Poll: MoT basics fine.

Should motorists face points and / or fine for turning up for an MOT with obvious faults?

  • Yes

    Votes: 14 7.8%

  • No

    Votes: 140 78.2%

  • Bread

    Votes: 25 14.0%
  • Total voters
    179

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Should motorist face fines for presenting vehicles for their MOT with obvious, basic maintenance faults?

I'm talking things like blown bulbs, knackered tyres, empty screenwash, dead wiper blades etc.

Personally I'm of the definitely for persuasion on this.

Wish I could create a poll....
 
No. The point of the MOT is to check that everything is safe. Points and fines are already available if a police officer identifies vehicles on the road which are unsafe. I think the only impact fines at an MOT station would have would be to force people with unsafe cars to change bulbs annd check tyres etc a day before the MOT. It won't improve safety for the rest of the year. It will also cause poor Mrs Miggins, the 60 year old who hardly drivers her car 50 miles a year and wouldn't know what to look for, to get fined for something she has no mechanical knowledge about.

The MOT is exactly designed to spot these issues so people with no mechanical knowledge are advised to put them right.
 
Last time I checked, MOT testers were not the police.

Even if the car was a complete death trap, they can’t stop you from driving it away.

It doesn’t matter how big the fines are, people are still going to turn up at an MOT station in cars with basic faults. I mean I have literally had a bulb blow on the way to the test station, should I get a fine for that?
 
I'll also add two other points:

1) Unified standards across MOT stations would have to be far stricter than they currently are. It's not unheard of for one MOT station to view somethign as a fault when another station won't.
2) The people we really want to get off the road often don't get their car tested. They simply get a "friendly" MOT tester to pass their car without seeing it. I could get mine passed without it leaving my garage if I really wanted to.
 
I like the system over here where the Controle Technique (French MoT) inspection stations exist solely for this purpose and are not connected to/associated with any garage.

If part/s of your vehicle fails a test, you have a month to get it fixed and the inspector will simply re-test the failed areas for a small fee instead of the €75 the full test costs. After that, you pay the full cost for a full re-inspection.
 
My word what an absurd idea.

This is like saying "there's a house on my street who doesn't have a window cleaner, they should get fined".

As mentioned above police will fine, apply points and seize cars if deemed necessary and if a MOT station deem a car unroadworthy can refuse to allow the owner to drive off. I could get a hooky MOT cert if I really tried but as my cars under 3 years old so doesn't need one but what this would do is make many more deathtraps on the road as people would avoid the MOT more.

I take it you've never had a bulb go on you, realised that your windscreen wiper was ripped after a load of ice or actually run out of screen wash coz you've not refilled it before every journey?
 
Not really sure - some stuff like bulbs or screenwash can go somewhat unexpectedly i.e. if you share a car it can be difficult to track the status of screenwash precisely.

When it comes to tyre tread or poor condition of tyres though I'd like to see something done as far too often I see issues, incidents or accidents where it is a significant contributing factor.
 
Rroff said:
Not really sure - some stuff like bulbs or screenwash can go somewhat unexpectedly i.e. if you share a car it can be difficult to track the status of screenwash precisely.

When it comes to tyre tread or poor condition of tyres though I'd like to see something done as far too often I see issues, incidents or accidents where it is a significant contributing factor.
Click to expand...

So basically what an mot is for then.

not everyone are mechanics
 
teenwolf said:
So basically what an mot is for then.

not everyone are mechanics
Click to expand...

Doesn't take a mechanic to have a fair idea when tyres are done.

Obviously can be more hidden issues like inside edge wear or sidewall damage when the overall tyre is still OK - there is no excuse for the state some are running their tyres in.
 
I'd like to say yes, but that's the premise of the MOT. It's just unfortunate that people rely on the MOT to tell them what maintenance they need to do on their car rather than look themselves.
 
Rroff said:
Not really sure - some stuff like bulbs or screenwash can go somewhat unexpectedly i.e. if you share a car it can be difficult to track the status of screenwash precisely.
Click to expand...
Bulbs often have spares in the emergency kit, though many are LED now and should "go" far less often. Changing them is usually straightforward.
Screenwash is easily checked by popping the bonnet and looking at the sight level.
Instructions for both tasks will be in the Owners' Manual... and it's called 'owners' because it's maintenance that the owner is expected to conduct, unlike what you'll find in the cunningly named Workshop Manual.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Bulbs often have spares in the emergency kit, though many are LED now and should "go" far less often. Changing them is usually straightforward.
Screenwash is easily checked by popping the bonnet and looking at the sight level.
Instructions for both tasks will be in the Owners' Manual... and it's called 'owners' because it's maintenance that the owner is expected to conduct, unlike what you'll find in the cunningly named Workshop Manual.
Click to expand...

None of the vehicles I drive regularly you can check screenwash by sight level unless I'm missing something as the tank is hidden and the dash indicator can be a bit hit and miss.
 
Lol, no.

What if your bulb blew on the way for example?

Also, it means everyone would have to start learning some basic mechanical diagnosis (ie be able to tell when a wiper blade is done for , for example).

You can't expect everyone to have the knowledge and expertise to diagnose their car properly to make sure it is at least relatively safe, so an annual MOT is to help in doing just that.
 
Last edited:
No, although I also disagree with the suggestion that the MOT is intended to help people spot issues with their vehicles. They should be identifying many of these issues when they occur, not at the point of the MOT which could be months later.
 
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