MOT question

[skeggysteve]

4/5 door car and one rear passenger door will not open.

Two MOT testers (at the same garage) have different opinions and I've been asked to settle the matter.
Please note that there is £20 and a lot of piss taking at stake so this is important!

Tester 1: Refuse to test the car as I can't test the rear seat belt or look at any corrosion.

Tester 2: Test it, reach across and test the seat belt. Advise the rear door that can't be opened. How would you check corrosion on a 3 door car?

I will be ringing VOSA on Monday but as there are some MOT testers on here I thought I'd ask.

Hope this is the right place to ask this question if not please move it to the right place!

[jagnet]

Iirc, this question came up on here not so long ago, and the consensus was that as the rear door opening wasn't a testable item then it'd pass if the tester can access the testable items in the rear, but with an advisory possibly.

I also recall reading that it was going to become a testable item next year, but I could have imagined that completely.

[Lordglenmorangie]

I had a two door car fail because the door handle did not operate smoothly, I understand that door handles have to work as designed. Not sure about rear ones but I suspect they fall within the test !

[skeggysteve]

Jagnet,

I'll do a search for the thread you mention.
Thanks.

[Jimbo.]

Hand the car to them with the window of the offending door wound down, and tell them to open it from the inside?

[jagnet]

Here we go - that's the thread I was thinking of, and it does mention about it being a requirement from 2012, so I wasn't imagining things

[Mr serge]

throw the car away

[cambiker71]

It should be a reason to refuse the test, all written in the test manual.

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/doitonline/b...

MOT Testing Guide - contents - Appendix 3 - grounds for refusal to carry out a test - section g

"A proper examination cannot be carried out because of the inability to open any device - e.g.
door, tailgate, boot lid, engine cover or fuel cap - designed to be readily opened"

[skeggysteve]

Lordglenmorangie said:

I had a two door car fail because the door handle did not operate smoothly, I understand that door handles have to work as designed. Not sure about rear ones but I suspect they fall within the test !

My soft top 2 seater failed because the drivers door wouldn't open, I used the passenger door or climbed in over the drivers door, but I can understand the failure.

[skeggysteve]

Jimbo. said:

Hand the car to them with the window of the offending door wound down, and tell them to open it from the inside?

I like your lateral thinking!

[skeggysteve]

jagnet said:

Here we go - that's the thread I was thinking of, and it does mention about it being a requirement from 2012, so I wasn't imagining things

Many thanks for the link, I did a search but it came back with 600+ threads!

[jagnet]

clearly a lot of unreliability when it comes to back door latching. Now if that's not a set up for Friday night innuendo...

[skeggysteve]

cambiker71 said:

It should be a reason to refuse the test, all written in the test manual.

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/doitonline/b...

MOT Testing Guide - contents - Appendix 3 - grounds for refusal to carry out a test - section g

"A proper examination cannot be carried out because of the inability to open any device - e.g.
door, tailgate, boot lid, engine cover or fuel cap - designed to be readily opened"

Thanks for the link, I'd forgotten about the manual being online.

So Appendix 3 says:

"designed to be readily opened"

But shakotan say/quotes in the thread mentioned above:

"MOT Testing Manual said:
6.2 Doors and Seats

Method of Inspection - 1. Open and close the driver’s and passengers’ doors. Check that each latches securely in the closed position. Check also that front doors can be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle.

Reason for Rejection - 1. a. A driver’s or any passenger’s door does not latch securely in the closed position b. a driver’s or front passenger’s door cannot be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle from the relevant control in each case. "

My bold.

So until I speak with VOSA I'm going with 'It's down to the testers interpretation of the manual".
Like much of it!

Anyway many thanks to all posters, I'm off now for beer!

[iamed]

skeggysteve said:

Method of Inspection - 1. Open and close the driver’s and passengers’ doors.

Isn't that the answer? Passengers' door is plural, implying the rear doors must work - although I suppose it's not explicitly stated as a reason for failure.

Edited by iamed on Friday 23 September 21:09

[jagnet]

As a method of inspection to ensure that it's securely latched shut as I read it, but as reason for rejection:

Reason for Rejection - 1. a. A driver’s or any passenger’s door does not latch securely in the closed position b. a driver’s or front passenger’s door cannot be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle from the relevant control in each case. "

[Ozzie Osmond]

skeggysteve said:

My soft top 2 seater failed because the drivers door wouldn't open, I used the passenger door or climbed in over the drivers door, but I can understand the failure.

Surely not?

[skeggysteve]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Surely not?

Err, I said soft top.

At my age even with a soft top it hard work, not sure I could do it Dukes Of Hazard style!

[Rich_W]

Refusal to test.

Front doors have to open from outside and inside.
Rear doors from outside only.

"Should" get picked up on the pre-checks (but I know those that have been caught out half way through the test )

[cambiker71]

skeggysteve said:

Thanks for the link, I'd forgotten about the manual being online.

So Appendix 3 says:

"designed to be readily opened"

But shakotan say/quotes in the thread mentioned above:

"MOT Testing Manual said:
6.2 Doors and Seats

Method of Inspection - 1. Open and close the driver’s and passengers’ doors. Check that each latches securely in the closed position. Check also that front doors can be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle.

Reason for Rejection - 1. a. A driver’s or any passenger’s door does not latch securely in the closed position b. a driver’s or front passenger’s door cannot be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle from the relevant control in each case. "

My bold.

So until I speak with VOSA I'm going with 'It's down to the testers interpretation of the manual".
Like much of it!

Anyway many thanks to all posters, I'm off now for beer!

A little late answering again but you're mistaking the MOT testing guide with the Inspection Manual, the testing guide has all the rulings for testing, when to test or refuse to test amongst other things.
The Inspection manual gives you what to check and what can be a failure point (reasons for rejection) once you are in the process of carrying out a test.
Hope this helps

[skeggysteve]

Thanks for that cambiker, makes more sense now!

Anyway I spoke to a very helpful guy from VOSA today.

If a rear door can't be opened then strictly speaking it's a refuse to test. Whilst the tester can check the seatbelts he/she can't check for corrosion around the seat belt mounting points.
But he would expect a tester to use their discretion, if the car is a rot box then refuse to test. If it's a newer car in good overall condition no problem with testing it.

This brings a problem for testers as different VOSA inspectors may look upon it in different ways.
Not as easy as looks being an MOT tester!