MOT Advisory-How long should I leave it

Ratboy

Let's bring it in, and think; an Expert has advised you to replace a dangerous item on a vehicle that can kill people. OK.

You talk in a forum, with no experience, but prefer to talk without knowledge, or experience? But your thoughts are don't fix a faulty vehicle, and that won't kill people. Nice.

Rolandtheroadie

Ratboy wrote: »

Let's bring it in, and think; an Expert has advised you to replace a dangerous item on a vehicle that can kill people. OK.

You talk in a forum, with no experience, but prefer to talk without knowledge, or experience? But your thoughts are don't fix a faulty vehicle, and that won't kill people. Nice.

Any time I've had something dangerous when I've put a car in for an MOT, 2 things have happened.

1. The car fails.
2. The tester put a disclaimer on the fail certificate saying the car is dangerous.

I'm more worried about you driving in the morning that I am about the OP's brakes.

Paperbird

It was an ADVISORY. The brakes are not dangerous or about to fail in any way or it would not have passed so anyone saying you are a danger on the road because you are driving around with brakes that are about to fail is wrong.

Ratboy

Paperbird wrote: »

It was an ADVISORY. The brakes are not dangerous or about to fail in any way or it would not have passed so anyone saying you are a danger on the road because you are driving around with brakes that are about to fail is wrong.

So between this MOT, and the next, the brakes are shot; how do you justify that? When a car ran over and killed your child, due to the brakes not working?

According to the Government; YES they are about to fail; hence an advisory. So Best replace them now, rather that kill someone later.

That's the attitude of todays society; !!!! me; I'll save money, and in doing so, if I injure anyone, I don't care!

Lum

Ratboy wrote: »

Let's bring it in, and think; an Expert has advised you to replace a dangerous item on a vehicle that can kill people. OK.

So how come a different expert a year later, with a year's more use on those same brake disks decided that they were absolutely fine?

Either the second expert is an idiot who is going to see me causing a huge accident, or the first expert is a liar. Which is it?


As it happens I know what the minimum safe thickness of my brake discs is. When you own a car of which there are only a handful in the country you find yourself needing to know or research things like this as you'll be advising any mechanics what parts to use, assuming you don't supply them yourself.

But feel free to go ahead and assume that because I'm a woman I know nothing, plenty of mechanics like to do that and unfortunately it seems that it often works out well for them, so they keep on doing it.


The OP has been advised to get a second opinion from a different expert before spending unnecessary money. They have not been advised to ignore it and carry on driving until it fails.

Richard53

The advisory means "although this part of the vehicle is not dangerous, it is showing signs of deterioration and you should keep an eye on it and act if necessary". It does NOT mean "although this vehicle has passed the Government standards for a roadworthy vehicle, we consider it to be in a dangerous condition and you should replace the relevant parts immediately".

A pass is a pass; a fail is a fail, and an advisory is a courteous way of pointing out to the conscientious owner where his or her attention should be in the coming months.

Like others, I have had advisories on brakes that have mysteriously become clear passes the following year, despite having changed nothing in between.

Personally, I like advisories. They point out things I may not have noticed myself. But I treat them as professional advice, not a must-do list.

Paperbird

Ratboy wrote: »

So between this MOT, and the next, the brakes are shot; how do you justify that? When a car ran over and killed your child, due to the brakes not working?

According to the Government; YES they are about to fail; hence an advisory. So Best replace them now, rather that kill someone later.

That's the attitude of todays society; !!!! me; I'll save money, and in doing so, if I injure anyone, I don't care!

While some posters have said they may not need replacing in the next 12 months no one has said to ignore it for the next 12 months.
If the brakes were "shot" it would have been a fail.
If the brakes were "not working" it would have been a fail
They are not "about to kill a child" or it would have been a fail.
They do not "need replacing now" or it would have been a fail.
They are not "about to fail" or it would have been a fail.
The OP is going to get a second opinion in the next week or two when the car goes in for a repair of some kind not related to it's MOT and if an "expert" says the braking system exceeds the required standard (it must have because it passed) then the car poses no threat to anyone and I see no reason for the panic shown by some on here.

WLC

Thank you for all your replies. I didn't mean to cause any conflict by my question. But just to be clear to those who have somehow assumed I am trying to ignore dangerous breaks:

1) My original post stated quote the opposite; "Am I right in thinking I should just get them done ASAP, as obviously they will only get worse, not better".
2) I have stated in my posts I will be getting the discs checked by the person doing (unrelated) work on my car next week. And I will personally check the manufacturers recommended wear.
3) It was an advisory, not a fail, so definitely not dangerous. And to be clear, the MOT guy himself told me the discs are not 'dangerous' otherwise they would have failed.

So to be clear, I have no intention of ignoring my advisory. I have every intention of gaining a second opinion on the condition of the discs from a trusted professional next week and acting on that advice accordingly.

Thanks to everyone for your advice. You've been a great help

Joe_Horner

Thanks for the clarification, WLC - not that some of us needed it

Out of interest, I've had an advisory in the past for a fraying fan belt. That's Nothing at all to do with safety, but it's exactly what the advisory system is there for - things that the tester notices that don't affect safety but he thinks it would be helpful to tell you about - whether because it may become a safety issue at some point or simply because he's being helpful.

Testers also live in a world of having to cover their own a**e - advising shows that they've looked at the item if VOSA happen to get involved for any reason!

gardnerj36

WLC wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies. I didn't mean to cause any conflict by my question. But just to be clear to those who have somehow assumed I am trying to ignore dangerous breaks:

1) My original post stated quote the opposite; "Am I right in thinking I should just get them done ASAP, as obviously they will only get worse, not better".
2) I have stated in my posts I will be getting the discs checked by the person doing (unrelated) work on my car next week. And I will personally check the manufacturers recommended wear.
3) It was an advisory, not a fail, so definitely not dangerous. And to be clear, the MOT guy himself told me the discs are not 'dangerous' otherwise they would have failed.

So to be clear, I have no intention of ignoring my advisory. I have every intention of gaining a second opinion on the condition of the discs from a trusted professional next week and acting on that advice accordingly.

Thanks to everyone for your advice. You've been a great help

1. Yes get them looked at but if they are solid discs, I would wait until next MOT to see what is said then. If they are ventilated discs then that is a different matter.

As has been said on other posts here, often that type of advisory will not appear on your next test.

No doubt this opinion will upset some on this thread, but we are all different, thank god.