landkeeper Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 this isn't intended to start any row uk versus eire having been underneath several land rovers of late that have come fom the uk with fairly fresh mots on them and noticing some nasty rusty body mounts crusty brake lines weeping shocks etc i wonder how much faith you guys living there place on your mot system here we have an national car test that is independant very strict and run by the government/eu admittedly on contract and somthing similar for commercial vehicles anyway i'd be interested in your opinions and experiences Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Totally depends who does the MOT really. there are guide lines for the Testers But one I know of lost their licence after a number of poor tested cars came through ok when problems existed. The one I use is ideal he has no interest in remedial work, he advises what/if anything needs attention you pay and the car passes or it doesn't. I have had repeated passes and also a recent failure, on different vehicles. No Mot is a ticket to not look at a car with your eyes wide open though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 An MoT is an inspection of the vehicle on one day of a year. The test is as reliable as the Tester that carried out the inspection... Some are good, some are bad and others are useful to know In a lot of cases, garages have one 'qualified' tester but the inspections are carried out by other garage workers with the final signature on the ticket being that of the 'qualified tester'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Even just in my personal experience, they're highly variable! I've had cars fail for things which aren't that serious (but still valid fail points), and others pass at the same garage when blatantly unroadworthy (failed shocks and badly worn bushes, for instance). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headhunter Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Mine is done by a friend. He would never put me or my family at risk, with a dodgy test pass. He made me change my LED front side lights because they were too blue. Made me fit the latch that holds down the 2nd row rear seat in a 110. Small things but not overlooked. Often one of his staff do the MOT so I know it's straight and fair. It's down to who you trust to do the best job. If I bought another car with a new MOT, I would be tempted to put it through another one immediately for piece of mind. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 A lot of things are the testers opinion, so corroded brake lines/body rust, may or may not fail. Rubber perishing is onother (brake hoses and tyre sidewalls). A shock with a slight oil leak will also pass as a 'slight misting of oil'). There's an allowable variation in brake performance on the same axle as well. There are a lot of places on a Land Rover that can be quite seriously rusted, but still within MOT guidelines. You could take a vehicle to two different MOT stations and it may well pass or fail on different things, but this doesn't mean that either or both are wrong. There's also the fact that a lot of them are not familiar with L/R's and will not be sure about what is testable or not. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 To be honest in the recent past I have known of two MOT places that would pass cars without looking at them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrfarmer Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 this isn't intended to start any row uk versus eire having been underneath several land rovers of late that have come fom the uk with fairly fresh mots on them and noticing some nasty rusty body mounts crusty brake lines weeping shocks etc i wonder how much faith you guys living there place on your mot system here we have an national car test that is independant very strict and run by the government/eu admittedly on contract and somthing similar for commercial vehicles anyway i'd be interested in your opinions and experiences it could be that the garage knew that it was being exported and put an MOT on it without looking at it i've been using the same garage for my MOT's for 7 years and i know that when i drive it in i've done all that i think it would fail and then if it fails it needs fixing i value there opinions and experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Don't trust them at all if you are buying - especially if they are fresh. If you can - get the V5C number at the top of the log-book before you buy - with that and the registration you can have a look at the MoTs for the last 5 years on-line including fails and advisories. Other than the obvious, one thing to be wary of is a serious fail followed a few days later by a pass from a different garage. For your own vehicle then try to choose a garage over a period of time - try them out with smaller jobs and see how they perform, and do the pre-MoT checks in the Haynes manual so you know whats iffy before you go in and see if they pick it up. I like a place that has a sensible approach in that they are not looking to fail it, but won't let anything through that should fail, either. My local MoT/service station seem to have four levels - the pass, the fail, the advisory, and the little chat afterwards when he tells me anything he's noticed that's not an official problem, but should be looked at or borne in mind for future maintenance. Very useful! As an illustration of how helpful my local place is - a few years ago (before I had a welder) my exhaust was split and blowing in a section that included the cat (expensive!) - he welded a patch on it for a tenner and gave me a pass. The patch was still there and doing it's job when I sold the car two years later. I hope everyone can find a place as good as my local! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyfarmerboy Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 i never trust the MOT's if they are being sold with 12months but i would never buy without looking, i do know a couple of places that are very picky for MOT's but atleast you know it will be safe and i know a couple that turn a blind eye so depends where you go. charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Interesting topic, especially the amount of poeple saying not to trust the MOT on a vehicle for sale....i'm just about to sell my 90, and had every intention of putting a new MOT on it - is this the wrong thing to do then??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I think they are a good thing, because at least it means someone has inspected the vehicle every year. However, they are down to one persons interpretation of the rules, which can vary wildly from one tester to another. There are some real exercisers out there who will fail you on the silliest things, and some that don't care and will pass anything. I seem to have found a happy medium with my testing station... they understand Landrovers, and won't fail it on anything dangerous, but at the same time are not touting for work so won't fail it for silly things. If you find a sensible MOT testing station, stick with them. As has been said above, i wouldn't trust an MOT if I was buying a secondhand car, as there are still those testers around who'll issue a ticket without seeing the car.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrfarmer Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Interesting topic, especially the amount of poeple saying not to trust the MOT on a vehicle for sale....i'm just about to sell my 90, and had every intention of putting a new MOT on it - is this the wrong thing to do then??? it's not so bad if your a privat seller but buying for a dealer who will put 12MOT on if you buy i have know them to put a ticket with out looking at it (when i got my old van i did the deal if he put a new mot on it when i went to pick it up it hadn't move but had a new MOT,) this was before it went computericed i think it harder to do it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks90 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 i'm very happy with my local tester - he's done all my vehicles for the past 8 years and is the local testing station for a couple of landrover garages. He`s strict as hell..... but in my opinion thats a good thing, as i know that at that moment in time my vehicle is safe and roadworthy for me and my 2 year old daughter. it also helps that i'm completely paranoid and if i hear a squeak or bang or rattle or it jsut doesnt 'feel right', the vehicle gets taken off the road until i've had a chance to poke around and find the cause. Luckily i dont have to use my landy to get to work, and can just as easily use the bus so it isnt an issue having it laid up for a few days until i get around to fixing it. Suppose it also helps that it gets scrutineered once a month at trials, i quite enjoy getting it checked over by some of the scrutineers in the club, as they do stuff like check for bulges in brake pipes, leaks etc - so its sort of a mini check! but as others have said, an MOT isnt worth the paper its printed on when looking at a perspective new purchase. To me all it means is one less thing to do if i do buy the vehicle before i can legally get it out on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Interesting topic, especially the amount of poeple saying not to trust the MOT on a vehicle for sale....i'm just about to sell my 90, and had every intention of putting a new MOT on it - is this the wrong thing to do then??? Personally I would prefer to see 6-8 months MoT and a reasonable mileage done since then, rather than a fresh 12 months - but that's just me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Personally I would prefer to see 6-8 months MoT and a reasonable mileage done since then, rather than a fresh 12 months - but that's just me Ah, well i have a choice of sell with 12months MOT or none since the old one expired a while back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrfarmer Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Ah, well i have a choice of sell with 12months MOT or none since the old one expired a while back! you could sell it with no mot or 12months but if it fails and you fix to get it moted keep the failer slip so the new owner can see what you did to it. the range rover i just got had a failer slip that was over the 10 days so fixed all it failed on and the adviserys tookit to my tester it passed but i did get some new adviserys to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian S Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I have several vehicles and for the past couple of years have always gone to the same place. The guy knows me well enough to know I like to keep my cars in good mechanical condition and wont mind spending to get things done straight away. One of my tests showed up a leaking rear damper which he told me about and passed it, but I had new ones on by the following weekend. He knew I would, I have 2 kids and my missus will be driving all these motors so its important to me they are as good as they can be. My landy just failed on emissions and rear brake pads with the front pads as avisories, but I changed them all anyway, he said if it were not for the emissions he would have saved me the retest cost. he always goes through the advisories and points them out to me while the car is still on the ramps. He pointed out some surface rust on the bottom of my sill which I found was a hole behind the plastic sill cover. He noticed I had got it welded before the retest even though it did not fail on it, I could have just put the plastic back. If you find a good one and get to know them well it can be very usefull. But, thats just me. Like others here I would always check a vehicle I was buying over thoroughly myself regardless of any MOT it might have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat_pending Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Let's get a few things straight about the MOT. There is far too much opinion, rubbish and hearsay written. So here's my opinion as an MOT tester. Since MOT computerisation all (RFRs, reasons for rejection), failure items are written into the MOT system, to fail a vehicle you have to click on the relevant reason. So, It CAN'T be failed unless it's there and it fails to meet the criteria. It's an examination of the testable items only, it CAN'T be failed on a non testable item. Whilst certain things are down to the judgement/experience of the tester most are pretty clear cut. Lights either work or they don't, tyre depths are measured, emissions are measured, we have no influence over what the machine reads (it also prints out the results, customer gets a copy, we keep a copy for three months, VOSA can inspect these at any time). Brake test readings are entered into the computer and that works out the result, again we have no influence. Can't fail on split wiper blade unless it's so bad it fails to clear the screen, can't fail on corrosion outside the prescribed areas unless it's so bad it affects the steering or brakes. There's plenty more, the testers manual is on line, read it. Remember you the customer are allowed by law to observe the test being carried out and if you feel anything has been unfairly failed, or passed, you can appeal, the vehicle will then be examined by VOSA. ONLY a qualified tester can carry out the test, although you have to have an assistant to operate controls, rock the steering etc, no one else can test and then have the tester "sign off" (as someone else wrote earlier). All test stations are regularly examined by VOSA, they sit outside with a lap top, they know when you're logged on as testing and when you log off. They know exactly what you've passed/failed, they then walk in and demand the vehicle back in and re examine it. This happens with no warning at any time. If you're found to have passed a vehicle that should have failed, or vice versa you Will be disciplined and you could be struck off and or fined. Testers are questioned on their knowledge, fail to get enough answers right and you're required to attend a refresher course (as are all testers every 5 years). VOSA are very strict, dodgy MOTs are so risky it just would not be worth doing. All the data from test stations are checked, abnormally high pass or failure rates are liable to get you "visited" by VOSA. I'm not saying that "mistakes" sometimes deliberate don't happen, things get missed or that testers opinions on SOME things don't vary, but on balance.... Should you trust an MOT As an inspection of the testable items on that day?....YES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Very interesting pat_pending, thanks for the information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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