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Some people think that having an MOT test proves that a car is in good condition and without faults. This of course isn’t true so if you are buying a used car you should have a full inspection carried out on the car rather than just an MOT. Also if you have an MOT coming up and you want to know the likely ‘damage’ you should ask for a pre-MOT check rather than having an actual MOT carried out.

The reason for mentioning this is that if you have a car MOT tested and it fails this is recorded on the DVSA register as a failure. Scrapcarcomparison.co.uk has warned that some drivers have had their cars MOT tested long before the MOT is due, failed the test but believed that it is still OK to drive the car till the old MOT has run out. This isn’t true and not only is it dangerous it is also illegal.

Driving a car that isn’t roadworthy is not only dangerous and illegal it can also invalidate your insurance and if the police pick it up via their ANPR cameras it can lead to a fine of £2,500, a driving ban as well as 3 points on the licence. Last year 36.8% of cars failed their MOT tests on the first attempt with over 2.4 million cars requiring fixes before passing. So remember, if your car fails an MOT test at any time you can only continue to drive the car if it is on the way to be repaired (proof required) or to a pre-arranged MOT test appointment. By Graham Hill

MOT tests do not prove that a car has no faults. On many occasions I have written about this issue and explained how buyers have been handed a brand new MOT certificate with their used car as proof that the car is faultless. Most safety items are checked along with emissions but it won’t reveal that a car has an oil leak or any other mechanical fault unless it falls within the scope of the test.

A full mechanical check on the car should confirm if the car has a faulty gearbox or engine or any other potentially expensive faults. Having said that the scope of the MOT test is extending annually to include new technology which also means that examiners are expected to take an annual, online, test. However, it has been revealed that just 35% of MOT testers have taken their test with just up to the end of March to pass.

Following which the testers will put their licence in jeopardy. The question is does this put drivers at risk if the MOT tester isn’t up to speed with the latest requirements? The Driver and Vehicle Standards Authority (DVSA) thinks not as they have announced that the examiners will be treated leniently this year, as this is the first year of change and the online examinations, but a tougher approach will be taken in future if examiners don’t conform to the new rules. Concerns have been raised regarding driverless cars.

Development in this sector is gaining traction but concerns have been expressed by various bodies regarding the preparation, or rather the lack of it, when it comes to the safety testing and MOT test criteria in relation to autonomous cars fitted with extra sensors and complex electronics. The Department for Transport simply says that work in this area is ‘under review’. Finally on the subject of MOT testing the Department for Transport has finally launched its proposals to extend the first MOT test from 3 years to 4 years.

The consultation paper recommends that the initial MOT test for cars and motorcycles be extended to 4 years from 2018 saving motorists more than £100 million annually. Transport Minister Andrew Jones (no I haven’t heard of him either) suggested that our roads are some of the safest in the world and vehicles are much safer than they were 50 years ago when the MOT test was set at 3 years.

Personally I would suggest that we need to see how many cars fail their first MOT at 3 years before deciding if we can extend to 4 years. Strange that wasn’t mentioned. By Graham Hill

I wasn’t surprised to read that over 1,000 drivers each year appeal MOT test results. However I was surprised to read that these appeals were against a pass rather than a fail. Only 100 appeal a fail each year with about 40 being successful.

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So why would anyone appeal a pass? As it turns out it is quite logical, they are customers who have bought a used car with a new or relatively new MOT that they subsequently feel is dodgy and want to use the results of the appeal to either return the car or take a dealer to court.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) confirmed that over 1,250 motorists contacted them in 2014 believing that their car should have failed. The number is increasing as this figure is up by 100 from 2013.

As for those appealing a fail whilst only 116 in 2014 this is the highest over the last 5 years. Of the 1,250 appeals against passed cars only 22% were successful but that shows that nearly a quarter of cars sold with a Full MOT are not roadworthy.

That is frightening. The DVSA carry out an annual Compliance Survey whereby they carry out retests on recently tested cars. They found that 15% of all MOT’s are wrong. Over 11% were given a fail when in fact they passed and 18% were given a pass when they should have failed.

I find that even more frightening! What is wrong with our testing systems whether they are for safety reasons or emission reasons. This isn’t good enough. By Graham Hill

English: Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) built in the exhaust pipe of a Peugeot) Deutsch: Dieselrußpartikelfilter (DPF) in einem Peugeot Français : Filtre à particules (FAP) de Peugeot Citroën (PSA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may or may not be aware that the MOT rules have changed recently. One of the changes relates to the use of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) and the requirement that if a car is fitted with one as standard from new that it is intact and working properly. If it isn’t the car will fail its MOT.

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However, it seems that the only effective test that an MOT station can carry out is a visual inspection so it seems that in order to get around the rules some companies are offering a removal service whereby they remove the DPF leaving just an empty canister which looks fine but clearly isn’t working.

This infringes section 75 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, which prohibits alterations from being made to a car that renders it unroadworthy. After the MOT rule change, the motor insurance industry has become more vigilant and has warned motorists that if they remove the DPF then have a crash they should consider the consequences of not having valid insurance.

Remember that if your car has a diesel particulate filter fitted and you want to avoid clogging in the first place, you need to run the car at a minimum of 50mph for a minimum of 20 minutes each month. This creates a chemical reaction that clears out the particulate filter.

Yet another potential problem when buying a used car, even with an inspection carried out by an engineer, there is no way of knowing how badly clogged the filter may be when you buy a used car. And they aren’t cheap I was told a VW owner paid £1,650 for a replacement filter. Do you really want a used car? STOP PRESS: Strangely I have just had a call from a desperate driver (oooerr missus) who thought that he would save money by taking a low cost ex demonstrator.

He’s had the car for about 4 months and the car is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. After the particulate light started to glow on the dashboard he took the car into the dealer to have it looked at and they said the particulate filter is blocked and it will cost £1,400 to have it replaced.

They then shocked him by explaining that this is a wear and tear item, not covered by the warranty. Another reason why you should never take an ex demonstrator, you just don’t know how the 50 or more drivers of the car have driven the car! By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Press release: New rules for MOT to test for diesel particulate filter (gov.uk)

Image via Wikipedia

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