Old cars' - MoT history

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Mon 3 May 2021 18:03
Old cars' - MoT history - John F

Being a geeky petrolhead I have found a new interest in MoT histories. Walking around our Northants villages is more interesting than across our admittedly beautiful countryside as on a fine day there are often interesting old cars to be glimpsed, e,g D755MUD with a rare immaculate MoT history despite its extreme age and six figure mileage. Here is an interesting site which analyses MoT results....

www.bymiles.co.uk/insure/magazine/mot-data-researc...r

...interesting that the pass rate is at its lowest (around 60%) at 15 - 20 years old, and by the time a car is 100 yrs old it's back up to 80%!

One thing I have noticed - occasionally I get 'there is a problem - check the reg no you entered is correct'. I do wonder how many cars there are running around with plausible looking but false plates?

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Mon 3 May 2021 18:40
Old cars' - MoT history - Andrew-T

Second childhood, John - collecting car numbers ? :-)

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Mon 3 May 2021 19:40
Old cars' - MoT history - Metropolis.
I used to do this to pass the time on dog walks, one app I had would give engine size and BHP as well. I was like an ANPR scanner!
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Mon 3 May 2021 20:42
Old cars' - MoT history - Wee Willie Winkie

It's due to this nerdy behaviour that I have found out the neighbours across the road haven't done the first due MOT on their nearly four year old car.

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Mon 3 May 2021 20:51
Old cars' - MoT history - FP

Not sure that "nerdy" is the right word! :-)

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Mon 3 May 2021 22:11
Old cars' - MoT history - Wee Willie Winkie

Okay, let's stick with geeky.

I do wonder how long they will leave it before getting it done.

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Mon 3 May 2021 21:11
Old cars' - MoT history - tim10597

Phew! I’m so relieved to hear I’m not the only one who does this!!

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Mon 3 May 2021 21:33
Old cars' - MoT history - Xileno

I must give it a go, see what I've been missing out on ;-)

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Mon 3 May 2021 21:59
Old cars' - MoT history - daveyjp

I often check Wheeler Dealer registrations out to see what horrors the car had which weren't shown being fixed on the programme and to see if it has been looked after once the car is sold.

One yesterday was an old Civic which they said had failed its MOT. Looking at the history it only failed because the tyres were bald.

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Tue 4 May 2021 09:40
Old cars' - MoT history - craig-pd130

I often check Wheeler Dealer registrations out to see what horrors the car had which weren't shown being fixed on the programme and to see if it has been looked after once the car is sold.

Ha! I've done exactly the same. In some cases from the earlier series, the cars have gone on for another 10 years or so before the MOT expires.

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Tue 4 May 2021 00:09
Old cars' - MoT history - SLO76
Love that we can look up the Mot history of any prospective automotive purchase today, it’s a Godsend.
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Tue 4 May 2021 07:43
Old cars' - MoT history - nellyjak
Love that we can look up the Mot history of any prospective automotive purchase today, it’s a Godsend.

very true...I use it all the time.

I'm a member of a small micro/motorhome/campervan forum and constantly urging peeps to use the online MOT history facility when considering a purchase..this type of vehicle can be notorious for being visually attractive (on top). Prospective buyers can so easily be taken in by the habitation part of the vehicle but it can be sitting on a rubbish base/chassis with a very iffy MOT history and loads of corrosion advisories.

I'm still surprised that so many people are unaware of the online MOT history facility.

Edited by nellyjak on 04/05/2021 at 08:25

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Tue 4 May 2021 08:38
Old cars' - MoT history - FoxyJukebox
Love checking MOT histories. Always very suspicious of looking at second hand car photos in dealership adverts that either avoid including the number plate , blotch it out or use trade plates placed over the originals??
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Tue 4 May 2021 11:03
Old cars' - MoT history - nellyjak
Love checking MOT histories. Always very suspicious of looking at second hand car photos in dealership adverts that either avoid including the number plate , blotch it out or use trade plates placed over the originals??

Yep...my thoughts too...if I was really interested then I'd ask for the reg...if they wouldn't give it then I'd move on elsewhere.

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Tue 4 May 2021 12:27
Old cars' - MoT history - Andrew-T
Love checking MOT histories. Always very suspicious of looking at second hand car photos in dealership adverts that either avoid including the number plate , blotch it out or use trade plates placed over the originals??

I suspect that before MoT histories became open-access, some sellers were worried that by revealing a car's reg. the address of the owner could be found and the car nicked from there - if it was desirable enough ? Or offer a clonable number to some toerag ?

I have advertised once or twice with the numberplate half-covered - didn't cause a problem when it came to selling.

Edited by Andrew-T on 04/05/2021 at 12:28

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Wed 5 May 2021 14:42
Old cars' - MoT history - SLO76
Love checking MOT histories. Always very suspicious of looking at second hand car photos in dealership adverts that either avoid including the number plate , blotch it out or use trade plates placed over the originals??

The majority of the time it’s private sellers trying to avoid someone cloning their car. Easy enough to message or call to ask for the reg number.
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Wed 5 May 2021 15:04
Old cars' - MoT history - RT
Love checking MOT histories. Always very suspicious of looking at second hand car photos in dealership adverts that either avoid including the number plate , blotch it out or use trade plates placed over the originals??

The majority of the time it’s private sellers trying to avoid someone cloning their car. Easy enough to message or call to ask for the reg number.

I wonder how effective that is though - surely anyone wanting to clone a car just looks around on the road or any big car park?

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Wed 5 May 2021 15:17
Old cars' - MoT history - madf
Love checking MOT histories. Always very suspicious of looking at second hand car photos in dealership adverts that either avoid including the number plate , blotch it out or use trade plates placed over the originals??

The majority of the time it’s private sellers trying to avoid someone cloning their car. Easy enough to message or call to ask for the reg number.

I wonder how effective that is though - surely anyone wanting to clone a car just looks around on the road or any big car park?

Far easier to choose a car on Autotrader: select the model and colour same as your (stolen?) one, Reg number clear to see..

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Wed 5 May 2021 14:13
Old cars' - MoT history - Electric Leaper

I miss the days when the MoT website told you where the car was MOT'd. It was very insightful when buying a used car and led me to make conclusions (rightly or wrongly) on whether I should buy or not. E.g. if the MOT's were done at a main dealer then to me that indicated the previous owner had the money to maintain the car properly, as main dealers generally charge the most for MOT's.

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