Four year MOT exemption

BeenThroughItAll

jimjames wrote: »

Ridiculous idea in my view. MOT should be time and/or mileage based. My last car was bought at 3 years old with 110k miles on the clock. The days of 3 years being an age to check condition are long gone.

But your 3yo 110K motor was probably in better condition than many 3yo 10K milers which are neglected - so where do you set the bar?

Herzlos

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Which will all be (or should) picked up by the dealer/garage when it's in for it's service.

Servicing is not mandatory.

Apodemus wrote: »

In part that may be correct, but the official figures also overstate the problem as many garages now present the car for MOT before starting work on it, even if it will fail, so that they have a list of items that require rectifying.

I've never heard of a garage that does that. The ones I'm aware of where they know there's work will give it a quick once over, do the work and then do the MOT. It's less work for them than doing another MOT especially since it's free.

I'd say the 20% figure is likely an underestimate, as lots of people only think about condition on run up to the MOT - change bulbs/tyres/wipers etc, or stick into the garage to be looked at first [I get mine serviced and MOT'd at the same time, for convenience of drop-off, and it means the mechanic can catch little failures and address them before the MOT so I don't need to get it re-tested]

kmb500

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

No you can't. What you're suggesting is it's possible to acquire an MOT pass record regardless of condition, which is not the same thing as 'getting a car through' an MOT.

Go to a small local garage pay them in cash and lots of them will pass your car to get it through even if it's not perfect

onomatopoeia99

Jonesya wrote: »

Bad - tyres and brakes can be worn through and lights fail within 2-3 years. Some of these issues which the MOT exists to check are independent of car age once you're over 1-2 years.

All of those things can fail in a few months from new as they are mileage rather than age dependent. Car service schedules work on mileage and age, so should pick up things that fail with age and fail with mileage.

If a person is doing enough miles to have their brakes wear out in three years and is not getting the vehicle serviced, then they are not likely to be driving much further anyway as the oil will no longer be doing much of any use and the engine will lunch itself.

Nasqueron

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

All of those things can fail in a few months from new as they are mileage rather than age dependent. Car service schedules work on mileage and age, so should pick up things that fail with age and fail with mileage.

If a person is doing enough miles to have their brakes wear out in three years and is not getting the vehicle serviced, then they are not likely to be driving much further anyway as the oil will no longer be doing much of any use and the engine will lunch itself.

Purely my experience and not contradicting you but mine is on about 22,000 (from new) and second year service the front brake pads were 90% worn, rears about 60% but 4-5mm left on tyres and I don't think I particularly drive fast or require a lot of braking (indeed my commute is mostly stop start in school traffic so I cycle more than I drive!). I do have my car serviced however

BeenThroughItAll

kmb500 wrote: »

Go to a small local garage pay them in cash and lots of them will pass your car to get it through even if it's not perfect

So, as I said then. Not 'getting the car through' but 'buying a false MOT record'.

System

Nasqueron wrote: »

Purely my experience and not contradicting you but mine is on about 22,000 (from new) and second year service the front brake pads were 90% worn, rears about 60% but 4-5mm left on tyres and I don't think I particularly drive fast or require a lot of braking (indeed my commute is mostly stop start in school traffic so I cycle more than I drive!). I do have my car serviced however

My car is currently on 117,000 miles, Its had the the front pads changed twice, at 38k then OTTOMH 90k, the rear pads changed once at 75k. Both on this car and the previous one I got warnings of the rear pads being down to 3mm and needing changing the next service and in both cases got another 20,000 miles out of them before I changed them and they still had 1mm left.

mr_accountant

So what about car clocking? this will make it easier for these scumbags, I would have mots every year from new, with the mot online database it will make it more difficult.

Plus as everyone above has said there cars are wonderful with half a million miles and never fail their mot, whats £50 a year extra for everyones piece of mind, including other road users, £50 a year is nothing in the scheme of things, BTW I just used that as an average

My last 3 mots were £10 each, passed twice and failed once, correctly, retest was only £10

mr_accountant

Some are confusing servicing and a mot

Servicing is little more than an oil change plus a few checks.

An mot is a safety test of brakes, suspension, tyres, seats, some electrics, emissions, lights, drivetrain, the vast majority of which are not done during servicing, and as for most road users, opening a bonnet, will might as well speak it in Japanese as it means nothing, until it goes boom

Nasqueron

mr_accountant wrote: »

Some are confusing servicing and a mot

Servicing is little more than an oil change plus a few checks.

An mot is a safety test of brakes, suspension, tyres, seats, some electrics, emissions, lights, drivetrain, the vast majority of which are not done during servicing, and as for most road users, opening a bonnet, will might as well speak it in Japanese as it means nothing, until it goes boom

That depends on the service level asked for and the dealer/garage/manufacturer guidance. My 2 year service, as above, checked tyre wear, brake wear and various other points, not just an oil change