I've just dropped my Focus off for the annual service and MOT.  Last year it passed with these:

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

• Nearside Rear Direction indicator slightly discoloured (4.4.3 (a))
• Offside Rear Direction indicator slightly discoloured (4.4.3 (a))

The bulbs were orange a year ago and they are orange today.  They've not been changed (they're the original, from 2013), in fact I've never removed either of the rear light clusters at all.

Will the advisory magically have healed in the last 12 months?  *rolls dice*...

I think some mot testers don’t put any advisories down and some put as many as possible. There seems no consistency at all. 

We're all on tenter hooks...

I'm going for major - "Nearside indicator obviously incorrect colour"

Don't get me started on the 'rear indicator bulbs not orange enough ' malarkey!!  😡

Quite a few years ago now my Focus was failed for this very same fault! Garage fitted new bulbs and passed it on the retest. Bulbs were WAY more expensive than what I could buy them from the factors etc obviously plus fitting etc etc 

Thing that sticks in my throat is that at the time we lived directly opposite the boy who happened to test the car that day. A few weeks previously I literally had to climb through our dining room window in my socks and grab a hold of his two kids hands, aged about 4 and 6, to stop them from running back and forth across the road between our houses. It was a fairly quiet road but cars used to go by at a fair old lick at times and I was fearful for their safety, I walked them up to his house and he kinda mumbled a thank you. 

Now if it had been a major fault ie broken spring or brake failure I would totally understood failing it but in this instance he could quite easily have passed it and quietly mentioned to me to get them changed ASAP (even though I see on a daily basis bulbs that are nearly white compared to what mine where) 

Do the MOT stations have a colour chart to help guide them in the orangeness of indicator bulbs or is it down to individual testers to gauge it by looking at them?

1 hour ago, Turvey said:

Do the MOT stations have a colour chart to help guide them in the orangeness of indicator bulbs or is it down to individual testers to gauge it by looking at them?

my motorbike got an advisory this year for the front right indicator not being orange enough !!

Now you mention the MOT tester and a colour chart, do MOT testers themselves have to under go a eye examination and a colour blindness test before they are certified ? Perhaps they have a special colour spectrum measuring tool like the police have for checking the darkness of tinted windows.

My mum's 21 year old Toyota Yaris failed it's MOT last year on a headlamp misalignment. I drove directly from the MOT center to my garage to get it adjusted. My garage told me they couldn't adjust it as it was perfectly set. I drove straight back to the MOT center where I got stonewalled by 'computer says no'. 

Long story short, I went through the MOT appeals procedure to senior level, and got nowhere. I had to pay for a retest, and a week later, it passed without the headlights being touched. 

It's down to the testers judgement how yellow or white they are. I won't fail unless it's obviously white and no trace of yellow, advise if faintly yellow. Some testers have been told to advise on anything they find. My opinion is only advise it I think it will fail in the next 6 months. And that down to 42 years  experience . Was told by dvsa quite some time ago not to advise on something that will likely to be advisory still in 12 months time. 

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

We're all on tenter hooks...

I'm going for major - "Nearside indicator obviously incorrect colour"

And the answer is...........

Pass - no advisories!

This was at the same test centre as last year, indeed the last few years, a Ford garage no less.  In fairness the only other things they've ever mentioned on previous MOTs was thin brake pads (which I already suspected; I had asked for them changed as part of the service) and a broken coil spring which was also not surprised about.  Pale coloured bulbs was news to me.  I'm glad they've fixed themselves

13 hours ago, iantt said:

It's down to the testers judgement how yellow or white they are. I won't fail unless it's obviously white and no trace of yellow, advise if faintly yellow. Some testers have been told to advise on anything they find. My opinion is only advise it I think it will fail in the next 6 months. And that down to 42 years  experience . Was told by dvsa quite some time ago not to advise on something that will likely to be advisory still in 12 months time. 

I looked back through the MOT certificates this morning. All done by the same tester for the past 5 years, apart from one, and that's the one with the discoloured indicators.  No harm done, it just amused me a bit.  The problem could be solved by using orange plastic for the surround (as is the case for the brake/rear lights, in red) as it used to be back in the day.  I assume the car industry shifted to orange bulbs and colourless plastic for reasons other than pure aesthetics.

Quote:-

The problem could be solved by using orange plastic for the surround (as is the case for the brake/rear lights, in red) as it used to be back in the day. 

They also used to fade in the past on old Fords

Just now, eddie eastwood said:

They also used to fade in the past on old Fords

Indeed, it was very rare to follow an old Granada that didn't have pink rear lights LOL

The Cortina Mk3 started life with front indicators with orange lamps but they were soon updated by Ford who changed to using white lamps and putting an orange cover inside of the clear cover. Then on the last of the mark 3's they just went the full way and used orange covers.

I amaze myself with total pointless trivia that I remember !!

I think clear lenses in 'modern' cars (2000ish) were mainly for aesthetics.  Amber lenses looked really dated by then, crystal clear was the modern look at the time.

Coloured bulbs also mean you can house several different light colours within a single moulded light cluster, as opposed to the separate lenses that were previously needed.  

 

All good replies, thank you!  I'm not old enough to recall pink brake lights but remember well faded/pinky cars which were once a rich ruby red. That problem seems to have been solved.

My next issue is opening up a savings account for the ten year service/replace all the belts nightmare which will await me next November.

34 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Indeed, it was very rare to follow an old Granada that didn't have pink rear lights LOL

The problem with mk1 Granada rear lights was that they were not made of coloured plastic. The lens was one piece of clear plastic with orange and red sprayed on. They faded badly.  Other cars had the lens made of coloured plastic with the bits of different coloured plastic joined together. It was a cheap bodge . Luckily not many cars had their lenses made that way

20 minutes ago, nitten_traveller said:

 I'm not old enough to recall pink brake lights but remember well faded/pinky cars which were once a rich ruby red.

 

Yep! I was once the 'proud' owner of a pink Orion! 🙄😡😀 B654JRM 

Pink Astra's & Corsa's were common in my area!  

Even solid colours are lacquered nowadays which stops the sun wrecking them.  Though it does mean they're at risk of lacquer peel instead.

1 hour ago, Turvey said:

Yep! I was once the 'proud' owner of a pink Orion! 🙄😡😀 B654JRM 

Was it a really nice red? I mean, if it was not a secret that red cars would turn pink, why did folk buy them?!

It was the cheapest colour option.  Only tight people bought them new.

18 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It was the cheapest colour option.  Only tight people bought them new.

Mine was certainly NOT new when I bought it! 😀