inspections take place. There is no trend of road events due to foreseeable vehicle fault.

 

In Feb this year my MOT cost £35 and I had to replace the rear left drop link (£19) and the electric handbrake motor (Used item: £60) and a rear left caliper (Reconditioned £100), labour was £80.

So all inclusive it cost: £295 but with no advisories.
Tbh that's not bad on a car of this age. I took time to find the best parts deals online and the reconditioned caliper looks brand new, although I haven't sent the old one back yet for a £20 refund. The caliper.

The 1st MOT is always an unknown quantity and I must admit to getting a tad irritable come MOT time every year. I put at least 2 bottles of "pre-MOT" goop in the tank in the week before the MOT and make sure I get the car well warmed up down a local dual carraigeway and drop it off at the exact time of the test. This is a well known move and ensures it will pass the emissions part of the test.

Next test is Feb 2018 and my only major concern is corrosion around the cills and the front and rear wings. After cleaning out behind both front wheels inner arches I brought out loads of wet mud, grit and some chunks of rotten metal. Not good from my perspective so I need to do a proper investigation and any necessary repairs.

Considering I also need to have the ATF changed and a new sump, the cost of that and any bodywork fixes combined may make this car non viable considering the low cost of buying another S type. I would like to keep this one though, its not easy finding this colour combination.

 

This month my S-Type had it's first MOT & passed without advisories but did have work done prior to the test:

2 new tyres (spare cracked and likely the original + 1 good tyre but with a nick in the wall)
Tyres rotated to place new tyres on the rear
Toe in/alignment adjusted on both axles
Headlamp alignment adjusted
Replacement discs and pads all round
Replacement wheel lugs (my fault)
Replacement battery
Air filter, cabin filter, oil filter and oil change

£750.59p all in :-)

However we brought our S-Type at just under £1000 below list price just under a year ago, and these costs do include servicing as well as MOT as we did everything at the same time. Plus I brought the discs, pads, oil and filters at discount, and Harwoods Jaguar were great at keeping the wheel lug cost to an absolute minimum, with the biggest component cost being the discs, plus the labour costs for doing the work I could not manage.

Next MOT should go OK (subject to the usual) as the MOT inspector said the S-Type is the best car he has seen us with to-date with no issues he can see at all - however next year we do need to get some rust treatment on her, & get the cambelt changed so a cheap MOT would help :-)

 

MOT time is always stressful not knowing it it will pass or fail and how much any repairs will cost. MOT testers vary in quality of assessment and some of their passes and fails are pretty suspect from years of my own MOT experience. I think my stresshead at MOT time is a throwback to when I owned a 1965 Ford rotbox as my first car.
Whatever the car costs to pass the MOT is paid, or the car gets scrapped and I've never had to scrap one from an MOT test yet.

I normally pay £35 discounted, but the new test centre I used last year cost £30.

My bike MOT costs £30 as standard.