MOT tester making up reason to fail test.

MOT tester making up reason to fail test.

Author
Discussion

Sensibleboy

Original Poster:

1,141 posts

124 months

Friday 6th December 2019
quotequote all
Does anybody know why an MOT tester would fail a car on something minor - a fault that isn't actually there? He would then immediately issue a pass certificate.

This has happened twice now on different cars but neither car actually had a problem.

It's slightly annoying as I would never take a car for a test with obvious problems such as a failed light.

carreauchompeur

17,830 posts

203 months

Friday 6th December 2019
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Probably to keep their pass/fail rate within parameters, so they can give dodgy MOTs to their mates.

A1VDY

3,575 posts

126 months

Friday 6th December 2019
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carreauchompeur said:
Probably to keep their pass/fail rate within parameters, so they can give dodgy MOTs to their mates.
This.
£20 in the glove box sees a clean sheet from an mot station in Norwich..


EDIT, no I don't use them😂

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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It must be to meet targets - I took a BMW E91 for an MOT in January and the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear brake pads.

I told him the OBC was showing they had over 20K miles left in them, and all of a sudden they became an advisory!

What a tw*t - the MOT is only designed to test the car in the condition it is presented in on the day, not foretell the future. banghead

CoolHands

18,496 posts

194 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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They’re saving up their passes for their dodgy paying mates in the motor trade

DuraAce

4,240 posts

159 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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It's more to do with not wanting a (near) 100% PASS rate I think.

The national average of cars passing first time isnt 100% - so if a station is up near that % they are potentially inviting a visit from DVSA to see what might be going on.

It could be genuine that a garage has such a high pass rate but it just looks out of the normal.

torx_whisperer

113 posts

192 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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DuraAce said:
It's more to do with not wanting a (near) 100% PASS rate I think.

The national average of cars passing first time isnt 100% - so if a station is up near that % they are potentially inviting a visit from DVSA to see what might be going on.

It could be genuine that a garage has such a high pass rate but it just looks out of the normal.
What is this based on?

Surely a new car dealership that does MOT’s could be quite likely to have a much higher pass rate than the council who or local classic car garage? I’d have thought there’s quite a big variation in pass rate depending where you go.

Butter Face

30,191 posts

159 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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Mr Tidy said:
It must be to meet targets - I took a BMW E91 for an MOT in January and the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear brake pads.

I told him the OBC was showing they had over 20K miles left in them, and all of a sudden they became an advisory!

What a tw*t - the MOT is only designed to test the car in the condition it is presented in on the day, not foretell the future. banghead
Must be a pretty decent garage that talks you through what they want to fail your car on before they do so.

Lemming Train

5,567 posts

71 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Sensibleboy said:
Does anybody know why an MOT tester would fail a car on something minor - a fault that isn't actually there? He would then immediately issue a pass certificate.

This has happened twice now on different cars but neither car actually had a problem.

It's slightly annoying as I would never take a car for a test with obvious problems such as a failed light.
Thread is here : https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Full of MOT tester types.

stevemcs

8,592 posts

92 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Mr Tidy said:
It must be to meet targets - I took a BMW E91 for an MOT in January and the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear brake pads.

I told him the OBC was showing they had over 20K miles left in them, and all of a sudden they became an advisory!

What a tw*t - the MOT is only designed to test the car in the condition it is presented in on the day, not foretell the future. banghead
You will often find that the obc is wrong and is also completely irrelevant when testing, it’s the pads themselves that are checked. So they will either fail as a dangerous defect if 1.5mm or less, anything else where the tester can see the pads are wearing thin would be pass and advise.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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My car failed on a main beam bulb which I know was working 20 minutes before the test. Couldn’t be arsed to complain as I knew what the response would be. My fault for leaving it late and using Kwik-bodge....

Rewe

1,016 posts

91 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
A1VDY said:
This.
£20 in the glove box sees a clean sheet from an mot station in Norwich..


EDIT, no I don't use them??
rofl



Hub

6,411 posts

197 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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I've had this before - it failed on headlamp aim too high, and then passed. I didn't know anything about the failure until I checked the MOT history online! To my mind they could have seen the aim was out (if it even was out!), adjusted it and then passed it!


Butter Face

30,191 posts

159 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
The job is to 'test' a car as presented. Not to go around fixing it on the fly, 'oh tyres at 1.4mm, just chuck a couple on there' rofl


Athlon

4,998 posts

205 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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Hub said:
I've had this before - it failed on headlamp aim too high, and then passed. I didn't know anything about the failure until I checked the MOT history online! To my mind they could have seen the aim was out (if it even was out!), adjusted it and then passed it!

We are allowed to do minor repairs as we go during a test but we have to test as is.

So if your headlights are out of adjustment and they will adjust easily we can re-set them but we have to fail it as it was wrong at time of test.

When we input the data at the end of test we have the option of ticking the 'PRS' box rather than the fail box, if we do this then the scheme will generate a fail and pass certificate at the end.

As to the last comment, why? How many jobs do you do for free? It would be entirely fair to fail the car, then place it on the beam tester, adjust the lamps and then re-test it with the associated cost. The beam testing equipment is not cheap and has to be calibrated at further cost so the fact it was sorted should be thanked rather than complained about.

There is an 'Ask the MOT tester' thread which is packed with q&a stuff on may topics to do with the test on here, have a look smile

And to the others on this thread: THERE ARE NO TARGETS FOR PASS OR FAIL, AT ALL!

ejenner

3,992 posts

180 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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A lot of it is based on opinion though. Brake pads having less than 1.5mm inspected through a hole in the alloy wheel... pull the other one.

Dogwatch

6,222 posts

221 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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torx_whisperer said:
Surely a new car dealership that does MOT’s could be quite likely to have a much higher pass rate than the council who or local classic car garage? I’d have thought there’s quite a big variation in pass rate depending where you go.
Indeed and the powers that be know that investigating a high pass rate at a main dealers is very likely to be a waste of time. For the lower ranks however putting your head above the parapet raises suspicion whether the business is reputable or not, so keep to "average" for a quiet life.

Leon R

3,182 posts

95 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
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Not a fail but I once took my car in for an MOT and service including the replacement of both front tyres.

When I picked it up later I had an advisory that both front tyres were close to the legal limit and a service invoice for two new front tyres.

Didn't complain but it did make me laugh.

ejenner

3,992 posts

180 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
They did the MOT first so if something came up on the MOT which meant they could scare you with not being allowed to drive a dangerous car they could split a wedge off your wallet.

There are other ways of phrasing that which would give more grace to the workshop.

Robmarriott

2,633 posts

157 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
ejenner said:
A lot of it is based on opinion though. Brake pads having less than 1.5mm inspected through a hole in the alloy wheel... pull the other one.
Have you ever stood under a car when it is on a ramp? You can, with very few exceptions, see how much material is left on the brake pads as clear as day.