Handy new service from MOT/VOSA

Wow, has the past 5 years results, it even has the advisories!! And how many miles at each test!

Mine goes back to 2006

I believe that is when the computerised testing got going, that is the earliest date for one of mine too, I have had it and tested it every year since the 90's

Thanks for the heads up. Useful service.

Tim

Like it :)

Surprised to see that my 1972 Escort is still about. How can I find out who has it with a view to buying it?

You can request the info from dvla, or, now that you can see the garage that mots the car, you could ask them.

I've used it quite a bit, very handy.

That could be interesting ...

Now that is handy (and I didn't know you could get the reminder bit, even at a cost). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

MOT station I use sends text and e-mail reminders and has on-line booking. I book the first test slot of the day. Then I can get it done before I go to work.

And that makes sense (for both parties) for all sorts of reasons.

Assuming a facility big enough to have a dedicated MOT bay and maybe a couple of testers (to cover sick / holidays etc), an MOT generally takes a fairly predictable amount of time and so they should be able to keep up with their bookings etc (especially if you turn up a bit early in case they have had a cancellation and are therefore twiddling their thumbs). ;-)

And the one least likely to get delayed, as long as at least one of the testers got to work on time. ;-)

It's only since daughter has relied on a vehicle for her business (rather than to go to work etc) have I really seen the impact of even getting an MOT or a straight service on a working day / week. At least with a car you could hire another (as you could hire a van if you were just using it for deliveries etc). Coincidentally her van is booked in for an MOT first thing on Monday and it probably could have gone in on a more convenient time, had she been sent a reminder. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

A test station *has* to have a dedicated MOT bay.

The minimum time from logging on to the computer system to logging the vehicle test complete has to be 45 minutes as otherwise it flags up as an error.

Chris

Yep: despite all the concern about UK productivity, the government won't allow MoT testers to increase theirs by knocking out 10 per person per hour like some used to when on a roll :)

How odd, therefore, that they had to move a car that was being worked on out of the bay so I could get my car MoT'd this week.

Thank you for that!

Doesn't mean because one garage doesn't follow a rule, it doesn't exist.

Chris

This could mean either that it has to have one bay in which all MOTs are done, or one bay in which all MOTs are done, as well as any other work. The place I go to does maybe two or three MOTs per week, and it would cripple its other work if one bay had to stay empty for all the time other than when being used for MOTs. It's the bay where the headlamp alignment equipment is, and one of the best of the vehicle lifts.

How long has that garage been an MOT station? Newer rules are mostly not being retrospectively applied.

The rules are tightening all the time. For example, the drive in to the ramp now has to be directly accessible in a straight line from the entry! No idea why.

The standards for the premises are also onerous. For example, if starting from scratch, you need to have an asbestos survey of the premises done. The trade estimate of setting up a station in now a minimum of £100k!

Chris

As far as I know, it has been an MOT station for many years. It was originally a lorry workshop, then when the owner retired, it went to his son, who prefers cars. It has lots of nice equipment for testing cars, rolling road etc. How much is required for MOT testing, I have no idea. It is indeed possible to drive straight into the testing area and onto the rollers and then the lift. It worked for lorries, so it works for cars!

Was discussing this recently with the local wide boy. At one time, he said, he could phone up a mate and get an MOT just by giving the car details. Now they actually need to see the car - and keep it there for that 45 minutes. Very inconvenient for him. I did wonder if there is some sort of CCTV on all MOT bays these days. To prove the car was actually there. After all any car they had lying around could be used for the emissions test.

Incidentally, he said the going rate for a bent MOT is now £60. Which seemed to me not a lot for the risk involved to the tester.

I use the anniversary section in this computer's diary to record things like MOT and insurance dates. And with insurance the premium too so I can see at a glance how much more they want at renewal time. Can set it to give a warning before the due date - user setting to whatever number of days you want.