Defending the tester According to a What Car? magazine report, thousands of potentially dangerous MOT failures were allowed back on the roads last year and garages are to blame. Yet, Rob Marshall questions if the accusation is fair and what we can learn from the findings. The media loves a bit of garage-bashing and What Car? magazine's concerning claim that MOT Testers pass one in seven cars that should have failed makes for an attentiongrabbing but worrying headline. By not upholding government testing standards, the magazine claims (www.whatcar.com/news/mot-test-garages-passone-in-seven-cars-that-should-fail/n23179) that safetycritical faults are being missed and recommends its readers 'shop' garages to the DVSA, if they think that the tester is being too lenient. It is hardly doing the garage sector a positive public-relations service...
Solid evidence Yet, the article was not founded on sand. Through a Freedom of Information request, What Car? obtained a copy of the DVSA's 2019-2020 MOT Compliance Survey, the purpose of which is to evaluate whether tests are being conducted correctly, or not. For this, the DVSA retested a random sample of 1,671 vehicles from all over Great Britain. The result saw the authority disagree with the original assessment in almost 17% of cases. The What Car? analysis concludes that, by extrapolating the DVSA's findings across the UK's car fleet, almost 3 million vehicles should have been repaired and retested last year before being driven on the road again. Now, some might say that applying this calculation is creative accounting but, to be fair to the publication, it followed-up its findings with some of its own research that found almost 12% of 1,425 used car buyers surveyed knew of a local garage with a repute for giving MOT passes to cars that should have failed. However, no evidence of this was provided in the article and it could be argued that the general public does not understand fully what the MOT is for. Helpfully, What Car? emphasised that the MOT Test is not a guarantee that the car is safe. Even so, it would have been helpful if it had informed its readers that MOT Testers' hands are tied to an extent, especially as no dismantling is permitted and that the inspection is very different to routine maintenance.
are improving – a fact that the What Car? feature does not mention. Interestingly, DVSA also revealed that there has been a slight increase in vehicles being judged too harshly by testers, something it plans to address.
A difference of opinion Even so, cars are still passing the MOT, when they should have failed and this situation cannot be ignored. The question is whether this is down to genuine tester incompetence, which is a fair conclusion that an innocent reader could reach from the What Car? editorial, a difference in opinion, or even fraud?
"The WhatCar? analysis concludes that... almost 3 million vehicles should have been repaired and retested last year before being driven on the road again"
MOT
The DVSA told What Car? that the MOT compliance survey is designed to identify problems with MOT testing, so they can be corrected. However, the DVSA told AT that the 20192020 data shows a reduction in vehicles being passed incorrectly, compared to previous years, proving that testers
The 2019-2020 MOT Compliance Survey has been given a negative spin in the mainstream media; AT seeks to redress the balance
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