Strange MOT history

Maybe it is a DVSA stooge car for testing MOT stations.

But wouldn't the test station be able to see the current MOT was just 3 days before? Or is that the first test the slack test station fails on?

I am not certain if the previous test shows up until the end of the test procedure, I will ask. There is certainly no prohibition on getting another test before the old one is due, car dealers do it all the time, so that the car is offered with a fresh one year MoT

As an odometer reading is not an MoT requirement, maybe that is why some of the tests have no mileage showing?

The Vehicle MOT History service is still in "Beta" so it'd be useful if you reported that result using the "feedback" link at the top of the page. It may eg be that they haven't yet sorted fully what happens when plates are transferred from one vehicle to another.

OOI, what prompted you to look for this?

Chris

I was going with Mr C's idea but the idea of being a private plate sticks in the craw. I reckon it could be a reserved dummy registration used by the programmers for testing purposes.

well it shows as taxed and motd till sept 2017 and its insured, so it seems likely it is a real vehicle.

I sold a car recently and transferred my private plate from it to the new one. Saw the old car up for sale and checked the MOT history using its 'new' plate. And it was all there. (I was interested to see if the new MOT has picked up on any of the advisories of the last one I got when owning it)

It showed up on Gumtree as LN54 XHB:

So I looked it up on one of those 'check a car' websites (can't remember which, but it was free), which said it had been LN54XHB, then T18YEL, then LN54XHB again. It also said it was yellow.

So I looked up the MOT history. LN54XHB is clean, T18 YEL's history is all over the place.

And the seller says "OVER ALL A A1 CAR AND IM SAD TO SEE IT GO :( " which, if you google it you find another Prius with exactly the same wording (VE04 XUH), and if you google the phone number you get a taxi firm in Leicester, a 'Yellow Taxis' in London, and some 'we buy any Prius' adverts. (elsewhere on my travels I found a car that had once been T88 YEL, but I don't think it was the same seller)

Don't worry, my telescopic bargepole is well and truly sharpened, but I'm curious at understanding the limitations of the 'check MOT' service. I've seen a few private plates on there before which are fairly easy to spot - the mileage restarts at a lower value and the date of first registration doesn't match the reg. Also taxis can be spotted due to the 6 monthly MOT. But this one looks in a different league of fishy-ness.

Theo

If the car has had its reg number changed legally, there should be no problem with the MOT history. As that goes with the car, so will be updated at number change time. And if an attempt is made to MOT it with false plates, the chassis number should show this up too.

Although it's probably very easy to get 'bent' MOTs.

Indeed it is, a place at Southend would do one without even seeing the vehicle, a car one was 50 quid, a class 7 (big van) 70 quid.

OK, ta.

I wonder how the system works though if there are 2 cars with the same plates and the same "chassis number".

Could be a nice saving on insurance costs too ;)

I knew someone that had three Bedford minibuses (in the sixties), any one could be ALU822B, they were all looked the same, if one broke down, the plates went on to one of the others, only one set of plates, so never two on the road at the same time.

Lot more difficult to forge a chassis number than a number plate.

depends on whether you mean the vin plate or the actual stamped-on the-chassis-number, you can buy a new vin plate online.

I know (anecdotally of course) of a couple locally as well, but they don't provide said "service" to the public...Though one in South London allegedly does, or did at least :)

What happened to the idea to video the tests to ensure the subject car was actually being tested? (for how much that would help) Or was that just another one of "those" rumours? ;)

If true, it would stop a *lot* of the fiddles that are currently possible.

Chris

One I've heard of does require to see the car and puts it in the MOT bay for an appropriate length of time. I didn't ask if the tester went near it though - which would be a giveaway if it were on video.

I have a dash cam in my car, it recorded the MOT, spent a lot of time in a bay with the engine running and no sign of any activity.