MOT Advisor

Third Opinion · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:31

Plastic covers impede inspection!

Is this fair the car is factory specification.

Is the MOT getting stupid, I mean what am I meant to do? Book the car in to be dismantled just in case something is hidden.

Everything else was fine and it has full dealer history but now has this on it's record.

I wanted to part exchange the car today but now the garage wants these areas inspected at my cost.

I have told them to get knotted but feel this is unfair.

Draeger · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:43

Plastic covers impede inspection of what?. Did it fail it's MoT and if so for what reason?. Also - what car is it?.

Sorry, but your initial post doesn't really go into any detail!!

Third Opinion · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:49

Draeger said:
Plastic covers impede inspection of what?. Did it fail it's MoT and if so for what reason?. Also - what car is it?.

Sorry, but your initial post doesn't really go into any detail!!

I would imagine the body work The car is only 4 years old. It is a Fiat Sedici SUV which is basically a Suzuki SX4 with a different badge.

Passed with no other advisories, just had a new windscreen wiper.

[TW]Fox · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:50

Draeger said:
Plastic covers impede inspection of what?. Did it fail it's MoT and if so for what reason?. Also - what car is it?.

Sorry, but your initial post doesn't really go into any detail!!

Seems fairly obvious to me.

He's complaining that his car passed its MOT but was given an advisory of 'Plastic covers impede inspection'. He's annoyed about this as, IMHO quite rightly, feels the advisory is entirely pointless.

Janesy B · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:53

Sounds like he got a bit of an idiot tester. What can the OP do to fix it? Nothing, it's a design fault at the worst so why advise?

Third Opinion · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:54

[TW]Fox;22142492 said:
Seems fairly obvious to me.

He's complaining that his car passed its MOT but was given an advisory of 'Plastic covers impede inspection'. He's annoyed about this as, IMHO quite rightly, feels the advisory is entirely pointless.

Thanks, I thought it was just me. Now it seems to have but me in a position to have to take less money for a car or carry out work that would probably make it more likely to fault (things never fit together as well as they have done initially in the factory).

WTF are they playing at with these MOT's nowadays.

[TW]Fox · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:55

The dealer is just trying it on, you and him both know there is nothing wrong with the car.

Third Opinion · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:02

[TW]Fox;22142540 said:
The dealer is just trying it on, you and him both know there is nothing wrong with the car.

Yes I know it, but these things are on record. The dealer didn't MOT the vehicle either. Just fed up with these stupid inspection rules that seem to play into the hands of the Ministry to try to get anything that isn't 3 years old off the road.

Now any buyer can look online and see this stupid advisory. Like you Fox I know it is probably 100% sound, but to some that are not so sound minded it could put them off.

Zack101 · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:11

The MOT tester has done his job right, he's not saying there is anything wrong with the car at all, he's saying there are plastic covers there so he can't see if there are any problems under there. All he's done is cover himself. If it did turn out to have some problem under those covers he would have that advisory to say he couldn't have seen it.

The garage saying they want it inspected, well that's them trying to get it cheap I would guess.

[TW]Fox · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:13

Zack101 said:
The MOT tester has done his job right, he's not saying there is anything wrong with the car at all, he's saying there are plastic covers there so he can't see if there are any problems under there.

Why didn't he advise that a rear wing was fitted to the car so he couldnt see the top of the suspension mount?

Zack101 · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:15

Sorry not getting that. Why would a rear wing stop you seeing a top suspension mount?

[TW]Fox · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:17

I mean the actual wing, the panel, not a spoiler.

Just think, if the car didnt have body panels he'd be able to inspect so much more. Best advise on that!

Third Opinion · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:19

Surely they could also advise the wheels or tyre's could be faulty inside so should be advised. How about non visible brake pipes or brake shoes and drums.

For information the guy that MOT'd it had just come off the latest VOSA course.

Janesy B · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:20

Your MOT certificate may also contain information on advisory defects found during the test which do not in the personal opinion of the tester warrant a notification of failure. These may include:

testable items which only just pass and may need attention soon

items which are not within the scope of the MOT test and may need attention

any peculiarity of the vehicle

Depending on what was being obscured by this plastic cover, I guess it could be classed as a 'peculiarity' of the car in question. An MOT tester won't just slap on advisories to cover themselves though.

Zack101 · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:25

Janesy B said:
An MOT tester won't just slap on advisories to cover themselves though.

They will absolutely put an advisory on to cover themselves. That is more the point of an advisory than anything.

Third Opinion · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:29

Better show the offending item (identical not mine)

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Janesy B · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:30

Zack101 said:
They will absolutely put an advisory on to cover themselves. That is more the point of an advisory than anything.

No it's not. The point of an advisory is in my post above which quotes the directgov website.

Third Opinion · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:34

Maybe because it is a Fiat they thought it would have big holes in it by now.

Zack101 · 14 Jun 2012 at 23:51

Janesy B said:
No it's not. The point of an advisory is in my post above which quotes the directgov website.

Believe me a tester will put an advisory on to tell VOSA and tell you they have seen a problem. If for instance there was a problem somewhere that was not bad enough in the testers opinion to fail the test, he would put an advisory on it so that if VOSA did an inspection they would know it had been seen.

realscot · 15 Jun 2012 at 07:18

The advisory about covers is in a menu where there are pre written advisories you just need to click on. The whole point of that advisory is if you have fitted a none standard cover, otherwise every single car tested would carry that advisory. As fox said there's always something covering up some mechanical component.
This is a case of a tester being a bit of a muppet i'm afraid, there was absolutely no need to advise that. The dealer asking you to now get under the cover inspected is just as bad, there is absolutely no reason to do so, it wouldn't have been removed even for a service.
Some of the things in the MOT test, especially the pre written advisories, are getting a bit silly now. When i'm doing a test I only advise things that in my opinion would require advising, i.e things that may need replacing or repairing soon, however i've known of many testing stations putting advisories on and then pushing customers to also get those fixed.