MOT History Check - Sellers taking the P

[gadgetgricey]

Even though trying to get rid of cars, still browse the forums and eBay as I'm an addict always on the look out for a good deal. 😁

The number of sellers currently selling a car at a discount as MOT expired has increased,. What it should read is it's catastrophically failed it's MOT and I need to sell.

Do they not realise re MOT history check is there for all to see.

Latest was a Jag at a good price but MOT expired, is actually a Jag at what might still be a good price, but with a horrendous MOT failure less than a month ago. Needing tyres, welding and emissions sorting out, so not going to be a cheap fix

Just annoys me that people seem to be taking the piss somewhat, and someone might get caught.

Rant over.

[lesapandre]

Folk become quite funny selling vehicles. Once bought a Fiat Panda at a very very posh house in Highgate - when we got down Highgate Hill we found the brakes were virtually non-existant.😂

[steveo3002]

yeah the mot checker is a god send ..ive often checked what sound like decent cars to see a list of horror on the mot check

[meggersdog]

Similarly  I often check the cost of car tax, On cartaxcheck.co.uk it often comes back as sorn and last V5C change within one to three weeks before.

[SiC]

V5 issue date isn't necessarily a keeper change. If you change the address, the V5 issue date will change to when that was done. Some may dig out their V5, realise the address is an old house and then update it. 

[TheOtherStu]

I quite agree. Even with people selling cars with MOT, it's easy to see what the potential issues are. The number of people saying "Comes with 12 months MOT, great car, absolutely nothing wrong with it" when in fact, it has advisories for rust, brakes and emissions.

I'm selling a car right now. Advisories were caliper binding and rust on the front shocks. Both sorted and receipts to prove. I don't understand why others think that no-one will notice?

[Dippy]

Im amazed at the amount of people that dont know you can check mot history.

Its always the first thing I do when looking at a car ad.

[C1am]

7 minutes ago, TheOtherStu said:

I don't understand why others think that no-one will notice?

Because most of the general public are clueless when it comes to assessing a car. That's not meant as a criticism - knowledge is never perfect. 

[steveo3002]

most non car thickso's seem to think its a full refurbishment of the car and its fit to drive to africa and back ...."have you ever changed the oil sir?" - mot 9 months ago innit 

[anonymous user]

All the above is true, but you also get the clever people who expect a massive discount because of an issue mentioned several years ago on the MOT, which has obviously been addressed since. And/or expect you to fix all advisories for them, before they will consider low-balling you on a car that is already cheap. "It will need all that doing before the next Mot", yes, it's called ongoing maintenance, it's ok now (monitor and repair as necessary) why should I pay to upgrade what will no longer be my car.

[neil1971]

Always makes me laugh when I see a car advertised with 'Full MoT history'

[DodgyBastard]

I'd take the online mot fail list with a pinch of salt.
Some testers do have ulterior motives to fail cars looking for work so it's always best to assess the car yourself if possible.



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[beko1987]

It's a game I like to play on facebook marketplace, when some idiot lists a shit heap as 'perfect condition long mot"etc but the actual mot history is tragic. 

Either get ignored, the seller scrabbling to damage control or the ad gets pulled and re-listed. 

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, DodgyBastard said:

I'd take the online mot fail list with a pinch of salt.
Some testers do have ulterior motives to fail cars looking for work so it's always best to assess the car yourself if possible.



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Some stuff yes, pads, discs etc I’ve no doubt that happens but seriously no garage is going to be picking jobs like brake pipes, welding on sills or trailing arm bushes to drum work up - it’s wank jobs they don’t want, that’s why it’s so expensive. 

Best policy is to assume most people are liars, and base your decisions on the facts and what you can see in front of you. I’ve no objection to someone trading cars or whatever to make a few quid, if the price is fair and the cars good then who gives a fuck. 

[cort16]

The MOT history is good for getting an idea if the car has been looked after previously. I was looking at a mk3 mx5 recently that was very tidy and it has failed it's MOT the year before on HORRENDOUS rust issues.

I'm guessing it had been welded up but that kind of sets the scene.

The thing I've noticed recently is sellers selling cars with obvious damage but not mentioning it in the advert. This polo for instance has clearly been humped down both sides.

Advert states

Quote

Volkswagen polo drives great clean wee car

 

[DodgyBastard]

 

Here's the Mot history for one of my previous vehicles, looks like a minter on paper!

 

 

 

 

MOT history can work both ways.

[HMC]

Agreed re the overall care aspect- repeat fails on tyres below limit or exposed cords etc suggest a picture of little care and servicing until the legally necessary visit to a garage.

[sierraman]

Expecting a sweep of clean passes year on year on a 15 year old car though, unlikely! 

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

V5 issue date isn't necessarily a keeper change. If you change the address, the V5 issue date will change to when that was done. Some may dig out their V5, realise the address is an old house and then update it. 

Either that or they've just transferred a vanity plate off the car.

[colino]

Most buyers don't do any checks other than reading on the ad how long the MOT is.   To this day I sell cars and people ask if I'm leaving the tax on it.  Ask someone from DVSA why there are conditional MOT certificates, they will say, "What?" and you remind them about the fabulous advisory system.  Their response is simple, a vehicle passes or fails, everything else is for presenters information.

I have an old pal who puts all his retail cars through Kwik Fit for his MOTS and advertises them as such.  Everyone knows they fail to generate money so when he gets clean sheets punters think it is a pass plus.

Sadly people still think an MOT is a dealer full service and are surprised they have been transporting nuns and kittens in illegal vehicles until the big bad MOT tester fails them.

[sierraman]

Expectations are everything at the bottom end of the market, I’ve known people quibble what brand of tyres a car has fitted on a £2,000 car. Let’s be real here, the car is for sale for less than 10% if it’s original price, there will be problems in the pipeline.

That’s to be expected but in reality a lot of buyers don’t realise cars cost money to run, there are constant repairs that will periodically need committing to. If someone can’t get their head round that then paying £150 a month to rent a box is for them. But even then it doesn’t absolve you of any responsibility, if it gets keyed for example which we’ve had a spate of locally, then you’ve the thick end of a several hundred quid to put it right. Also still got tyres, servicing etc. 

[Anthony]

11 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Expectations are everything at the bottom end of the market, I’ve known people quibble what brand of tyres a car has fitted on a £2,000 car. Let’s be real here, the car is for sale for less than 10% if it’s original price, there will be problems in the pipeline.

 

I'm of the opinion that tyres often speak volumes of the previous owners attitude to maintenance and upkeep.

Matching branded tyres all round suggests the owner has probably spent money elsewhere on upkeep as required.

Mismatched Chinese deathrings suggests the owner has run the car on a shoestring and I'd have immediate concerns elsewhere on what they've cut corners on.

Ultimately though, yes anything that's depreciated to a tenth of its new price will have issues that need attending to and likely will have seen maintenance slip at some point during its life. MOT history to me gives a clue as to the extent of this - long list of advisories year on year, failures on tyres and the like suggest lack of care, and repeated mentions of corrosion suggests a probable weldathon ahead. Obviously a clean MOT history doesn't necessarily mean a good car though, but increases the likelihood in my eyes.

 

[TheOtherStu]

57 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Either that or they've just transferred a vanity plate off the car.

Ooh, I didn't consider that either. I've been moving mine about lately.

[sierraman]

13 minutes ago, Anthony said:

 

I'm of the opinion that tyres often speak volumes of the previous owners attitude to maintenance and upkeep.

Matching branded tyres all round suggests the owner has probably spent money elsewhere on upkeep as required.

Mismatched Chinese deathrings suggests the owner has run the car on a shoestring and I'd have immediate concerns elsewhere on what they've cut corners on.

Ultimately though, yes anything that's depreciated to a tenth of its new price will have issues that need attending to and likely will have seen maintenance slip at some point during its life. MOT history to me gives a clue as to the extent of this - long list of advisories year on year, failures on tyres and the like suggest lack of care, and repeated mentions of corrosion suggests a probable weldathon ahead. Obviously a clean MOT history doesn't necessarily mean a good car though, but increases the likelihood in my eyes.

 

Not many people are going to fit £100 a piece Crossclimates to a 15 year old car.

One thing that does put me off is DIY maintenance - 75% of people shouldn’t be ‘on the tools’. Everything is usually either dripping in Copperslip or too tight or too loose. 

[steveo3002]

10 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Not many people are going to fit £100 a piece Crossclimates to a 15 year old car.

 

points at 200k 2004 focus outside cough cough

[Spurious]

11 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

points at 200k 2004 focus outside cough cough

Goodyear cross climate equivalents on the P reg primera. 😁👍

It did make it handle as it should in the damp. 

[sierraman]

Christ! You must have money to burn! 😂

I have got Michelins on mine, but only by proxy, they were the tyres fitted to the Focus Titty X alloys I’ve stuck on it. When they’ve worn out it’s a set of Rovello, Autogreen or whatever Chinese shit National Tyres are peddling. 

There must be some truth in it because I get rid of a car usually when it’s ‘absolutely fucking fucked m8’.

[Spurious]

I got a 25% discount from tyres on the drive which made them £48 a corner. Helped they were only little 14 inch wheels. 

[Snake Charmer]

My Golf came with a near new set of Crossclimates! I have two full sets of 18" Mercedes CLC rims to go on my E Class, 7 of the tyres were budget brands with one Continental. I stopped buying budget tyres a long time ago as they didn't seem to do the mileage of a branded tyre.

As for sellers and Mot history, people live in fear of the Mot and like the comfort of knowing the car they are buying is safe even if it is only for the one day a year when Stevie Wonder gives it a poke for the seller!

[sierraman]

14 minutes ago, Spurious said:

I got a 25% discount from tyres on the drive which made them £48 a corner. Helped they were only little 14 inch wheels. 

Yeah sometimes now if you’ve an obsolete size like 14 inch rims you can pick good tyres up cheap.