Annual car checkup

Once again the yearly MOT has arrived. And once again there has been a rejection, this time for two rear tyres, the emmissions test and a couple of bulbs. Not bad i suppose, considering i drive a 12 year old car. Could this be because it has German build quality? I cannot in all honesty say that it has not cost me a good deal of my hard earned money, over the years i have had it. It was bought from a local car dealer in the area, in which i used to live( Stratford on Avon) And although well known to myself as a local garage owner,( We wasn`t knocking elbows at the bar.) But he had a good reputation, with the secondhand vehicles he sold. In fact on a recent family visit back, even he was surprised that i still had the same car. I have been asked by various people why i don`t take advantage of the goverment scrappage scheme? Well the short answer to that is, All well and good, if you have the finances in place to keep up the payments. But as one of my work collegues put it, where do you stop spending on an old vehicle, and use the money to make the payments on a new one? Good question! Hang on. there is an update. As i write this, i have just had a phone call from the garage, who have informed me that they think the head gasket has gone, which would explain the bad emmision result! Oh Dear! this now throws up a whole new conundrum. They are going to call back with a quote. Untill the next time.