Looking to buy a car

Alfa Bob

New Member
Recently I have been trawling the internet to see what's available by way of P6's, and I know others who are on the lookout to expand their classic car collection(s).

It seems that not everyone is aware of -

Check the MOT history of a vehicle - GOV.UK

This is where you can check a car's MOT history (mileage, MOT dates, advisories, failures). I find it useful for researching a car's history before viewing. The earliest MOT I have seen is 2006, so maybe before that the data hasn't been put in. But it's ideal for checking advisories/failure items so that one can request the seller to provide invoices that these particular items have been fixed. Also if there's a long gap between MOT's (eg 2008 to 2015), it begs the question 'where was the car in this period?' Maybe in a cosy garage, maybe in a puddle off the A5 ?

As Michael Caine once said 'not a lot of people know that' ! Or maybe they do.......
 
There are many, many reasons why a car of this age is decommissioned and recommissioned over time, mostly due to the age or work commitments of owners more than anything. I wouldn't read much into that.
 
There are many, many reasons why a car of this age is decommissioned and recommissioned over time, mostly due to the age or work commitments of owners more than anything. I wouldn't read much into that.
True, but when handing over, say, £1,000 I like to know that I'm getting £1,000 of goods in return. I have learned from one of my own cars that a long period of inaction can result in a chain of replacement parts being necessary, so it's useful to know in advance some history, otherwise one can be in the hands entirely of the seller. I am especially wary of cars advertised as 'recently re-commissioned", for the reason mentioned above.
 
A recent thing on the site is the inclusion of the MoT stations name and address.

If the car has had a few at the same place it would be worth contacting them.

Colin
 
I think 2006 is the earliest available data, although I'm fairly sure the MOT test result/updates were input via computer several years before that.

It can be very useful as has been mentioned already; it's surprising how many 'no expense spared' cars have shown to have repeat advisories of 'tyres near legal limit', discs corroded, shock absorbers show slight misting etc etc., or rust-free cars having previous records for extensive chassis corrosion etc..

I would certainly use it as another tool, providing a little more information than was available previously.
 
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