On the 20th of May 2018, stricter MOT rules came into force, with over 31 million vehicles undergoing the more thorough test over the following twelve months.
Data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) shows that, in the first year of the new MOT’s existence, over a third of cars, vans, and motorcycles failed. Almost three million of these had ‘dangerous’ defects that resulted in repairs and a retest—or removal from the road. PetrolPrices.com looks at the most common reasons for the MOT failures.
Tried and tested
In the United Kingdom, vehicles registered for use on the road must pass an ‘MOT’ (named after the Department for Transport’s predecessor, the Ministry of Transport) test—an annual mechanical and emissions inspection, with the first test due three years after the vehicle manufacture date.
Under the new DVSA rules, the MOT tester must classify any faults found during MOT tests as either ‘minor’, ‘major’ (which should receive immediate repair), or ‘dangerous’. With a dangerous fault, you shouldn’t drive the vehicle until carrying out the repairs.
The new MOT includes an emissions inspection, which involves looking for smoke (of any colour) coming from the exhaust, for evidence of Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) tampering, and sometimes a roadside emission check.
The government body’s records show that almost 1.2 million vehicles failed the emissions tests in the first 12 months of the new-style MOT. If a vehicle fails any of these checks, the MOT tester assigns it a major fault. Yet DVSA findings show a significant improvement in our air quality after either removing the failed vehicles from the road or by garages repairing the faults.
Since May 2018, the MOT includes looking for signs of obvious tyre underinflation, brake fluid contamination, fluid leaks posing an environmental risk, missing brake pads or discs, and checking your brake pad warning lights.
The test also now looks at reversing lights on vehicles first used from the 1st of September 2009, headlight washers on vehicles first used from the 1st of September 2009 (if fitted with them), and daytime running lights on vehicles first used from the 1st of March 2018 (most of the latter will have their first MOT in 2021 when they’re three years old).
The DVSA shared the 10 most common reasons class 3&4 cars and vans failed MOTs between the 20th May 2018 and 19th May 2019:
Top 10 reasons for MOT failure (by percentage)
- Lamps, reflectors, and electrical equipment:14.9%
- Suspension:18.3%
- Brakes: 8.8%
- Tyres: 6.8%
- Visibility: 6.1%
- Body, chassis, structure: 4.7%
- Noise, emissions, leaks: 3.9%
- Steering: 2.2%
- Seat belts: 1.5%
- Identification of the vehicle: 0.5%
Cars, vans, and passenger vehicles with up to 12 seats (Class 3 and 4) saw a 66.7% pass rate, private passenger vehicles with over 12 seats (Class 5) a 70.3% pass rate, and vehicles between two and 35 tonnes (Class 7) received just a 40% pass rate. Motorcycles had the highest pass rates with an impressive 83%.
On the danger list
Neil Barlow, Head of MOT Policy and MOT Service Manager at DVSA, said:
‘If a car has failed its MOT with a dangerous fault, DVSA’s advice is that it should not be driven until the defect is repaired. This is because it’s dangerous to both the driver and other road users.
‘Garages are unable to prevent owners from driving their cars away. But they will provide advice to the owner on what they should do to keep the car safe.’
Barlow added: ‘DVSA’s priority is helping everyone keep their vehicle safe to drive.
‘Thanks to the MOT, three million dangerous vehicles have been taken off the road.
‘But with a quarter of cars turning up late for MOT every year, that means there are lots of potentially dangerous vehicles badly in need of inspection.
A valid MOT certificate only confirms a vehicle has met the minimum standard of roadworthiness at the moment of completing and passing the test.
A recent Halfords Autocentres study of 2,000 drivers found 47% of respondents considered a vehicle passing an MOT as not needing any more checks for another year and, for 42%, the MOT was their vehicle’s only annual check.
Aaron Edwards, Category Manager at Halfords Autocentre, said:
‘An MOT is only a certificate to say the car is safe to drive the moment it has been tested, so it is concerning that so many motorists treat it as a service.
‘It is not a guarantee that the car is in good running order six months down the line, and it is vital that motorists carry out regular checks as well as an annual service.’
Driving down risk
You’re liable for a £1,000 fine for driving without a valid MOT and the only time you can drive without one is if you’re driving to a pre-booked test, via a direct route, and to your nearest approved test centre.
Although no law states a maximum distance, you could get a fine or a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) for exceeding a ‘reasonable and acceptable’ distance, driving to the garage.
Driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition with defective tyres, brakes, or lights, for example, may mean getting penalty points and a fine of up to £2,500—even if you’ve booked your MOT, so if you think your vehicle is unsafe and not roadworthy, consider transporting to the garage using a trailer.
Thirty per cent of MOT faults relate to lighting and signalling, tyre condition and pressure account for 10%, and 8.5% of fails relate to the ‘driver’s view of the road’, so avoid the common MOT fails by paying attention to your vehicle’s lightbulbs, tyres, mirrors, washers, and wipers.
If you want to avoid forgetting when your vehicle is due for its MOT, add your vehicle to your garage on the PetrolPrices service (in the mobile app or in your account on the website), ‘help to keep Britain’s roads safe’.
Has your car failed the new MOT? What did it fail? Do you welcome the new test? Tell us in the comment section.
Higher/improved Standards can only be a good thing – continue to raise the bar.
Is there any data with analaysis of 1st MoT pass, & fail rates, readily available?
Which countries have better testing methods than the UK? How are they better?
In the UK you can buy or hire a vehicle with a current MoT pass Certificate but without a Driver’s Handbook. How do you then fulfill your Duty of Care & drive safely if you’re unfamiliar with the vechicle?
Should every vehicle be legally obliged to carry a current edition of the Highway Code?
Which Companies & Orgiaisations have the best (& worst) drivers? Is in the public interest to know these things?
If you need a handbook to drive a car you shouldn’t be driving. The same goes for Highway Code. If you need one in the car then you shouldn’t have passed the driving test.
Disagree re the handbook. Details of how to use all the functions and buttons are useful as are details of all the warning lights. There is also troubleshooting advice that is helpful. No need to read it cover to cover though.
Hire companies should ensure you know where the important controls needed for everyday driving are, before releasing the vehicle.
Picked up a hire car at an airport with direct access to an urban motorway at rush hour so stop start for the next half hour.
Discovered it had a distracting and very irritating speed warning every time you exceeded 30. Which was every few hundred yards
I suppose it is possible to work out by trial and error and pressing every possible combination of buttons how to turn it off but it still took me 5 or 10 minutes with the handbook.
Unless you get a 15 minute briefing covering many points you knew any way there are so many different ways of opening boots and filler caps, operating wipers, adjusting seats and door mirrors, understanding instrument panels and warning lights etc etc, there’s no way you can intuit this for every manufacturer.
Many drivers never look at the Highway Code again after passing their test, despite new editions with new rules and regulations coming out every few years.
So you know the Highway code inside out and cover to cover without referring to it? Come off it Ron!
I bet very few of us would and it makes no harm in keeping a copy in the car for reference.. At least that demonstrates a williingness to learn. I am more worried about the abysmal standard of driving the car than the theory and what’s in a book, some people havent a clue how to control the car and its getting worse.
What an absolute jobsworth you sound
Unfortunately, the MOT system is rotten to the core. It is a cash cow for struggling garages. I provided the police with evidence that a local garage had smashed my sills with a mason’s hammer (not the plastic one approved for the test) …but the CPS would not prosecute on a technicality.
Well how else are they going to get us all into EV’s. this is the most effective way.
much harder to fail on brakes or emissions in an EV. much cheaper to maintain too.
Until the battery goes.
Toyota guarantee the traction battery for 11 years from new provided that you take the car to a Toyota dealership for regular servicing.
and they charge you mortgage level for doing the work my local garage does for around £200…. Of couse Im going to use a main dealer… NOT!
you want to see the extra protection the tester is suppose to wear for an EV test, insulating mats suppose to go down, little yellow rubber booties, full face mask along with a “safety” pole to drag him/her off if he electrocutes himself. Wow, its like bomb disposal!
Wait till hydrogen driven cars take over from electric, the MOT testers will need the full regailia of protection + an ambulance on stanbye + a fire tender. …………….Boom! 🙂 oooops!
But useless for towing a caravan or trailer!
and EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE to replace the batteries.
I successfully tow a trailer with my Hybrid. Why useless?
I think there is a bit of difference between a trailer and a 1700kg caravan.
Is an EV a bad thing?
No ev are good to Drive
No they’re not. They don’t have tha sound or feel of a good V8
who knows, was the combustion engine a bad thing when it was first born?
There’s nothing wrong with the combustion engine, it’s the fuels we use in them. A combustion engine run on ethanol or hydrogen has no negative effect on the environment.
If you live on the 3rd floor of a block of flats how do you charge it dangle the lead out the window????
The answer is battery exchange centres rather than charging.
A company in India already has a system whereby a robotic arm replace s your batter batteries and you don’t even have to get out of the vehicle.
Like to see that most of them are under floor with a lot of plastic panel protection with silly little clips.
It should not be up to the Police to prosecute, it should be the responsibility of the DoT to remove the licence
Local trading standards
If they were able to ‘smash’ the sills with a masons hammer then I suggest the car was rotten to the core. Best for your own and others safety that this was brought to your attention. The sills are an important load bearing structure.
Not so, they’re only thin sheet metal to start with.
Also now that it is illegal to driove homne from an KOT failure (dangerous) it now makes the council MOT stations option questionable (to avoid the cowboy MOT stations/cash cows)
VN Adamswood- Hit the nail on the Head !
A vast majority of the now Mot test – has nothing to do with vehicle safety Eg Reversing lights – h/lamp washers.
to name but a few.
To be transparent ALL mot testing needs to be done by Government (Only) Mot test centres as HGV.s used to be
– so no profit motive involved
Having MOT licence is and always has been a licence to Print Money !
( Although granted -with all the ridiculous annual tests/examinations/exams and high fees to take them that
testers have to “pass ” every year or so makes it less attractive)
( I am now recently retired Mechanic/Mot tester) with 44 yrs experience- so i think i “probably” know what i am talking about.
Peter
Peter, did you know that from now on any new equipment such as brake testers, (rollers and decelerometers) exhaust gas analyzers, even beam testers put into mot bays have to be ‘connected’ to the DVSA computer!
Should have never made classic cars exempt from mot. We didn’t even want it, but they did it anyway. How can you possibly know you’re car is structurally sound and roadworthy unless you happen to be an mot inspector.
The same as for your non-classic car. Your car should be in MOT-pass condition all the time, you should be aware of defects, tyres, lights, brakes, suspension etc.. and comply with standards as it’s not safe if you don’t and you’re liable to prosecution, points and fines at any time if you fail to do so. The MOT is an annual check to at least make sure you bring your vehicle to roadworthy condition once a year, and not a ticket to non-compliance. If you don’t know that your car has faults, is unsafe and get things fixed, then perhaps you shouldn’t be driving JP.
I’m quite happy to maintain my classic – and non-classic cars – in safe condition as a matter of course, and if I’m in doubt about anything take them to a garage to get checked and fixed.
Also, who is ‘we’ that didn’t want 40 year MOT exemption?
I always make sure my classics are mot’d, but you’d be horrified at the number of people who don’t bother because their car is now exempt.
Er, most of the classic car enthusiast I speak with
Ian, You obviously live in a perfect world or a parallel universe. Most drivers (mainly women drivers………….fact NOT sexism) do not know what half the buttons in their cars do, but also struggle to find the catch that releases the hood, sorry, bonnet. Very MOT savvy.
I don’t think it’s “mainly women drivers” at all. I think a lot of drivers, male and female, just can’t be bothered to spend time maintaining their cars.
This woman driver knows exactly where her bonnet release catch is, what the buttons do, and I even know how to check my oil levels, fluid levels, tyre pressures etc. I can also change break pads should I need to. I certainly didn’t need a man to change my wiper blades (actually, I lie, one got really stuck once, and I just wasn’t strong enough to release it). It bothers me the number of men who can’t do basic car maintenance, as well as women.
@Iain Do you check your suspension with a lever bar to see if there is any play in the upper joints? This is NOT done in a service. Not all faults are easy to spot.
Apparently their was a ‘consultation’ with a lot of the main classic car clubs and they all said they didn’t want exemption – but were ignored.
Service it or have it serviced regularly, most classic cars are well looked after by their owners hence no mot required.
You’d be very surprised at that comment. I’ve shopped round many classics that say “ mot exempt mate”, and when you get there to inspect it, it’s either a shed, or it looks great, but unless you know what you’re looking at, it could be a death trap.
Most classic car owners know quite a lot about cars & how they work & many look after their own cars,more so than many other drivers who do not have a clue how a car works.
A high proportion of classics presented for MOT were passing, so the DVSA thought was that they were testing something proven not to need testing. Also the modern-day test is not very applicable to 40 odd year old vehicles, except for the very basics.
Absolutely agree. I drive a classic and make sure it still gets an MOT equivalent test in a garage every year. Otherwise how do I know it’s safe? And mine is a real classic – 1925 – so barely goes fast enough to do any damage. Of course many classics are well cared for, but once you get to 1960s/70s you’re approaching the territory where people aren’t necessarily that bothered and these are the ones that worry me the most.
Just had my car in for its 5th service and Mot, the garage against my wishes did the Mot first and failed it on dangerous fault (brake pads below 1.5mm) , but I did not receive any advice on what I should do in regards safety issues. I was charge the maximum amount of £54.95 for mot and was still charged for the service. I then drove 45miles home ,I only went to the garage as local dealers has questionable standards.
Most garage’s are profit focused not customer focused, will you use said garage again? and if not did you tell them so?
Brake pads do not get worn to 1.5mm overnight. Worn pads should have been picked up at the last service many miles ago, unless it’s automatic and you are particularly heavy-footed on the brakes or there had been a sticking calliper. When I was running my garage business non of my regular customers cars ever had pads worn that thin = immediate risk of going metal to metal and ruining the discs.
Lancashire Lad….. I’m looking at buying a new to me vehicle and I’ve been looking up their MOT history on the DVLA site and it’s shocking the number of vehicles with an advisory on pads getting low then next MOT it’s failed as pads below limit …. Same with tyres on cars with lower milages they’ll get an advisory on tyres getting towards the limit and then fail next MOT as they’re now below the limit ….. Often brakes and pads on the same car
Is it just my Volvo that flashes up a message when the brakes get worn?
No, other Volvos of the same model/trim will also have that feature. Volvo wouldn’t likely just install it as a one off feature for you.
Some other Volvos and cars from other manufacturers depending on the model/Trim also have that feature, often as a dashboard warning light, rather than a message.
My car failed under the new rules in August 2018. The reason being that the control unit for the headlamp self levelling mechanism was missing. I knew that this was missing when I bought the car.
Most vehicles don’t have these system, so if mine hadn’t such a system it would have passed. I was lucky as the garage was able to source the part for my 17 year old SUV. If not it would have been off the road despite being up to standard with everything else. A waste of a good vehicle.
The MOT test has become needlessly complex with far too many things included that shouldn’t be checked. The test should concentrate mainly on vehicle structure and integrity, suspension, steering, brakes, emissions, fluids, with a check on electrical systems that are essential for safety only.
Jeremy Taylor, before you berate the mot man. If your car is fitted with HID headlights, they must be self leveling by law to stop you dazzling other drivers. If you weren’t driving an illegal car in the first place it wouldn’t have failed. Test was doing its job mate.
You want to read that again , a 17year old car with HID headlights ?
My Honda is 20 years old. It has HID headlights.
Were Hids around 17 years ago?
If Hids not fitted, and the lights aligned as for a contemporary vehicle without the levelling system, why fail it?
I hope we don’t go to the Spanish level where companies bid to operate a regional test centre which may be 15 miles or more away and the regions add new safety and pollution checks (eg a noise level check with expensive electronics) to justify ramping up the fees for a 4 yearly check.
You see vehicles going in with non working lights and apparently passing, while one scooter failed for a non-homologated rear tyre size despite it being the original tyre fitted at the factory.
Yes Dave. HID lighting has been used by bmw, Mercedes Benz and Porsche since 2001. You want to try a German test, if you have different tyres than standard fit, as in make and size you’ll fail.
This doesn’t apply to me as I’m getting a car where everything is taken care of for a monthly price and being as it gets changed every 3 years
I won’t need to get an MOT
So why comment then?
Bully for you !
Would that be with tax payers money ???
Or at the cost of your company ??
But hey great to hear your useless input
Well lucky you, most cant afford to do that.
Lucky you.
A Flidability car?
Disability discrimination is not appreciated by any decent person. Do you have proof that Stuart is a victim of the Thalidomide scandal. You are a BULLY and should keep your thoughts to yourself.
Smart A** not everyone can afford a new car & I also wounder about your finances are you some rich sod or just another person stupid enough to be taken in by these contract hire cars.
Well, I buy my own cars at five/ten year intervals. But if this is the way you wish to go, fair enough, it seems safe, and it’s a free (if expensive!) country. I don’t agree with all the negative comments you are getting.
But of course it is still your, the driver’s, responsibility to ensure the car is roadworthy. i.e. Daily light checks, weekly tyre checks, etc.
Lucky old you. Do I detect a Na na ne na na in your bragging?
One of the most worrying things with winter approaching is the number of vehicles (cars, vans, etc) with just one headlight working. On a dark wet, dingy night, this could easily cause a collision with a vehicle from the opposite direction, either thinking it a motorbike, or not being able to anticipate the width. There needs to be more traffic police, as it could be over 11 months before it is rectified, if the light failed soon after an MOT.
Automatic lights are also not the best invention, as inclement, foggy, wet, but not dark weather will not bring the lights on. Many now have illuminated instrument clusters from the time of starting the vehicle, so no information to the driver that they are driving without lights.
DLR lights are another issue as most people do not put on side lights now as they feel the DLR lights are on, they forget drivers come up from behind as well.
As for faulty lamps don’t start me on that, well many years ago that use to be an offence the fuzz loved to pull you over for, one would come over and ask if its your vehicle then enquire what the reg was, whilst the other wandered around it looking for other offences they could get you for, now as you rightly say you never see a copper, and to be honest I don’t think they can be bothered with the paper work any more anyway, amount of times I see a police car on the side of expressway just watching cars pass with lights out front and or rear and not ever pulling them, don’t really know why they are there to be fair certainly not upholding the law, unless it changed now and broken lights are legal until all are out, maybe that’s it.
Some people go one step better, they do not turn any lights on they see some light in front of them and drive away.
Best part of it they are driving cares that you can select Auto lights but still drive with no lights on.
Then there are all the morons who now drive with front fog lights on constantly, I do chuckle when I see they have a fog light bulb out ( Usually the hardest bulb to change ) and think you will fail your next MOT on that bulb just because your stupid and use them 24/7.
Unfortunately you are correct you do not see enough Police to prevent these driving offences but that is down to our great Government cuts and not the Police forces.
FOG LAMPS!! that’s what they are, and I thought they where just knob head warning lamps
Only a police state would satisfy you!
No idiot, just a police force that stopped people who can’t be bothered to maintain their vehicles, or are you one of them who think its ok to drive around on bald tyres and only half your lights working because well is your right to.
If we had a Police state it would not be a problem to those who do not break the Law.
Terry, the problem with police states is they make up the rules as they go along making things which were legal illegal the next day so you soon find yourself as one of those who does have to worry but you keep giving up your freedoms for that false sense of security
Michael, I have a moderately priced car that has three choices of light activation sensitivity. the headlights come on in all kinds of weather including those you state. I agree with your second statement although again, there are a growing number of modern cars that have a bulb failure light on the dashboard.
Doesn’t have to be a modern car JW, my 20 year old Volvo has a bulb failure light on the dashboard… I have often wondered why other makes of car have not incorporated this VERY useful system.
Michael I agree 100% with you on the one eyed monsters on the road as for the past 11 years I’ve been doing a 60 Mike round trip into work, mostly motorways, and in the dark nights and mornings you can see maybe 3-4 a day and in the mornings as I tend to leave at the same time I see the same cars for weeks on end with one light out ….. DLR lights are another pan as drivers seem to forget to even switch on their blooming lights …. As for traffic police you’re lucky to see 2-3 a year as cameras are cheaper and speeding is the only crime they care about
It’s noticeable that the second of the top ten reasons for failure is suspension.
What does that say for the state of our roads?
Just changed my 17 year old Rover 75 for a Peugeot 208, my VED has dropped from £300 to £zero per year so happy that I’m not now paying “road tax” to drive on them. Incidentally, the Rover had a new MOT when it was sold.
Two ageing vehicles, one a 61 plate and the other an 04. No problems. A couple of advisories on the 04 now being dealt with. Its not difficult. Some garages milk the system and generate work, and thats not on. If in doubt try one of the Council testers. Thats fine and you know the test was done right, by people who understand the Regs.
I have a 2011 SMAX 2.5 diesel. It passed all it’s mechanical, emissions and other tests, but it has a warning light permanently on. So it was failed under the new MOT regulations because it has a warning light showing (no matter how insignificant the cause, because “…it is not the MOT Inspector’s job to diagnose faults …”). In fact, the light has been on for the preceeding three years’ MOTs through which it has sailed, because Ford do not know what is causing it on their own car. It has been in and out of garages and, apart from one suggesting “drill through the bulb”, no-one has come up with a solution. Its been through Ford’s £90 a time “diagnosis computer” plug-in (surprise, they need to rediagnose it EVERY time) I dont know how many times. Ford’s “advice” is progressively replace the parts of the vehicle .. Engine control computer, dashboard, sensors, pipework, air intake, whole turbo through to DPV and exhaust at a potential five figure sum, until, by chance, something makes the light go off. So thank you Ford, and thank you, Europe, and thank you DVSA, I now have a perfectly good car growing moss and deteriorasting, and I have had to scratch together funds and had to buy a 10 years older, more polluting stand-in, just for transport. Well, that’s a success for the environment then.
What has it got to do with Europe? The UK decides it’s own MOT rules.
Regret you are wrong, EU regulation affects all of our lives and is rubber stamped through parliament.
I’m sure the MOT test existed before we joined the EU, and it will continue beyond Brexit (if it ever happens) and of course even post-Brexit cars sold in the UK will comply with EU regulations as there is no way they will make UK-specific models.
Eu road worthiness directive..
Tony I’m sure you will find a lot of the new MOT rules are harmonised throughout Europe. Particularly emissions
Send it to an auto electrician.
I had a Rover 420 which has a constant warning light on the dashboard… MY garage managed to put it out when going for an MOT but eventually something would trip and the light would appear again….
I did try many other garages to eliminate the problem.. no luc.
Why is it that old tractors appear to be except from emission tests? Some are so old and decrepit that the stench and fumes they give off are awful, especially if you happen to live near a farm and the farmer insists on it ‘idling’ for an absolute age.
All agricultural tractors are exempt
May be as a tractor is mainly for use off the road but I do think that they should be road legal as pollution is still pollution on the road or off.
An agricultural tractor would fail all sorts of things in an MOT because its not constructed or designed for road use in the same way as say a dumper truck but still needs to able to use the road to get from field to field for example. Did you know that police vehicles are also exempt from MOT.
I would recommend using the Local council test centre. They’ll tell you the faults, then you can order the parts & get the work done. And take it back. Heard loads of horror stories, about local garages making work.
Everyone is banging on about Electric vehicles, but has anyone seen how they dispose of the batteries yet ??? Know you havent because they dont know how to dispose of them yet !! So wake up EV are NOT the way forward. DONT BELIEVE ALL THE HYPE.
Do not forget the cost to replace the Batteries, the cost can be more than the car is worth.
Then every one forgets where the power will come from to supply all these EV with power.
I guess the point of EV is not for the climate and to have cleaner air or will it just be some who have to suffer when we need to build more power stations to provide the extra power.
And where would we all charge our cars when we are on the road making a journey ?
Not like you can top up and go,
Who will pay the cost of installing home charging points and what about those who live in high rise blocks of flats/apartments, or even those who live in areas with no parking out side there homes and no drive to park on ?
How will they charge a EV.
How will transport of goods cope when they have to change to EV they could not complete the distances needed.
There has been no proper thought gone into this, it is all about boosting the economy by making us all buy brand new cars even the low income people who can not afford to do this.
Once we all have EV the cost of electric will inflate.
we don’t dispose of batteries, haven’t done so for ages. They can be recycled.
Batteries have been recycled for decades.
Lead acid battery’s yes ,lithium as in rechargeable cars etc probably not
MY CLK failed, the drivers seat motor had a fault and would not allow the seat to run back and forth although all the other functions work, I had set the seat to suit my seating and leg length, I am the only one who drives it (especially as very few other can reach the pedals (he,he) But this is now a FAIL, and a 2k 2001 CLK 320 with 90,00 miles and always serviced and garaged ! Cost £680 to repair the drivers seat motor part which I do not use. Apparently its a safety issue ! So it was obligatory to be fixed, thank god it didn’t include the passenger seat also which does not adjust fore and aft, again everything else does, it tilts, raises, headrests raise and lower etc. And the seat heating still works, its a great car in otherwise fantastic condition, incredibly comfortable and even frugal, often achieving 40mpg on long runs and 35/6 on every other run, but soon no doubt I will be forced to throw it away, what a terrible waste and the effect on the planet of disposing of millions of otherwise good cars will outweigh the savings.
Oh on another point beware of telephone calls from Amazon (NOT) offering to refund your prime membership payments if you want to opt out etc, they are just after your bank details, Amazon will never phone you.
EVs are great , if you can afford one MANY CANNOT. Fuel figures are a complete lie on petrol and diesel and so are EV figures, mileage issues are still the big problem. I drive to Spain once a year 725 miles, I need it there (the car) we are not near a town , also remember many hire companies refuse hire cars to over 65s, many to over 70s, and the rest, at 75, they can by law refuse.
AN EV at this time would mean probably 2 hotel stop overs, if I could find a charging point without someone already parked on it. In my dreadful world destroying Mercedes I can get there in 12 hours with stops every 2 hours.
On my 14 gallon tank, I only need to put 4.1/2 gallons more in to get me all the way. All done on cruise control at the speed limit.
As to carrying the Highway Code with you, dont, its a poor script, and an unhappy ending as you will have committed the offence before you read it, so have a look thro on-line or check out any signs you don’t recognise, especially those funny busses in Bristol. I had never heard or seen the signage before, they are rare, and yet an £80 fine for missing my turning , just before the sign and the camera,the road narrows to one lane and its too late to turn around.
My last 2 speeding offences (over 10 years ago) were on my local commute roads where the speed limit had been changed almost over the weekend, on roads I regularly used, and a traffic light camera was altered to a speed camera along with a speed reduction. They earned MILLIONS out of those two, try noticing a change in the signage from 50 to 30 on a road you have driven down for years, after so many complaints at least on one they increased the size of the sign to double size, this is what they should have to do , and should have done in the first place. But you don’t make as much Money that way.
Sorry but this will save me coming back on, and you reading several more comments. And if you can manage to read the Highway Code it won’t have been much of a challenge !
You could have got a used motor from a breakers or off Ebay for a lot less. Passenger seat should adjust fore/aft electrically. Different motors are on different fuses. Fuses in the boot.
Let’s add in a bit of racism and xenophobia into this debate. Sorry, I was not going to go through 33 pages of comments to see if it had been mentioned.
I wonder how many cars registered in Eastern Europe are driving around the UK as the owner is living in Britain. I assume as such, they need to be MOTed back in the land where they are registered and do not need to pass a British MOT.
Is our MOT more strict? On the balance of probability the answer is likely to be yes. Are we able to check when the said vehicle was last looked at?
And what about all the British cars for people who spend vast amounts of time overseas? Do the French worry that British vehicles have not had their bi-annual “contrôle technique” that locally registered vehicles must have.
If you import or bring a car or vehicle into the UK and you intend to stay for longer than six months, you must tell HMRC within 14 days of bringing the car or vehicle into the UK.
If you bring your car (or other motor vehicle) with you to the UK.
You should make sure you understand your other legal obligations when you import a car and as a driver, not just your tax requirements. These include obtaining approval to show that your car meets the relevant environmental and safety regulations, having a valid insurance policy covering the car in the UK, having an MOT (an MOT is a certificate that the car is roadworthy) if the car is more than three years old (or over four years old in Northern Ireland) and having a valid driving licence.
If you bring your car with you to the UK, for ‘permanent use’ on UK roads, you must tell HMRC about your car. Permanent use is normally considered to be for longer than six months. Once you have notified HMRC, you must register and license your car with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
You can usually use a vehicle without needing to register it in the UK or pay any taxes if all of the following apply:
you are visiting and do not plan to live here;
you only use the vehicle for up to six months in a 12-month period (this can be one single visit, or several shorter visits adding up to a six-month period);
the vehicle is registered and taxed in its home country.
The problem is SOME NOT ALL do not follow the rules and unless they are stopped by the police do not get caught.
The rules can also be flaunted by taking the car back out of the UK, so simply take a trip back to there Home land.
I know of people who have crossed to France and parked there car there then got a plane to Poland to visit there family, they then return to the UK with the car and can say they brought the car in on the new return date.
This is not aimed at Polish any other national could be doing the same.
My comment is not regarding racism and xenophobia it is just a response to the post
Sorry that is a common misbelief by the foreign owners. The day you become resident you must either remove the car or pay the very high registration fees (not worth it) there is no 6 month grace that is only for a vehicle brought here as a temporary import by a visitor.
The foreign car is not allowed to live here. Only allowed to come here as a visitor. The day the owner lives here is the day the owner must register it or remove it. There is no grace. How many bikes cars do you see on the road. Especially at airports and so on. Their insurance is also in doubt how many stay in the UK for years and don’t go back for an mot or pay their own road tax which must also be paid.
I’m not sure of the time period but once a foreign car has been in the UK for a certain length of time it’s meant to be reregistered, taxed and MOT but I’m sure we all know it doesn’t always happen ….. We’d a lovely young French girl lived two doors down from us and had her car over hear for around 3 or 4 years still on its French plates …. I know it never went back to France in that period as when she went home for a holiday or to visit family she’d take a taxi to the airport and fly home ….. So not only wasn’t it MOT’d or taxed it was probably uninsured too
Has anyone thought about the carbon footprint a full electric car leaves ????? I know someone in a well todo manufacturer who poo poos electric cars due to its carbon footprint. Which is government and tree hugger driven. Only way to go is hybrid. Where are all the electric charging points going to be ?????? “”” suggest you watch watchdog “””””” on this matter !!!!! We’ll be using steam cars and pony and traps soon if our loves tree huggers and government have their way. Does anyone know what the charge will be for a mot on a horse lol.
Don’t knock steam engines, they could well be the future, with the steam produced by hydrogen cells.
As long as it’s not coal generated or even burning wood …… I’d no idea until recently that even wood burning fires have to meet stringent rules & regulations …….. Jeez we’ve been burning wood for thousands of years without any problems
You need to find out about the problem s with hydrogen.
The article starts out by highlighting emissions and exhaust dpf ‘s and air quality (all highlighted for emphasis), but if you read on, reasons for failing related to this category only come in at 7 out of 10 in the top ten reasons. Nothing like a bit of spin…
If everyone is worried about bring ‘ripped off’ by using a garage, do what I do, go to an MOT centre that only does MOT’s, there is one near me, and it is always busy. I had a bad experience a place that specialised in brakes and exhaust, guess what I got advisories on, never went back.
how do vehicles pass the MOT when they have small number plates, noisy exhausts, dangerously lowered suspension and illegal number plates ???????
Sorry you have to wait until they get involved in an RTC.. There are no traffic police anymore. So Then the assessor like me comes along. Oh illegal modifications sir. Performance exhaust, dark glass at front sides (any film) Reyes outside the wheel arch. they don’t make dark glass which does not conform basically if you can see it it’s likely a film and illegal.
Number plate just adds to the disregard for the law.. I get 10% of what is saves. I once had an exhaust company solicitor call me an ill-informed idiot in his address at court trying to get his written off car money. Haha it’s written in black and white that any mod to increase the noise or performance is notifiable. . Your client made a false declaration to the insurance company and got a reduced premium. Why should I have to pay extra for him. Don’t get me started on the foreign cars. They will not get paid by us if they are here illegally. (Live here) what’s your address use oh you live here and work here.
Mot is only as good as the person who does the test
I took my car to a main dealership for service and mot with my left head light not working. Picked it up was told it had passed no bulbs on sheet guess what, headlight still not working but had passed. If they miss a headlight what else are they not checking.
My car failed on the chassis inspection. As I always combine my MOT with the annual service the work was done immediately. My car is 15 years old and still in good condition. I don’t take chances!
If someone has failed an MOT and driven away without returning why can’t the garage fill in a simple form and report it to the DVLA? I see so many vehicles with lights missing or misaligned which are a danger to other drivers or pedestrians.
Cars with lights not working or too bright etc should be taken off the road until fixed , or scrapped
By far the best solution is to use a specialist MOT center with no repairs carried out. The place I go to with my two cars is totally unbiased. Being retired I can go at a conveniently quiet time but I always make sure the vehicle is fit to pass. But he got me on headlight adjustment although he adjusted it he registered it as a fail then a pass. So that helps the statistics with the fail rates a bit. Headlines are often hype. How did my headlight become out of adjustment? I had not touched it in many years. It must have been wrong the year before but the Ford main dealer did not notice it.
When a headlamp wiper fails, the car won’t pass the MOT, fortunately my car is a tad older and it doesn’t apply, load of rubbish, when classic cars are totally exempt. Many cars don’t even have headlamp wipers.
It’s a con, pure and simple. They just want to sell more new cars. We’ll all be driving nuclear…er sorry “electric” cars soon. The fallout of which, will last a lot longer than fossil fuels….A lot longer…
All good opportunities for profiteering by dishonest garages and the Government’s attempt to keep the new-car industries buoyant! In years gone by have encountered many examples of deliberate damage by dishonest service garages to generate work. Slashing of gator sleeves a common cash cow!
shows the power of the motor industry lobbying.
Lighthearted way to pass the new MOT emissions test for older diesels.
https://youtu.be/j8RejDse6Hk
I recommend using a council MOT testing station, they don’t carry out repairs so no incentive to carry out work.
All this ignores the fact that the vast majority of accidents are caused by recklessness, not mechanical faults of the vehicle.
I RUN A MOT/FAST FIT GARAGE IN LINCOLN WITH A GREAT TEAM OF STAFF SINCE 1985. MY GUYS SERVICE AND MAINTAIN ALL TYPES OF CARS INCLUDING MINE, FAILING A CAR ON AN MOT FOR SOMETHING THAT DOSENT NEED DOING OR NOT SEEING SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE FAILED SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN BUT SADLY IT DOES, MY MOT TESTER IS SO HONEST HE FAILED HIS OWN CAR FOR A FAULT, I HEAR WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT BEING RIPPED OFF AND DO UNDERSTAND THIS PROBLEM AND SAY GO TO INDEPENDENT PLACES NOT THE CHAIN GARAGES WHERE THE STAFF ARE ON A BONUS FOR UPSELLING TO THE CUSTOMER. I PERSONALLY DONT CARE ABOUT WHERE PEOPLE GET THEIR CARS FIXED AS LONG AS THEY ARE SAFE AND LEGAL.
No need to shout Pete…..
Obviously check for truly dangerous faults. But headlamp washers ‘if fitted’? Why would cars without these be okay? There is an anomaly here and I don’t think it’s dangerous within the meaning of the act.
That’s the problem with the MoT and other tests like it: mission creep
Originally it was just to check brakes, tyres and steering..
Something needs to be done about the rouge test stations I’m sick of seeing a procession of aged motors belching out black smoke. Strangely 8 out of 10 seem to be taxis and the rest flat back transit tippers.
Get Greta on their case!!
Says you with your gas central heating on 24/7 invisible pollution , hypocrisy
The new MOT test can also seemingly pick up false items – my car’s last one said a non-fail item was a ‘damaged windscreen’ (outside the danger area), and yet I told them beforehand and gave them proof that Autoglass had repaired the chipped windscreen just a few days before.
Given that an MOT can be done up to 1 month before the actual due date there should be a statutory fine of £250 for missing the MOT date.
So work sends you abroad for 6 weeks when you MOT is due and you get a fine. Really??
The only thing that really is missing from the list is that there is not a thorough examination for the nut holding the steering wheel. If we seriously want to reduce road deaths then the improvement in the driving standards is the only answer.
After sadly parting with my 04 S type 2.7V6, I got a Kia Sportage First Edition which came with free MOTs for life of vehicles. It failed it’s first one at 50,000 miles due to suspension bush, which was replaced at no charge under 7 year warranty. Not as satisfying as the Jag to drive, but no longer have back ache, and no complaints about MOT costs.
Perhaps we should take a lesson from New Zealand where older vehicles have to have a Warrant of Fitness certificate (equivalent to our MOT) renewed every six months but these are undertaken by state owned vehicle testing stations on a drop in basis i.e. no appointment needed. So, are not undertaken by garages with a vested interest in finding/creating faults.
3 million vehicles sounds horrendous, but at the end of the day, most vehicles will be failed on minor issues and would be back on the road within a few hours or days at most. If 3 million vehicles had actually been removed permanently………………………..wow!
In most situations, the most dangerous thing about a car is the driver. Most accidents are caused by drivers not the vehicles, if the government really want to make the roads safer, drivers should have an annual MOT too, (i.e. a safety driving test), not that I’d like that either but it would be more effective at reducing accidents.
MOT test is 3 yeas after the vehicles 1st registered not 3 years after its manufactured ….. Some cars can easily be months old before being sold
I don’t know if the noise output of a motorcycle is part of the MOT structure, but if not it should be and there should be a fairly low limit on it I live on a fairly busy, though not main road and motorcycles are the bane of my life. Most days I have my lounge windows open and at all times of the day and night there are many vehicles using the road. When cars go past all that can normally be heard is their tyre noise. When most, though not all, motorcycles pass all you can hear is the exhaust noise from a fair distance away as they come and go, in some instances they can be heard for at least half a mile in both directions. I have been told that a lot of motorcyclists remove the baffles from their exhausts because they think it makes the motorcycle go faster and it also makes people look at them. Iam also told that quite a number of motorcycles have no MOT certificate and also no road tax or insurance.
Any idea how easy it is to fit a different exhaust pipe for the MoT, then revert to the original once you have passed the test?
ALL EXCESSIVELY noisy motor bikes should be scrapped,
You’ve been told wrong then Kevin. Don’t make any noise near my house wah wah wah. PO buddy. After 8 am and before 11 pm folk can and should be able to do as they like. Everyone is soooo…. sensitive these days. I don’t like noise. I have rights. You offended me. Quit whinging. Noise is the least of your worries these days.
Far to stricked,just to pull more cars off the road,only the rich will be able to keep cars on the road.very unfair for those who need it or there life will be cut off.l do agree with bangers off the road.
“Since May 2018……… missing brake pads or discs.” Damn! I’ll have to go and put some on now.
My car has been to three different MOT stations in the last three years and each time has been given different advisory items, (now minor faults) despite the fact I’ve never attended to any of them. It’s just a con.
I have no problem with tougher mot checks. One of my cars had just failed, brake pads, disc pitted etc. But it’s only a year old… and not pitted! Perished tyre valves, they are not… And more worryingly, my car over heated during the emissions test, it’s never had an overheating problem in the 2.5 years I’ve owned it. When I dropped it off they said they were behind but would get it done, my worry is the garage left it running, forgot about it whilst ‘catching up’ on another car, hence not heard the loud alarm coming from under the dash and you can guess what happened next!
Even if the discs were pitted, how is that a safety hazard?
Should the following also be checked/gathered as part of the MOT:
. exhaust sound too loud (ie evidence of devices, perhaps removed from the exhaust pipe just for the test, which make the car noisy on purpose).
. entertainment systems that make too much noise.
. gather the ID (including address) of the driver delivering the vehicle to be tested (ie not the mechanic relaying between service centre and MOT test centre) – so that use of invalid reg plates can be deterred.
. I presume the VIN is checked to the reg plates as a matter of course already.
. at some point the driver ID could be checked to ensure the driver is insured to drive the vehicle.
. if the vehicle is un-registered the drivers ID is used to register the vehicle at the DVLA.
. the reg plate/VIN is checked for the vehicle being a ‘duplicate’ or stolen.
. the reg plate is attached with tamperproof fittings.
I have had many complaints over the years with exhausts. The mot manual used to be quite clear. Fitters didn’t understand the word excessive!!! It means more than normal and a failure. I used to be told how do I (them) know that. I used to say if you don’t know that you are in the wrong job. Performance exhausts tend to look totally different as well as the noise. Haha
“The government body’s records show that almost 1.2 million vehicles failed the emissions tests in the first 12 months of the new-style MOT. If a vehicle fails any of these checks, the MOT tester assigns it a major fault. Yet DVSA findings show a significant improvement in our air quality after either removing the failed vehicles from the road or by garages repairing the faults.” This might be a good thing as vehicles fitted with better emission equipment should not be letting out black smoke.
“Top 10 reasons for MOT failure (by percentage)
1, Lamps, reflectors, and electrical equipment:14.9% (Not always good, we need better equipment to stop over bright lights or badly adjusted lights)
2, Suspension:18.3% (Speed bumps are to be taken at a slower speed, about time they indicated the right and safe speed to take them at)(Road conditions)
3, Brakes: 8.8% ( the speed and effort can be false and an annual service is the best process to check brakes)
4, Tyres: 6.8% (Still people are confused over tyre regs)
5, Visibility: 6.1% (Does a Windscreen that is badly scored due to lack of road sweeping count?)
6, Body, chassis, structure: 4.7%( some centres need better training as parts of a vehicle not liable to cause injury and are not stress-bearing still fail)
7, Noise, emissions, leaks: 3.9% ( good better roads from less oil and fuel leaks is good.) (Noise hmm not seen a certain vehicle off the road yet.)
8, Steering: 2.2% (Boots etc.)
9, Seat belts: 1.5% ( we used to lift vehicles by their seat belts, the amount of weight they take is amazing) (but the auto adjustment is the most likely fail)
10, Identification of the vehicle: 0.5% (Number plates and VIN numbers covered up by welding.
Better testing methods are the best thing out of this.
Will this increase any dishonest tester?. My wife was told her back brakes were leaking fluid. I knew different ,I challenged this, the tester took me to the wheel of the supposed leakage , No sign of any leak, then took off the wheel and cover to the brakes, worse he then pulled the cylinder , then produced a Screw Driver ,he said it was leaking, I said , OF Course it will leak everywhere if you pull the cylinder out, Leave it alone, on looking at the cylinder ,No sign of any leak, He would not give me a failure certificate ,I took the car to another Garage for Inspection and told Nothing wrong with the brakes ,no sign of any leaks and a Pass was issued.