My opinion is tyres should be a very important item in an MOT test, I often check up to see if my previous car has passed its MOT, ( I sold it 4 years ago ) . . . .

From the DVLA site each tyre seems to have an issue, but not bad enough to fail the test, sounds bad to me though

What do you think ?

Click image to enlarge

Yes , it should be zero tolerance on tyre defects .

I’m also of the opinion that the 1.6 mm car legal depth should be reviewed and be tyre type specific . Great in summer in the dry , but winter , rain,

I change my all season and all terrain tyres well before that depth as the performance will drop off a twice that depth or more . Same with winter tyres. 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

I agree, any form of damage, deteriation should in my opinion be a fail,
I also agree tyre depth and matchment of tread type should also be reassesed for testing.
The only bit between the car and the road is the tyre and
any detriment to any tyre will compromise the tyre trade off when in use.
Dave DAVE.

Last edited by Dave47 on 5th Dec 2020 6:23 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Tyres... I am a class 1 & 2 motorcycle MOT tester, on any motorcycle over 50cc the legal minimum tread depth is 1mm on any moped of 49cc the MOT guide states it must have visible tread, back a few years ago I failed a young lads scooter on the front tyre as it was to all intents and purposes bald, he came back later that day with his Dad who demanded I pass the the bike as he had read the MOT guide, I refused, a week or so later a meeting was arranged with VOSA, myself and the lad with his bike, the VOSA bod upheld their complaint and passed the bike much to my annoyance, after the meeting I asked the dad if he knew what would happen to his son if he had to grab a handful of brakes in wet conditions to avoid a lorry/bus... He shrugged and walked off. Idiot

Never ceases to amaze me the number of people who drive round seemingly unaware of their dangerously worn and under inflated tyres. Its just a total lack of care and makes me wonder what other neglect their cars are subjected to.  Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

It never ceases to amaze me that people consider the MOT to be the only time to make sure the vehicle is safe....

As an MOT tester, it never ceases to amaze me that drivers don’t know that MOT standards are MINIMUM standards at the time of the test. Not that a component may fail a day, a week or a month or six months later. Time of test only. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

GW8IZR wrote:

It never ceases to amaze me that people consider the MOT to be the only time to make sure the vehicle is safe....

The vast majority of the people here are here because they are interested in cars - Freelanders in particular.
There are a large number of drivers who see the car purely as a means of transport, servicing!!! That’s what the MOT is for 😳

I kid you not, I know of relatives who have had cars years and never lifted the bonnet, didn’t know that they had screen washers so never topped them up. Record was a Golf that managed 5 years with no oil change before the engine seized - and was upset because German cars are supposed to be reliable. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

"There are a large number of drivers who see the car purely as a means of transport," Andy 131.

They also seem to think that the car is a right as a means of transport and they don't give fig about the condition so long as it starts and gets them where they want to go. They also seem to have the same attitude to driving safely as they do the the safe condition of their car.

I pointed out to a neighbour that one of his tyres was under inflated and he gave me a funny look. I asked when he last checked the tyre pressures and he said that the car was services about six months ago and he presumed that the garage had checked them.

They walk, and drive, among us!

J

Could be worse
I was driving in The Republic of Ireland (got a right ticking off for calling it Southern Ireland), and noticed an awful lot of cars with faulty headlights/tail lights. Turns out the Irish equivalent of the MOT is every two years.

Sometimes it's not lack of knowledge, it's pure laziness.
I rang my son to tell him his MOT was due, now this is a "boy" of 35, who is fascinated by cars and is sure he is better driver than Schumacker. Several months ago he had a puncture, came to ours and swapped the wheel for the spare - he has the same car as his Mum, and we have a full sized spare in the garage.
Taking the car to the garage for the MOT I noticed the tyre pressure warning light was on - it had been on since the original puncture, I grabbed the handbook, read the instructions and reset the warning. Note at this point he grabbed his phone and went on the internet to get a completely wrong set of instructions.

Why was he driving around with the warning light on - because the car could still operate, didn't he understand that warning lights were there for a reason, yes but on the driving SIMs you can ignore them and still win!
Didn't he understand that the warning light would mean a MOT fail, and a re-test that would cost, he was sure that for £50 the MOT included any adjustments necessary to make his car pass .
I pointed out that a service would be in excess of £200 and that wouldn't include resetting warning lights, or anything above changing oils and filters.

Guess who sorts out the servicing? Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I lost count how many times I have reported to a service customer they require new tyres and their response is "Will it pass a MOT ? " My response of no problem is never well received they then talk to me like I am some kind of tyre salesman.

my son fitted LED bulbs to the reverse and fog light of his BMW 1 Series, they flicker on start up but settle within a couple seconds and then work perfectly. It does however throw a permanent warning message onto his dash display. He keeps intending to change them but fails to get round to it. The car passed its MOT even with the error message and even my son was amazed at this, hes vowed never to go back to there again and will use the garage I use.

On the MOT test, you can ONLY fail a vehicle on specifically identified named faults. There is no 'flicker on start up' or 'lamp warning light illuminated' reason for rejection (RfR) so therefore it simply CANNOT be failed for that. The tester is doing his/her job 100% correctly. What would you and your son expect it to fail on, Rog? Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

I've always been an advocate of quality tyres generally and have had several cars with winter tyres. I do of course recognise we have vastly more mild winters than cold here in the UK.

My current car came with Dunlop Sport Maxx which were part worn by the previous owner yet still legal. I was not impressed by the noise levels or grip in the wet.

So I bought a new set of 4 Goodyear Vector 4 Season Gen 2. Excellent reviews for when it does get snowy once every blue moon but the rain performance and noise levels are excellent. They performed very well in the first snowfall of the season here last week. 760ft above sea level and more prone to snow than where I lived before so a wise investment all round. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey