MOT Advisory

[Russ]

Car just passed its MOT (focus mk2 facelift 1.6 petrol 100ps) and as usual the 'customary' advisory note. Front near side Spring corroded, rear near side and offside springs corroded. 

Let's face it, they're under the car getting the full force of the elements on them, the cars 8 years old (albeit with 46,000 miles on it) so they're bound to get corroded! Anyone else ever had similar or did they think I came up the Clyde in a banana boat?

[stef123]

It's a pretty standard advisory and given that springs snap left right n centre you're being made aware of the fact they are corroded 

[Russ]

7 minutes ago, stef123 said:

It's a pretty standard advisory and given that springs snap left right n centre you're being made aware of the fact they are corroded 

I get that Stef (had it happen on my last fiesta and a cavalier, just never seen it on any advisory I've ever had. When I traded in my last fiesta for the Focus my front springs on the fiesta were far worse than the springs on my focus now yet never had anything said!

[Dee_82]

Sometimes they do go a bit over the top, like saying stuff like, under tray in place and engine cover restricting access, child seats etc etc, I always thought it was just to cover their ar$e should it come back with VOSA or whoever it is now to bite them in the ar$e

[stef123]

It's more covering their back end for anything they can't properly inspect. 

[Guest]

I haven't had an advisory yet on the Focus. But the previous car used to get loads, go to the same garage and disappear, reappear, I never did any of them, every other year I got CV gaiter damaged but not leaking.

I had the car nearly 9 years, the last MOT had no advisories, six months later it was crushed.....

 

My argument has always been, fail it then, if not please don't de-value my car.

I mean, if I was buying it off you "you must knock a grand off for three struts mate."

[iantt]

advisories should only be given for items that havent failed but in the testers opinion will fail soon. (no time scale ). alot of testers do go overboard with advisories that can appear year after year , they have been told by vosa to be sensible with them for the reason stratoc lastly points at.

as for springs , they can be corroded after a couple of years but some springs can last the lifetime of the car in the same corroded condition.

obviously some garages do lots of advisories so they can generate extra work.

[iantt]

"Advisory notices are a non-mandatory part of the MOT and it’s up to the tester to decide whether to advise on an item or not. Some Authorised Examiners may also have their own policy in place for advisories.

 

As pointed out in the MOT Inspection Manual, it’s considered best practice to advise the presenter about:

 

any items which are near to, but which have not yet reached the point of test failure any peculiarities of the vehicle identified during the inspection any defects on non-testable items which are found during the inspection procedure

 

An advisory must be useful to the vehicle owner for keeping their vehicle roadworthy; or clarify a significant aspect of the vehicle, such as a missing passenger seat. It’s important to remember that inappropriate advisories can reduce the resale value of a vehicle or result in unnecessary repair work.

 

Evidence shows that in many cases testable advisories have become overused, sometimes with the same advisory being used year after year. We may be partly responsible for this due to the wording of some advisories; such as a component ‘slightly worn’ or ‘slightly corroded’.

 

Before issuing an advisory for a ‘slightly’ worn or ‘slightly’ corroded component, consider whether it meets the guidance in the Manual; eg, is near to, but has not yet reached the point of test failure.

 

Similarly, consider whether it is necessary to select items from the non-component advisory list such as “undertrays fitted obscuring some underside components” where they are known to be standard fitment on the model of vehicle tested."