Hi all,
In the same vein as fake mots, I've Been debating whether to take up the issue of incorrectly issued mot certificates with our local mp and the ministry .
To explain ,I'm sure many members have heard of cars passing am mot that should have failed ,by simply paying a back hander to the mot tester ,up till very recently I've never seen any evidence of it .
I recently bought a 94 mercedes w124 coupe to renovate ,I intended buying parts I needed for the renovation from e bay . Before I started buying parts I decided to tour local salvage yards to see what I could find .
Luckily I found a complete car with most of the parts I needed and bought the complete car with 9 months mot and a v5 for £450 .
The car was suffering from corrosion and an abs brake failure .
When I checked the cars mot history ,on its last two mot tests it had initially failed its test with a long list of faults ,many of them safety related .The day after the failed tests ,the car was issued with a new mot with a couple of advises ,but a two different garages .Clearly an abuse of the mot system ?
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About eight years ago I brought a Vauxhall Omega. After a short while I found out that the service history was more fiction than fact. I therefore booked it in for a full service where a number of issues were found making the newish MOT definately iffy. Although I went back to the dealer I never got anywhere - he is still trading to this day despite many dissatisfied customers.
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My trusted independent (known him for 30 years) tells me that VOSA regularly check up that MOT tests have been done correctly. They inspect and measure brake discs he's replaced for MOT to check they were genuinely in need of replacement. He says it is not worth the risk to pass a defective car as it may just have been submitted by VOSA with known faults as a check.
Dud MOT's may well be obtainable, but as there is already a system of VOSA monitoring complaining to one's MP won't make any difference. (Unless, of course, it is decided VOSA need more inspectors; guess who will end up paying for them through higher taxes?)
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They inspect and measure brake discs he's replaced for MOT to check they were genuinely in need of replacement. H
More complete nonsense. Brake disk thickness is not checked in the MOT. Only brake efficiency is tested.
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(. He says it is not worth the risk to pass a defective car as it may just have been submitted by VOSA with known faults as a check.
Dud MOT's may well be obtainable, but as there is already a system of VOSA monitoring complaining to one's MP won't make any difference. (Unless, of course, it is decided VOSA need more inspectors; guess who will end up paying for them through higher taxes?)
I think that its more your testers opinion than fact ,I have real evidence of it happening with the mot history of the car I bought for spares .the car failed on two occasions with a list so long it wouldn't have been possible to repair the car in the 24 hours between it failing at one station and passing at another .
My regular mot station has only been checked by VOSA once in 5 years ,clearly not often enough .
The MP in question has an interest in motoring issues and is currently campaigning on car insurance ,in particular the high cost of insurance in inner city areas ,in part caused by fraudulent claims .
You should also consider how dangerous these cars are that are being allowed back on the road ,the one I bought with 9months mot is a death trap .faulty brakes ,extensive corrosion etc .
It's a serious issue that needs addressing ,not glibly dismissing with comments on higher taxes
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Tony, I do agree that dodgy MOT's are a serious problem and culprits should be dealt with severely. My point is that to guarantee all MOTs are carried out to the right standards implies that VOSA or other independent, qualified people, inspect and check every test station frequently.
Are there the resources to do this? No. are there resources for Factory Inspectors to ensure all premises work to good standards of safety? No. Are there enough police on the streets to prevent all crime? No. Not ideal, but it's where we are.
Realistically, the incidence of any malpractice is inversely proportional to the likelihood of detection and punishment. Right now, there is small chance of extra resources, unless funds are taken from another service or taxes increased, or am I mistaken in thinking so?
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Hi,
I took your initial response to be dismissive of what I believe could be a serious issue ,thank you for making your view point clear .
If there is a shortage of inspectors, I wonder if the checks couldn't be done online ,initially by looking at older cars ,where a large number of items are listed as failures and then shortly after the car is issued with a new mot .
The information is available pretty much as a car passes or fails online ,so it shouldn't be difficult for VOSA staff to identify potentially problem garages .That should be a more cost effective use of VOSA inspectors , who would be directed to potentially problem garages rather than working on random inspections .
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I once had a BMW MOT'd and it failed on track rod end.
I paid for them to replace it and when I went to pick it up it was not ready and they said the wrong part had been send. The next day I picked it up and paid.
~ some moths later...
A rattling started and I took it to another garage in the city I had moved to, they said it needed a track rod end and looked like someone had 'had a go at it'. Then when I went to collect it it was not ready and they said the part they had was wrong as the threads on the shaft were left handed and needed to be right handed. To cut the saga short, someone in the past had fitted the tied rod back to front, so both garages had found the part they ordered was wrong. The first MOT Garage had charged me to replace it and not bothered and left it as a failed item and all chewed up. This was ~18 years ago before the internet was popular and I was young and had moved across the country and had other things to worry about so didn't pursue it.
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I knew someone in the past who had been a MoT garage inspector-his office had several cars with multiple registraions(agreed with DVLA) to stop them becoming "known".He left and joined us due to low pay and "politics".
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