Has anyone noticed MOT advisories seem to be getting longer?

sunlight432

Had my car's MOT this week and it passed, but the advisory list was much longer than I'd expected. Nothing major, but it got me wondering whether testers are just being more thorough these days.

Has anyone else noticed this, or have I just been lucky in previous years?

Also, do you tend to get advisories sorted straight away or just keep an eye on them until the next service?

GunJack

Err...no. Sounds like you've just struck unlucky, but think of this - if a whole pile of stuff was getting worn to just not be an advisory last year, another year's wear could easily push them all to be worn enough to make them advisory this year.

As to when to get them rectified, it depends...on what components they are and how bad the tester recons they are. You may want to leave, say, a ball joint with a bit of play for a couple of months or so, but if a tyre is an advisory I'd be looking to get that done within a couple of weeks.

fatbelly

II think they are more nit-picky. I was given advisories for two indicators being the wrong shade of amber! A youtuber I follow (Steiger Cars) made a perfectly good job of restoring cloudy headlights yet it was still picked up as an advisory

MEM62

Mine seem to be inconsistent. All MOT's done at the same garage:

Year 1 - knocking from the suspension. Investigation recommended.

Year 2 - Same comment so I booked it in to be looked at. After half a day in the garage they could not locate the noise or a cause.

Year 3 - Your discs and pads will need replacing next year. The following year, no mention of discs and pads.

lincroft1710

I've noticed the same with the MOT testing station I use. Advisory one year, no work done, but not the next.

oldagetraveller1

No. Last year's and the previous year's MoT had one advisory "Front Inner Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (Offside and Nearside) (1.1.14 (a) (ii))"

This year, non, without any brakes work being done. That's the same place each year, not necessarily the same tester. They service my car too and I specifically mentioned the advisories from the previous tests and gave permission to change the front discs and pads. They phoned later that day and said that the brakes' condition is fine and don't require anything.

It's all subjective and an opinion of the tester at the time.

Mildly_Miffed

Think about what an advisory actually IS…

It's no more or less than the tester saying "Look, this hasn't failed, but you might want to know about it."

Some are specified in the tester's manual as "minor" - others are things the tester can't flag under any other category.

Are they backside covering? Some might be. Lots aren't - they're simply the tester saying "I don't necessarily like it, but I can't fail it".
Perhaps they simply can't test something properly because they can't see it…
https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/horror-story-more-hidden-corrosion/

diveunderthebonnet

Could it be if garages dont find some advisories they might get inspected/checked as to wether they are doing their job properly .

paul_c123

Is this trend you've noticed just across your own car, or averaged over a lot of cars, allowing for age/mileage?

Grey_Critic

According to a friend of mine who is an MOT tester if they do not show advisories on a regular basis then questions are asked. Depending on age there has to be wear and tear that falls into that category

Ibrahim5

Used car dealers seem to be able to get advisory free MOTs from their mates. It means we have to suffer more to make up.