MOT details

jimjames

daveyjp said:

"Close to the limit" could be relating to tread depth or time.  An old tyre can have plenty of depth, but deteriorating sides which may not warrant an advisory.

There is no time limit for tyres though. Deterioration is possible advisory but there isn't anything that would say "tyres are x years old so need replacing" for the MOT at least.

Car_54

jimjames said:

daveyjp said:

"Close to the limit" could be relating to tread depth or time.  An old tyre can have plenty of depth, but deteriorating sides which may not warrant an advisory.

There is no time limit for tyres though. Deterioration is possible advisory but there isn't anything that would say "tyres are x years old so need replacing" for the MOT at least.

No. The official DVSA MOT manual says.

"Tyres over ten years old at the time of test must be failed if they are on:

• any front steered axle
• any rear axle of a minibus with a single wheel fitment.

Tyres not displaying a date code must also be failed."

facade

Car_54 said:

jimjames said:

daveyjp said:

"Close to the limit" could be relating to tread depth or time.  An old tyre can have plenty of depth, but deteriorating sides which may not warrant an advisory.

There is no time limit for tyres though. Deterioration is possible advisory but there isn't anything that would say "tyres are x years old so need replacing" for the MOT at least.

No. The official DVSA MOT manual says.

"Tyres over ten years old at the time of test must be failed if they are on:

• any front steered axle
• any rear axle of a minibus with a single wheel fitment.

Tyres not displaying a date code must also be failed."

The age thing is only for vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats, it doesn't apply to cars.

Bonniepurple

facade said:

Car_54 said:

jimjames said:

daveyjp said:

"Close to the limit" could be relating to tread depth or time.  An old tyre can have plenty of depth, but deteriorating sides which may not warrant an advisory.

There is no time limit for tyres though. Deterioration is possible advisory but there isn't anything that would say "tyres are x years old so need replacing" for the MOT at least.

No. The official DVSA MOT manual says.

"Tyres over ten years old at the time of test must be failed if they are on:

• any front steered axle
• any rear axle of a minibus with a single wheel fitment.

Tyres not displaying a date code must also be failed."

The age thing is only for vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats, it doesn't apply to cars.

Having seen the report of the consequences of an old tyre failing on the M5, I would say that an old tyre is not a good thing go have go bang at high speed regardless of what it is on (the incident was a horse box that had an old tyre blow out and went across the central reservation, taking other vehicles with it.  The word “vaporised” was used for one of the vehicles).

Car_54

facade said:

Car_54 said:

jimjames said:

daveyjp said:

"Close to the limit" could be relating to tread depth or time.  An old tyre can have plenty of depth, but deteriorating sides which may not warrant an advisory.

There is no time limit for tyres though. Deterioration is possible advisory but there isn't anything that would say "tyres are x years old so need replacing" for the MOT at least.

No. The official DVSA MOT manual says.

"Tyres over ten years old at the time of test must be failed if they are on:

• any front steered axle
• any rear axle of a minibus with a single wheel fitment.

Tyres not displaying a date code must also be failed."

The age thing is only for vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats, it doesn't apply to cars.

Well spotted!

MouldyOldDough

CliveOfIndia said:

To reiterate what others have said, if a "formal" advisory was issued it'll be recorded on the MOT website.

But that aside, you really must check tyres yourself fairly regularly, don't just rely on an annual MOT to pick up any faults.  If you do high mileage, it's quite possible for a new tyre to wear close to - or beyond - the legal limit in less than a year.

Even if you do low mileage, it only takes one reasonably heavy contact with a kerb to damage the sidewall to a dangerous degree.

Having a tyre burst or suddenly deflate whilst driving round town is extremely inconvenient.  If it happens on the motorway at high speed, the results can be somewhat worse than "inconvenient".

When I was a kid they always told us to check tyres every week.  Granted, that may be a bit overkill - but spending 2 minutes once a month to give them a quick lookover is eminently sensible.

We have done 1000 miles in the last 12 months - but we are due to do a motorway journey up North in a couple of weeks - and I was just slightly concerned about the dealers comments on tyres (MOT was only two weeks ago)

Herzlos

MouldyOldDough said:

My car was MOT'd earlier this month - and passed - the MOT certificate simply says PASS

but the dealer told me that one of the tyres was getting close to the limit

How am I supposed to know this  - without the MOT details ?

Are they available on-line ?

You could ask them which one, or better yet go and test all 4 out. It shouldn't take any more than a minute once you find something you can use to measure the tread depth.

Bigphil1474

OP, you probably need to get it checked out, especially if one side is low and the other side isn't. generally best to have them fairly even across the car. Sometimes mechanics will say something is near the limit when it's not actually that near, but not always. Do you not have a tyre depth gauge? I have a cheap plastic AA thing I keep in the glove box. Maybe try the local petrol station see if they have some - measure in a few places on the tyre to get an overall picture.

Mildly_Miffed

MouldyOldDough said:

My car was MOT'd earlier this month - and passed - the MOT certificate simply says PASS

but the dealer told me that one of the tyres was getting close to the limit

How am I supposed to know this  - without the MOT details ?

Are they available on-line ?

You rely on the MOT to check your tyres for you...?

They only get checked once a year?
Lights, wipers...?

Oh.

LightFlare

MouldyOldDough said:

My car was MOT'd earlier this month - and passed - the MOT certificate simply says PASS

but the dealer told me that one of the tyres was getting close to the limit

How am I supposed to know this  - without the MOT details ?

Are they available on-line ?

MouldyOldDough said:

marlot said:

They may or may not have issued an advisory for it.  It's up to the examiner.

If it was a dealer, did they do a visual health check?  Most of them measure the tyre tread as part of that.

It was a Suzuki main dealer - but I have no idea whether it was just a visual or measurement - I assume the latter

I remember being given a sheet with the actual certificate in the past - showing everything - nowadays, there's not even a formal certificate !

Why didnt you ask when you were told ?