dodgy MOT ! or ?

[Tickman]

I have had enough MOT's over the years to have experienced most of the issues above!

I have had the steering rack needs replaced and magically when the receipt for the work they had done for the last MOT (just within 12 months) then it became OK for a pass. (The kind of mechanic nobody needs) and at the other end of the scale I have been handed the pass certificate and then told what the car should have failed on and told to get it sorted.

 

At present I have a tester where I do the 'helping' work and I go down into the pit and have a good look at the rest of the car while being tested.

 

When I took the '07 Punto for test he showed me the exhaust being rather rusty, when I said I would tell the owner (friends daughter) he was quite insistent that the exhaust could 'possibly' last until the next test. He was just pointing out issues that would likely come up within the next 12 months (exactly what I want the test to be)

 

The MOT test works at present, unfortunately people think it is not just an MOT but a full service/restoration of their car which makes it safe and trouble free for the next 12 months.

[beko1987]

I felt bad taking the Xantia to another MOT station after it's initial fail as I didn't want to be seen to be trying to find a more lenient tester, despite Danny fixing the smoke issue. A couple of people at work did comment, but saw sense after I explained that I had no more holiday to use to take it back to near my house, 2 hours from work...

 

Technically it would fail if tested again tomorrow as I turned it all back up a bit, so OMGITSUNSAFE!

 

The Meriva flew through it's MOT with 1 advisory, despite it shaking the front end like a shitting dog above 60mph, and the rear brakes only passed as I gave the pistons in the calipers a stern talking to the week before... their seized a bit now again (wonder if that's casing/not helping the shaking) so again, MOT Void?

 

We all know the common sense answer, it's all written in every post above. That's why I like buying cars from shiters! The MOT was just something that happened, it's true condition today is xxx

[fatharris]

 

 

There was a local dodgy car sales site near me that would take its mot tests miles out of the way which always seems dodgy to me !

*cough* Castle Green *cough*

 

They've gotten better in recent years though - they noticed my new suspension arms on the MG when I tested it.

 

Back in the day, lads at work would park the car up, pop a pebble on top of a tyre, and come back to a) a pass certificate and a pebble.

 

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[They_all_do_that_sir]

It's the twats that think "full MOT" means there is literally nothing wrong with the car then get the strop because it has a massive FTP shortly afterwards.

 

I imagine it must be a pain running a garage, "you MOT'D my car last week and the cambelt snapped, why didn't you pick up on that?"

 

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[Jifflemon]

I was once an MOT tester.

 

Never tested my own cars, always took them somewhere else.

 

MOT's are a basic safety test, any competent mechanic should relish a second pair of eyes looking over their work, or tools that they can't afford testing stuff they can't (headlamp alignment, brake balance).

 

I've ZERO issues with a genuine fail. I honestly believe that every test centre should not be allowed to carry out repairs beyond headlamp alignment and perhaps bulb replacement.

 

For a LONG time, I was on a one man mission to root out the piss-takers; I will happily confess to taking cars to places that offered massively reduced rates for an MOT inspection, having them fail on tyres, brakes, exhaust etc, being advised that there was a "special offer that week" for said items, then asking the station for form VT17 (Appeal notification).

 

What usually entailed, was a conversation that went from "whats that?" to "You'll have to pay a full fee and leave the vehicle here" before finally going to "let's just have another look" before a magical test certificate was issued.

 

Just remember that unless you're actually present when the MOT is conducted and pass issued, an actual certificate itself is worthless.

[twosmoke300]

 

*cough* Castle Green *cough*

 

They've gotten better in recent years though - they noticed my new suspension arms on the MG when I tested it.

 

Back in the day, lads at work would park the car up, pop a pebble on top of a tyre, and come back to a) a pass certificate and a pebble.

 

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Not them actually . Car sales place near a greasy spoon and a really fast tyre place in Falmouth for mots

[Stroller133]

As I'm getting older I think I'm also getting hypocritical. Iffy MOTS & speeding were acceptable in the 90s, but not any more!

Back then the main requirement for a mot was for the expiry date to be in the future.

[forddeliveryboy]

If the test was made simpler, which would be no bad thing, there would still be issues with wheel bearings and other mechanical items like brakes. For example, I've known cars with slightly tired front wheel bearings which if unused for a couple of weeks would take 40-50 miles of enthusiastic driving before they start droning again. 

 

Problems arise at the cheaper end of the market when new owners have high expectations but tight pockets, these problems usually multiply with infrequently used old cars where many testers aren't used to non-standard or out-of-the-ark engineering and where there aren't enough cars of that sort through the testing station for a common bodge to be well-recognised.

 

Buying any old car which hasn't been relied on daily is a risky venture, what one driver may be able to live with can be a huge obstacle and hundreds or thousands in repair for somebody else. At worst, an MoT test is like a 'computer says yes/no' situation, but there are many diligent testers who survive the officicaldom and manage to work in their own common sense and inteiligence into the result. 

 

But for as long as people want something cheap when it comes to engineering in any form, there will be problems.

[Barry Cade]

I've had a Merc ML blow an airbag on the brake rollers after the test and a Cavalier spring snap when parking up in the car park after the sucessful test. We can only see what is visible in a short space of time and make a decision. A snapshot of the cars condition as a Vosa man once said to me. Don't know how many times I've been asked "Did you stamp my book?"

 

Sigh. Glad I don't do it anymore. I pick em up when they are broke- and 99 times out of 100- "It was only MOT'd last week Why didn't they fix it?"

[rainagain]

I hate it when you buy a car advertised as having ’12 months MOT with no advisories’ this is a translation of ‘my friendly garage did it whilst wearing shades in the dark.’

 

For example my Volvo has just failed its MOT on a poor hand brake it was like this when I bought it, despite having ’12 months MOT with no advisories’. It also had an obvious oil leak which wasn’t mentioned on the MOT.

[hpi_matrix]

Go on then OP, what has been bought and what is wrong?

[Bobthebeard]

An MOT is a basic safety check. The rest is up to you as the owner/driver.

Simple really.

[DodgeRover]

I hate it when you buy a car advertised as having ’12 months MOT with no advisories’ this is a translation of ‘my friendly garage did it whilst wearing shades in the dark.’

 

For example my Volvo has just failed its MOT on a poor hand brake it was like this when I bought it, despite having ’12 months MOT with no advisories’. It also had an obvious oil leak which wasn’t mentioned on the MOT.

Handbrake could just have scraped a pass and not been an advisory last year, you wouldn't notice the marginal deterioration to make it a fail.

[oldford]

 It also had an obvious oil leak which wasn’t mentioned on the MOT.

The tester is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, if the oil leak was obvious (which is not a testable item), why should he have to advise it?  My criteria for advising oil leaks is that if it drips on the floor during test, I advise it, if it's confined to the engine, who's to say that it isn't a spill whilst topping it up?

 

People have this idea that the MOT is a comprehensive inspection to ensure that all the components on the car are working to their original design specification and that it guarantees their condition for the next 12 months. If you want that sort of level of detail get a professional vehicle inspection done and pay the going rate appropriately.

 

It's just a visual inspection with some measured values of a list of items, where visibility is restricted by things in the way, which aren't allowed to be removed.

 

The test pass standard is extremely low and cars with dangerous defects to non testable items can get a pass.

 

[DodgeRover]

Tbh I can't think of any way to sensibly test cars with plastic sill covers, brake pipes running over the top of fuel tanks etc without dismantling which obviously isn't a practical proposition, it's a problem I can only see getting worse too.

[17-Coffees]

Seen a classic Impreza for sale on one of the many Facebook BUY N SELL pages, typical advert from them with minimal information and English that was barely readable but being sold with "FRESH MOT". Car was also Barried as you'd expect. 

This was not long after the DVLA added the history check feature, so decided to try it.

Last MOT it failed on things like buggered ball joints, shagged out suspension, binding brakes and massive corrosion to the structure as well as advisory's for gearbox related things (clutch, etc) and cracking, perished tyres and the like.  

Re-tested the next day and passed with no advisory's. That was the MOT the car had and was being sold with.

 

I'm sure everything was fixed* on the car and it was't dodgy considering the low price & timescale between MOT's....

[Dave_Q]

Cars of the mid term future will have all key safety features monitored by onboard systems, they will be exempt from MOT as they will self-certify their safety via the manufacturers 7G online monitoring/grassing system.

 

If anything breaks they will throw a wobbler and self drive to an approved workshop immediately.

 

All very well until the system become self aware then you've got Skynet.

 

WHY WILL WE NEVER LEARN?

[xtriple]

I did a mate a faour once  (I have done other favours for other people but only one for this bastard!) as he was desperate to buy a Transit from some bod down in Cornwall and the cha would only take cash, would I buy his 1275GT from him?

 

I didn't want it - it was back in the days when they were just old cars and worth less than a cup of camel piss -- but he needed £600 and the car had a new MOT and loads of rent... So  bought the car, ran him down to Cornwall so he could collect the trannie and all was well, just had to get rid of the Mini...

 

It sold really easily but came back the very next day with an irate Father who claimed the MOT was bent, that I was in collusion with the garage, was generally dishonest and a bounder to boot... Now, my friend would never rip me off by selling me a car with a bent MOT now would he? Yes, he fucking would and did. The car was an absolute deathtrap with a list of faults that would make even Quinten Wilson blush. His wife had actually written the MOT on a blank he'd bought from a dodgy geezer at a local garage.

 

I don't like dodgy MOTS: always been of the opinion that if a car cannot pass one then it's just a shed and should be used only for storing garden tools or stopping the fairies from pinching the paving slabs outside your gaff...

[Rave]

For a LONG time, I was on a one man mission to root out the piss-takers;

 

<snip>

 

Just remember that unless you're actually present when the MOT is conducted and pass issued, an actual certificate itself is worthless.

 

You're a truculent northerner Jiff? Who knew?! 

 

You alright mate, been a long time? I seem to have lost access to the Hexus forums, not that I'm much of a PC enthusiast any more- though I'm typing this on an HP 1U two proc 8 core 16 thread server that I picked up on ebay for 60 quid and repurposed as a workstation of sorts.

 

Anyway, being present at MOTs- I always take my cars to a local place that has a poor reputation, but generally passes my chod in about half an hour; I always wait and watch, because I'm rarely in a hurry- and because I don't have a four poster myself, it's interesting to see the underside of your car for yourself. Just once, after the usual half an hour, they came up and said 'ARB droplink's knackered, and a rear damper's leaking'...and they were. Paid them what I thought was an entirely reasonable £130 to change them both, and came back the next day with £180 to pay for the test and the fix. So as I don't think they'd pass a dangerous car, I'll keep going back hoping they overlook minor problems. For the first three years I took my 05 reg Mondeo in I don't think they even bothered testing emissions, and since the post-cat lambda sensor has been knackered since I bought it, putting the EML light on, I used to plug my £6 Chinese OBD2 reader in before I took it in and sit there spamming 'delete fault codes' using an app on my phone. This year they shoved a reader up its tailpipe first thing and it was fine, so I didn't bother.

 

The only time I've ever gamed the MOT system was with the first car I ever bought with my own money, an E reg MR2. Paid massively over the odds for it in 2001 as I was a naive kid and really wanted one. Took it for it's MOT at the local Toyota dealer 6 months later, and it failed on the rear brakes and handbrake being screwed, which the internet even in 2002 identified as a very common problem with them. They quoted me £800 to fix it, so I phoned an 'independent Toyota specialist' who quoted £400. I dropped it off and told them to do the work, and also to MOT it for me as I couldn't be bothered taking it back to the original place. They called me back to say that their MOT man had passed the brakes, but failed it on rotten sills. So I took it back to the original garage, paid the £15 retest fee, and got my ticket.

 

After a year of generally happy motoring as a young lad in an MR2, I figured that the sills needed doing if at least one tester had failed it on them. So I took it back to the Toyota specialist place who had quoted another £400 for the welding and told them to do it and MOT it. £450 later I picked it up with 12 month fresh ticket. My sense of grievance at having to pay so much for what I regarded as silly bodywork tidying up lasted until I hit a speed hump 100 yards down the road- the car just took it no problem whereas before it would really shudder  . Night and day difference- it must have been seriously rotten! 

[Split_Pin]

I always get nervous when taking a car that is new to me for its first MOT in my ownership, especially if the previous MOT had little or no advisories. That's exactly the situation with the Megane, although as it was so cheap I'll be more curious than nervous.

 

I'm in a good place with MoTs these days as I've been going to the same garage for nearly 10 years and trust them completely.

 

They do undertake restorations of older cars so are sympathetic to the more geriatric stuff I bring in but I know if something needs looking at, they will flag it to me.

[Jerzy Woking]

I use two garages for MOT's (one for cars, one for bikes), both located in villages and with testers that have been there for years. I know that neither would pass anything unsafe, and better still both advise me if they find something that will need doing that isn't part of the MOT. And if it fails, I know that it is because it needs to be failed, not that they are looking for the repair work.

 

The bike place has even passed a non runner I had, as the teste said that starting the bike is not a requirement. Brakes, bearings, lights (if fitted), horn, indicators (if fitted), tyres, chain, frame and forks are all thouroughly checked so if the bike is safe to move and stop, it gets a ticket.

[beko1987]

I always get nervous when taking a car that is new to me for its first MOT in my ownership, especially if the previous MOT had little or no advisories. That's exactly the situation with the Megane, although as it was so cheap I'll be more curious than nervous.

 

 

Im in exactly the same position with the Zafira, it had a very clean sheet last year, mot due quite soon. At least this time we have a spare car, unlike the xantia where I needed it to be able to get to work. I'm beginning to see why people have a spare car around here...

[Split_Pin]

Yes thankfully I can put my Astra one the road again then although the MOT on that is due in April too.

[strangeangel]

The MOT (and the occasional tester) might not be perfect, but it's a lot better than nothing.

 

I hope this idea of extending the interval between tests to 2 years gets canned in short order.

[Vince70]

I think the modern mot is an inconvenience to be honest it was a lot easier back in the day to be able to buy one from the pub on a Friday night after work the same goes with insurance cover notes and tax disks.. Lol

 

I'm only joking obviously.

[cms206]

I throw everything at my chosen test station and the only comment ever passed is "I can't explain away rot". I've had verbal advisories in the past for daft things and to be fair I always sort what needs sorted; if I present them with a shitbox that I know is a shitbox then it'll fail. If I present something tired but solid with nothing serious I get a pass and advise.

 

I've had two fails this year (406 brake pipe and sills, Kia Pride rot on the floorpan) but everything else so far has passed this year. I've got four tests in February and one in March so we'll see how that goes...

 

As an aside, a question for testers; what are your opinions on underseal? I'm in the habit of throwing mine over the pit before test for a check over and schutzing, but while my test centre actually encourages it I've had two testers give me an earful at other garages for obscuring potential rot.

 

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[Dave_Q]

I'm not a tester, but a fresh tidemark would make me suspicious that it was made of cornflake packets and PVA glue underneath.

 

Even so, with correct application of the corrosion assessment tool it should be possible to tell if its metal underneath, if not I think there is a back covering advisory they can put on for heavy underseal, just in case the car collapses in a pile of red dust down the road.

[DodgeRover]

Yep I've seen advisories for heavy undersealing/ heavy wax oilling in the past.

Arse covering at it's finest. Yes of course it's lathered in wax/ underseal if it wasn't it would be red rust...

[blackboilersuit]

At the bottom end of the market (which lets face it is where we all live) then it's buyer beware and an MOT counts for feck all. Expect the same low life antics from a small used car dealer as you would from Barry off the local council estate and you won't go far wrong. 

 

I simply view the length of MOT as a mark of how long I have to sort out whats wrong with said car/bike. 

 

The disco I bought in 2010 had 9 months MOT but holes in proscribed areas that you could stick your arm through! Obviously shouldn't have passed a real MOT for the previous 3 or 4 years. I still bought it though and then spent 6 months and 15kg of mig wire putting it right. I must have done something right because although I sold it to a lad who just intended to off road it according to the MOT checker website it still has a valid ticket all these years on. 

 

Unless you're trying to get your money back off a dealer I can't see why anybody would appeal/report a dodgy ticket. All that's going to happen is that its revoked and your car put off the road.

[cms206]

I asked as, for example, the council estate, has never been welded at all. It gets used in all weathers, but gets undersealed and chassis washed yearly.

 

Likewise we've always chassis washed and undersealed our coaches for MOT and generally those we've done for years are in a far better state than those which are fresh to us.

 

Hard one to call. If one of mine needs welding for test it gets welded, tested then schutzed to let the centre see the welding before I cover it but I can see the other side of the coin.

 

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