Testers have ALWAYS been graded and checked and testing stations that show a disproportionate number of passes (or fails) are investigated. Random inspections are also nothing new. I don't know whether they still do it, but back in the 80s when I was a tester they even used to send undercover "trap cars" in with a number of known faults to see if the tester concerned reached the same conclusion (or in some cases, could be bribed or cajoled into a pass!) I have actually SEEN both these with my own eyes, it's not an urban myth!SiC wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 2:13 pm Windscreen wipers not clearing can either be them not moving, not covering the whole screen or simply the blades are knackered!
I inherited my Grandads old Laguna II the other week and I had it transported straight to my local garage for an MOT. Despite being sat up for at least two years, it only failed on wipers first time. Naturally as they were quite old, they'd gone hard and were not very effective. Garage stuck new ones on and naturally it passed.
In this age of computerised MOTs, MOT tester automated grading and DVSA random MOT station inspections, most testers like to do things strictly to the book. Especially here in Bristol where the DVSA is based.
That being said, going on the advisories, I would wager that it's either a new tester or one that is overly anal/cautious.
The latest trick, apparently, is to sit just down the road from a testing station with a laptop connected to the big computer and when a tester logs off on a retest, they roll in immediately and want to see the car that has just been retested. This to clamp down on the "trust retest" that was sometimes done for familiar trade clients to save them a trip back! I used to find this very useful myself as my preferred testing station is an 18 mile round trip, but it's no longer worth the risk for my tester so it doesn't happen anymore!
Steve
