VOSA testing MOt tester, testing my car

[Steve L]

My daughter had asked me to prep and MOT her 1997 Renault megane for her.
I'd had to change the front brake discs & pads (£40) and fit a new bottom ball joint (£9), and re-seal the exhaust pipe joints.
Not bad for a 15 year old car with 106'000 miles on the clock.
So having booked the car i for 3pm yesterday at Charlies in Leo, I was hoping she'd pass. Like all cars being DIY maintained, it is sometimes hard to replicate MOT conditions especially suspension joints as they used to use a beam jack, but now use a shaker pad system that more accurately gives a real road load condition for the car.

Upon arrival there was the usual wait as Charlie is always busy especially with his £30 mot deals. Finally my car was chosen for the next test and a chap in a very clean boiler suit turned up. Word soon got round, he was a VOSA mot tester.

I wasn't too worried, but I did think that with "clip board charlie" on the spot, How ever after the test that was now an hour and a half long due to the VOSA chappie double checking, the car was past with just 2 advisories. The VOSA chap commented that he was suprised that the car passed as it looked old enough to fail and be a true test of how fair the mot tester is and how accurate he was.

We went through the advisories which were a slight crack in the exhaust back box outer skin, and surface rust on a crimping ferrel on a brake pipe. Both of which were very borderline even mentionable, but the MOT'r had to comment as a 15 year old car shouldn't have a clean sheet according to "clip board charlie".

I thought I'd share the experience with you all, as it was the first time in 35 years of taking cars, vans, motorcycles and trucks for MOT's that I'd seen the tester being tested and it was quite entertaining to say the least. Especially the comment that a 15 year old car should of been a failure, purely based upon it's age. Personally I came away with the satisfaction that as DIY mechanic, I can keep a 15 year old car in a good enough condition to of only needed £55 of TLC to pass a MOT under close scrutiny. Also I was pleased that my standard of presenting a vehicle for test was good enough too.

 

[Martin24]

When chamging my 4 yr old disco for a 12 yr old pajero some years ago now, there was no doubt as to which was in the better condition regardless of the age!! What a thing to say that it looked old enough to fail. You would think that he would look beyond age! Having said that the old pajero was the only car I was ever pulled in for roadside checks, needless to say there was never anything wrong. I bet now with the Defender my tank will be dipped every time vosa are doing that locally with the assumption I'm a farmer!!

 

[josh1]

yes the chaps from VOSA can pick a garage at random whenever they feel like it an recheck any vehicle you have tested they want.
and if you have done a dodgy MOT either way the garage is in trouble

ive been a MOT tester for about 3 years now and wouldnt want to be on the wrong side of them

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Josh,
My B-I-L and nephew are both registered MOT testers, and they are very careful with regards carrying out MOT's

I am puzzled by your comment "and if you have done a dodgy MOT either way the garage is in trouble" - what two ways can can you do a doggy MOT. either its right or wrong, I don't belive you are saying the garage (or tester) is in trouble for doing it right, can you enlighten me?

 

[chrisbee1]

One of the problems faced by an MOT tester is that some items are subjective. When does corrosion become bad enough to change from an advise to a fail? What one tester believes to be worn but still serviceable may be considered to be too badly worn by another. I don't know about "dodgy" MOT's but there are certainly some garages that are more likely to pass borderline cars than others.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

One of the problems faced by an MOT tester is that some items are subjective. When does corrosion become bad enough to change from an advise to a fail? What one tester believes to be worn but still serviceable may be considered to be too badly worn by another. I don't know about "dodgy" MOT's but there are certainly some garages that are more likely to pass borderline cars than others.

hi, following on on from the above quote I think that sometimes the "nod" is given to a tester by the mechanic doing the repaires or service and this maybe why some items are overlooked by the tester especialy when refering to cars just sold.
when I bought the meriva it was serviced and tested by the vaxhall dealer prior to delivery, but after I got it home and had chance to check everything over, I found the washers didn't work "as a pipe was blocked" one of the number plate bulbs had blown, the rear wiper was split, and the spare tyre while good was flat,
only small items I know and easily rectified but they should have been picked up by the MOT tester if a full and proper test had been done,

 

[NickinFrance]

I am puzzled by your comment "and if you have done a dodgy MOT either way the garage is in trouble" - what two ways can can you do a doggy MOT. either its right or wrong,

I would have thought the 'either way's' were:
Passing things that should fail
Failing things that should have passed (possibly to get work if the MoT station is also a garage)

 

[NigelHutson]

Apparently another thing that some Dealers/Traders are doing with cars they've sold, due to the new type of MOT test certificate, is getting the testers to write down any advisories on a piece of paper (which no doubt go into Room 101) rather than on the certificate where they should be now.
Loke any walk of life, there are good and bad.
Personally, I'd rather know if something needs doing (providing it's genuine of course!). After all, it's not only my own safety that may be at risk, but everyone else's too. Fortunately I use a place that only does MOT tests, and they are not attached to any other garage, so not touting for business.

 

[chrisbee1]

Advisories themselves can also be a bit misleading. My wife's car had one for the brake pads being 80% worn. With her annual mileage they are probably good for the next 2 years. Equally, on a car that does high millage should an advisory be given for 3mm of tyre tread left?

 

[NigelHutson]

Advisories themselves can also be a bit misleading. My wife's car had one for the brake pads being 80% worn. With her annual mileage they are probably good for the next 2 years. Equally, on a car that does high millage should an advisory be given for 3mm of tyre tread left?

Quite true, but shouldn't the new owner be made aware and then they can make the judgment of whether to rectify or not?

 

[chrisbee1]

Quite true, but shouldn't the new owner be made aware and then they can make the judgment of whether to rectify or not?

Of course, but again it's down to the individual tester whether or not he issues one.

 

[josh1]

I am puzzled by your comment "and if you have done a dodgy MOT either way the garage is in trouble" - what two ways can can you do a doggy MOT. either its right or wrong, I don't belive you are saying the garage (or tester) is in trouble for doing it right, can you enlighten me?

Nick in france, hit the nail right on the head

colin-yorkshire
whilst the washers and bulb would have been a failure item, the rear wiper blade does not come into a MOT test neither does a spare tyre although the tester could have advised the tyre was flat!

 

[weejock]

Advisories themselves can also be a bit misleading. My wife's car had one for the brake pads being 80% worn. With her annual mileage they are probably good for the next 2 years. Equally, on a car that does high millage should an advisory be given for 3mm of tyre tread left?

Quite true, but shouldn't the new owner be made aware and then they can make the judgment of whether to rectify or not?

This is where things like comon sense should be used. The tester will be able to see from the recorded milage of the previous year what the likely use of the vehicle is.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

[colin-yorkshire
whilst the washers and bulb would have been a failure item, the rear wiper blade does not come into a MOT test neither does a spare tyre although the tester could have advised the tyre was flat!

hi josh, while you may be right about the rearwiper blade and spare my point was it supposed to have had a full vaxhall service and test
had the service engineer missed some items "not that he should have done" the test if done properly should have picked them up and got the engineer to remedy the faults, as neither were done it brings into doubt the validity of the issued certificate surely.
colin

 

[malcolm1945]

Empty post (likely not intentional - probably an Internet Explorer issue!)

 

[Parksy]

Have a look Here Malc, your text has not loaded because IE doesn't work very well on this website.
Better still why not use a modern internet browser such as Google Chrome or Firefox which work with modern websites?

 

[Surfer]

Have a look Here Malc, your text has not loaded because IE doesn't work very well on this website.
Better still why not use a modern internet browser such as Google Chrome or Firefox which work with modern websites?

Maybe it is Haymarket that need to move into the new century! LOL!

 

[hortimech]

No, it is definitely Microsoft that needs to change, they used to get away with setting their standards but not anymore. When a website is viewable properly in any browser but IE, which browser is at fault?

 

[Parksy]

Maybe it is Haymarket that need to move into the new century! LOL!

I think that you'll find that the fault does not lie with Haymarket, IE9 is useless

 

[Surfer]

Maybe it is Haymarket that need to move into the new century! LOL!

I think that you'll find that the fault does not lie with Haymarket, IE9 is useless

I use Chrome so no issues, but occasionally I have to use IE for some sites.

 

[anotherDavid]

Have a look Here Malc, your text has not loaded because IE doesn't work very well on this website.
Better still why not use a modern internet browser such as Google Chrome or Firefox which work with modern websites?

I am using internet explorer Ver 9 and it seems to work

 

[anotherDavid]

I have never been very sure about the quality of MOT tests as long as the tester has a financial interest in the outcome, however much supervision there is from VOSA its not going to stop all dodgy tests.

 

[Parksy]

I am using internet explorer Ver 9 and it seems to work

Internet Explorer 9 will work if the compatbility mode is activated, there's no need to do anything to Google or Firefox to get them to work on all websites / forums