No Advisory MOTs

Arunmor

Ectophile said:

I think there's some rose-tinted spectacles if people think that a "no advisory" MOT means that all the advisories have been fixed.

Some years back I bought a Land Rover from a local dealer.  When I looked around the car, I could see that the tyres weren't great and would need replacing before long.  Having one flat tyre was also a bit of a hint that they weren't great.

I ended up buying the car.  It came with a brand new MOT, with no advisories.

On getting it home, I decided to have another check of the tyres.  One was so worn it was down to the tread wear indicator on one side, and just above the TWI in the middle and the other side.  So it was bald as it could be and still be legal.  But no advisory on the MOT.

Obviously, I popped down to a local tyre place ASAP and ordered a new set.

Probably replaced the tyres for the MOT and then switched them back.

Arunmor

Ibrahim5 said:

Sad really. I guess you have to make MOT testing completely independent to stop this problem. The MOT tester should have no idea if he is testing a member of the publics car or one of his mates with a 'special arrangement'.

How much are you willing to pay for an MOT on that basis?  Take it to a council MOT station. 

Have you ever had to get a vehicle plated (lorry) then you will know all about getting right the first time otherwise you'll be waiting a week + for a retest.

Ibrahim5

I think you just have to know that when a used car dealer tells you that the car will come with an 'advisory free MOT' that it's crooked.

Kim_13

A no advisory MOT would be what you want, IF it is being done by the book, as it would mean that anything that would have produced an advisory was fixed prior to the vehicle being presented for test. But someone doing the MOT in house or having it done by their mate down the road might only check that the car doesn’t warrant a fail at best, and then not write anything down.

An MOT done by a main dealer but the car being sold by someone else would be as confident as you could be that the MOT was genuine, if you knew nothing about the seller beforehand. Otherwise a fresh MOT only gives you longer until you have to put it through yourself - which could mean existing advisories that should have been written down but weren’t deteriorating to the point of failure.

Family member recently sold a car at the end of last year which sat around, I found it advertised online and felt they were asking too much for it, although it was a good example. They also had that it would come with a new advisory free MOT, which I initially felt was a bit presumptuous on a car getting close to teenage years. It was then presented for test and failed for the first time in its life, with an advisory for a perished tyre (why the dealer thought he could get the promised advisory free test like that is beyond me, as that would surely have been one of the easier potential advisories to notice.) Whoever then bought it might be in two minds - they thought they were getting a car with a 100% record when they approached the dealer about buying it, but at least knew then that it was genuinely advisory free when it went through again, as the tester would surely have given it an advisory if there was one to give it, having given one on the previous test. Although it was the next day when it went through again, so could have gone to a different station…

There will be an average amount of advisories per test, presumably with testers being checked if they deviate too far from it - so most MOTs will be genuine, as the average levels out over time even if a car comes through now and again that warrants a clean sheet. Sometimes testers must be looking for any excuse to give an advisory - a hybrid car with an advisory for emissions not tested as vehicle is of hybrid design! I saw this and Googled and it is a feature of test that electric and hybrid cars are not put through an emissions check - so hardly something to ‘monitor and repair if necessary’ which is the definition of an advisory.

Ibrahim5

There are loads of silly advisories online like "crap colour" or "owner looks like Susan Boyle". If MOT testers give advisory free MOTs to their mates the rest of us have to get more of them. The used car dealers are using an 'advisory free MOT' as a sign of a superior car which is rubbish. It's like their warranties. Useless but helps to sell cars.

Herzlos

Ibrahim5 said:

There are loads of silly advisories online like "crap colour" or "owner looks like Susan Boyle". If MOT testers give advisory free MOTs to their mates the rest of us have to get more of them. The used car dealers are using an 'advisory free MOT' as a sign of a superior car which is rubbish. It's like their warranties. Useless but helps to sell cars.

Do you have any reason to believe that MOTs are commonly faked up for mates, or is this you just grinding the old 'all car dealers are liars' thing?

It definitely happens, and you should verify all the details you can. It's also worth giving a car a once over before or shortly after purchasing, but that doesn't mean anyone claiming to provide a car with a clean MOT is a scammer.

It's pretty much standard industry practice to MOT a car and address any defects as part of the sale prep.

Mildly_Miffed

Ibrahim5 said:

There are loads of silly advisories online like "crap colour" or "owner looks like Susan Boyle".

Which, counter to your theory, are far MORE likely to go to the tester's mates. Or, rather, were - since they were heavily cracked-down on a little while ago.

If MOT testers give advisory free MOTs to their mates the rest of us have to get more of them.

No, there's no quotas or anything like that.

There's a very simple hierarchy of things on an MOT...
Dangerous (Fail) : Defined in the tester's manual
Major (Fail) : Defined in the tester's manual
Minor (Pass) : Defined in the tester's manual
Advisory (Pass) : Anything undefined in the tester's manual which the tester feels the owner should be made aware of

So, yes, they will vary from tester to tester, and even from day to day. Testers are encouraged to "pass-but-advise" anything they feel is iffy but doesn't fall into a specific fail, or which is borderline.

Tester Manual:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles
If it isn't explicitly listed in there as a fail, it can't be failed on.