Frequent MOTs

sheslookinhot

born_again said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Jumping on the back of this thread, as a family member saw a car that is being offered at a main dealer.  
First registered April 2019, 11k miles.

Should be good, but then saw that an MOT was done February 2020 at 4k miles.  Only 1 yo car.
Then MOT'd Feb 2021 at 7.5k miles.  Damage tyre.
Then MOT'd at June 2022, 11.5k miles.  Two damaged tyres.

I asked the Dealer about the early MOT's and the answer was that it was owned by a person who had mis-understood the MOT requirements.

I also asked whether it had ever been taxi / PHV and I was told that would be against the terms of the PCP plan that it had been under.  

I am not sure that the MOT's are really frequent enough for a taxi.  
The interior trim is cream which would not be my first choice if buying for taxi use.
The recorded mileage certainly does not align with taxi use.
The damaged tyres may not be entirely surprising given the London location, with on-street parking a regular feature of life.  The two damaged at the June 2022 MOT would need changing before I'd buy.

Can the hive mind of the forum give good thoughts as to why this car might have this MOT-cycle?

You would think that the MOT tester would say No need till 3 year old... 

The MOT tester would not know. If a car is presented for MOT, it will be MOT’d.

DB1904

sheslookinhot said:

born_again said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Jumping on the back of this thread, as a family member saw a car that is being offered at a main dealer.  
First registered April 2019, 11k miles.

Should be good, but then saw that an MOT was done February 2020 at 4k miles.  Only 1 yo car.
Then MOT'd Feb 2021 at 7.5k miles.  Damage tyre.
Then MOT'd at June 2022, 11.5k miles.  Two damaged tyres.

I asked the Dealer about the early MOT's and the answer was that it was owned by a person who had mis-understood the MOT requirements.

I also asked whether it had ever been taxi / PHV and I was told that would be against the terms of the PCP plan that it had been under.  

I am not sure that the MOT's are really frequent enough for a taxi.  
The interior trim is cream which would not be my first choice if buying for taxi use.
The recorded mileage certainly does not align with taxi use.
The damaged tyres may not be entirely surprising given the London location, with on-street parking a regular feature of life.  The two damaged at the June 2022 MOT would need changing before I'd buy.

Can the hive mind of the forum give good thoughts as to why this car might have this MOT-cycle?

You would think that the MOT tester would say No need till 3 year old... 

The MOT tester would not know. If a car is presented for MOT, it will be MOT’d.

One would hope an MOT tester would be able to tell if it wasn't on a private plate. 

Grumpy_chap

born_again said:

You would think that the MOT tester would say No need till 3 year old... 

You would indeed...

Comments from G_C about change of ownership are not relevant in the case of this particular vehicle as it is "zero previous keepers".  Obviously, good to have the consideration mentioned as it could apply in other cases.

We also found an alternative car, 1 year and 10k mile older, but £9k cheaper.  That's massively better value.  The real question is whether to bother changing at all for now.

born_again

Entering the VIN the system would tell them the age of the car.

Grey_Critic

Garages do not look up the history of a vehicle and there is no reason for an MOT tester to know the MOT. He is given a job card and carries out a test.

Herzlos

Sure, but the garage booking it in will ask for the registration plate at some point and you'd hope they'd ask if it was clearly too young.

I know my local garages wouldn't book in a 1 year old car for an MOT without a good reason.

But then there's nothing stopping you getting an MOT at any time. Maybe the owner was just using it as a safety check. 

marlot

My friend ran a small fleet of minibuses for a school.  They need an MOT every year, including years 1 & 2.

She would have a fight with the MOT station to get the first two done - they would insist that it wasn't due until year 3.

Grumpy_chap

Feel glad not to have proceeded with the car with the extra MOT's.
Out of courtesy, sent an e-mail yesterday to the Dealer to thank them for their time, answering our questions and that we'd not be proceeding.
Half hour after that, took a phone call from some senior manager "Group Buyer" at the Dealership who was down-right rude and offensive about our decision and that we had no place to question his due-diligence on the perfect vehicle.  Really quite outrageous behaviour from a main franchise Dealership for which there is no excuse.
Anyway, a couple of hours later, I noted that the car had been taken down, so either sold in that timeslot or withdrawn to pass on at auction...

I would certainly agree with other who think an MOT garage should certainly query and "push-back" if a one-year or two-year old car is requested for MOT, not simply accept the owner "mis-understanding" the requirements, which is what the Dealer tried to say was the case here.