MOT criteria wrong? - frostbite
I have seen some pretty grotty two-three year old cars and it's made me wonder whether the 3yo/1st MOT rule is correct.

Most examples will have travelled around 30k miles in 3 years, some double or more.

Equally, a lot of older cars will only have travelled a very few thousand miles since their last MOT.

Would it not be more sensible to have MOTs set at (say) every 10/15/20 thousand rather than by date?
MOT criteria wrong? - Imagos
if they did that some cars would be in the MOT station every few weeks ie. taxis and others hardly at all but i see your point, the 3 year old rule should be scrapped it really should be after first year for all cars.

But there again the MOT certificate is not worth the paper it's printed on anyway

i quote "a test certificate is not evidence that the vehicle is in a satifactory mechanical condtion"

so what really is the point of it?
MOT criteria wrong? - nick
I presume you're not old enough to remember the incredibly dangerous cars that were running around before the MOT was introduced? A lot were scrapped when it came in. It's not perfect, but better than nowt.
MOT criteria wrong? - frostbite
I presume you're not old enough to remember the incredibly dangerous
cars that were running around


Remember them? I drove some of them!

Good point there Doc - must be an answer but can't think of it.
MOT criteria wrong? - Doc
Would it not be more sensible to have MOTs set at
(say) every 10/15/20 thousand rather than by date?


But how would the man at the Post Office know if the MOT cert. you present for your road tax, is still valid?

MOT criteria wrong? - Andrew-T
"have MOTs set at (say) every 10/15/20 thousand rather than by date?" .. and if you are any good at clocking, you'll never need an MoT !
MOT criteria wrong? - Altea Ego
I think the present system is about right for these reasons. Most new cars come with three years warranty, and to maintain the warranty they have to be serviced on schedule so most cars get serviced on time. Therefore most things that would render a car unroadworthy (MOT wise) get fixed. After three years, the serving schedule tends to fall apart and luckily thats when the MOT kicks in.

In the last 15 years all of the cars I have had from new that reached the MOT stage passed the first one - first time.

As an aside, are there less cowboy MOT testers about these days? Seems to me that long gone are the times when you could talk your way through an MOT - "Yes mate I'll fix that right away - have a drink on me"

MOT criteria wrong? - frostbite
RF, you may well be right about less cowboys but they do still exist.

I know one where, for £50 you get a guaranteed pass, with a note of any faults found, and he always puts the wrong vehicle colour on the certificate - presumably so he can say it was a different motor if challenged.