First experience with the new 2018 MOT rules

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Very true. The good old days. My first MOT cost me £1.25

It was introduced in 1960, as a test only for vehicles over 10 years old, 7 years in 1961, then in 1967 it was changed to older than 3 years. Initially it was only a test of brakes, lights and steering components.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by sworks

I disagree, for the record I’m an MOT tester and nobody’s car passes if it shouldn’t or fails if it shouldn’t. I make my choices knowing that at the end of the day I will sleep at night. In almost 30 years of testing I’ve had two appeals against my decisions and VOSA agreed with me in both cases.

If only all testers were that scrupulous, but my personal experience is that they are not. They are allowed to do the MOT for much less than the maximum they are allowed to charge. That suggests that they either have to cut corners, or partially write off some of the cost as a means to find extra repair work. I always pay the maximum, I would never use a reduced cost MOT place. I have seen MOT's advertised as low as £20 - how can that possibly pan out?

[SideValve]

Regardless of the MOT rules its an offence to drive a defective vehicle, its just a question of the circumstances / your luck when the fault is found whether you get nicked for it. If you have bald tyres, faulty lights ineffective brakes, jagged rust, loud exhaust etc. they can do you for driving it. Lots of people seem to think you can drive to and from an MOT station without an MOT with impunity. Its true you don't need an MOT for the journey but they can still do you for faults if you are stopped or in an accident. You might get away with "I didn't know my brake lights weren't working" on the way. Trickier on the way back with a fail note on the passenger seat - and the database.

Incidentally I was reading pre-war motor-cycle mag a while back and they were saying there had been over 20,000 prosecutions that year for dangerous vehicles! One moan was that if a copper could move your bike while you held the brakes they'd do you for it - not very scientific!

[MGR South Devon]

Originally Posted by sworks

The thing is if a tester gets it wrong then it’s not the garage that’s to blame it’s the tester and he takes the blame and the consequences.If you value your reputation as a person then you do the job right. Myself and a lot of people I know test cars as though it was their wife’s car with their children in it which kind of sets a standard. However, the mot is open to interpretation which is where the problem arises.

Actually, the garage does get penalised if the tester gets it wrong, as they are the appointed Authorised Examiner, and if a car goes to a Ministry Appeal and the tester gets given points, so does the garage (the AE). The worst scenario is if the tester loses his licence it will be for a 3 year period, if the AE loses his licence because the tester loses his, it is for 5 years.
As the AE for our garage, I make sure my lads test properly and don't make mistakes which would lose me my licence. You can be in trouble for failing something that shouldn't be failed just as much as missing something that should fail.

[MGR South Devon]

Originally Posted by HarryM1BYT

If only all testers were that scrupulous, but my personal experience is that they are not. They are allowed to do the MOT for much less than the maximum they are allowed to charge. That suggests that they either have to cut corners, or partially write off some of the cost as a means to find extra repair work. I always pay the maximum, I would never use a reduced cost MOT place. I have seen MOT's advertised as low as £20 - how can that possibly pan out?

Blame the government for cheap MOT tests. Most independents have tried to get the MOT fixed for every garage, but VOSA say that it can't be done because of what the government call 'free enterprise'. You are right in your assumption that those who do cheap MOT's will look for failure work, as economically, with average of 8 MOT a day at approx. £35 (Kwik fit price), most garages could not meet their financial commitments. Unfortunately, it has forced many of the independents to reduce the price of their MOT to compete, especially if like us we have a fast fit avenue with three garages doing cheap MOT's in the locality.


Our current rate is £45 but we carry out a fair MOT.

[impvan]

Many countries have separated the MOT test from the repair work.

That way there can be no incentive to 'invent' failures, or to profit from the naiive owner.


We do the same in other safety-related disciplines - lifts are always inspected by a third party, as are pressure systems - so why the difficulty in accepting the same thing for car safety?


Also, with all the emphasis on vehicle safety, why are we still testing shock absorbers by trying to bounce the corner of the car, just like we were doing 60 years ago?

We can see an old boy's shopping lifeline that does 1k a year fail on its minimal total emissions, yet we do nothing to actively test a car's roadholding.

[MGR South Devon]

Originally Posted by bendrick

It has struck me on reading about the new MOT regime that anything that causes a refusal of certificate means that the car can't be driven away from the testing centre as it is classed as dangerous to drive and a prosecutable offence.


I'm not advocating driving dangerous cars but presumably unless you're a capable DIY car enthusiast with acess to a car trailer then you will have to get your car repaired at the place that you got the car tested at.

Also if you can't immediately afford the repairs or the MOT testing place doesn't want to do the repair then why would they allow you to store your car on their premises?

What exactly are you supposed to do now?

Having now read all the numerous thread on this subject, as an AE for a MOT test station I spoke directly to VOSA for clarification on what authority a test station has regarding any cars that fail. I will clarify the points as follow:

The test station can only advise that the dangerous items should be repaired immediately, but they cannot insist the car must be left at the test station.
If the car has a current MOT, it is still valid until midnight on the day of expiry. The customer can take the car home or to another garage for repair.

Nothing has actually changed regarding the rules as under the Road Traffic Act, any car with or without an MOT which is found to be dangerous can and has always been subject to prosecution. Only now they may give out considerably higher fines. It will be down to the discretion of the Police if they decide whether or not to fine.

If any MOT station 'blackmails' a customer in making them have the repairs done at their garage, then I suggest they should be reported to VOSA.

With this information, I suggest we just carry on as before, and make our own decision as how to proceed at the time of the test. Personally, I think the police force are stretched as it is to randomly stop every motorist, so unless the car is an absolute death trap, I don't think we should worry too much.

Hopefully this will finally put the matter to rest.

[Dallas]

Originally Posted by MGR South Devon

The test station can only advise that the dangerous items should be repaired immediately, but they cannot insist the car must be left at the test station.
If the car has a current MOT, it is still valid until midnight on the day of expiry. The customer can take the car home or to another garage for repair.

Thank you Lynn for the clarification.