IS THIS A VALID M.O.T. ADVISORY?

absolutely80s

Evening all....

My car went through it's MOT today - it passed (yay). When I left the car with the garage this morning, I mentioned that I had seen the ad hoc appearance of the ABS warning light, and that it stays on for a few seconds before disappearing.This was purely to give the tester a heads up in case they see it during the test, and that it could be fixed afterwards (given that it's a fail if it appears and stays on during the test).

However, on getting the test certificate, there is an advisory which states, and I quote: "(owner said he has a ABS warning light coming on intermittently. Not on at time of mot)".

I have emailed the garage to query this because I don't understand how something that was not experienced or seen by the tester, and did not happen during the test, could be mentioned as an advisory. My thinking is that this should not be treated as an advisory - would that be correct?

Backstory: I took the car under warranty to the dealer last month when the ABS warning light issue first happened. They say they replaced the ABS sensor under warranty, yet the day I get it back from them, the warning light comes up again. The dealer, the garage, and the tester are one and the same business, so it feels like someone is covering their back. The warranty expires at the end of November.

Any advice, thoughts or opinion will be gratefully received.

Greg Hook

Are you looking to sell the car this year?

absolutely80s

Very likely.

Greg Hook

That explains then why this is a concern.

I’d speak to the dealer and get them to fix it properly.
Sounds to me like they are trying to make it go away, then in November you go to them and they say yes we can fix that but it will be £1000.

un1eash

Yes it's a valid advisory as if the light was on it would be an mot failure.

absolutely80s

But the light wasn’t on during the test.....

absolutely80s

So the tester can report things mentioned by the owner, but may not be proven, and which then do not rear their head during testing? I thought the tester could only report on what they find, not what the owner suspects but can’t prove...?

But regardless, it also seems to me that the dealer/garage/tester  are trying to fob me off (they are all the same company - a main franchise).

Bl4ckGryph0n

An advisory is just that. Don't worry about it. Just get the cause of that abs error resolved.

outoftheknow

True but you mentioned that it has been coming on so I think if I was an inspector I’d mention it as well as an advisory. Personally I wouldn’t ever say anything before an MOT. If the light had come on for long enough to fail, no amount of evidence there was an intermittent fault being followed up by service would make that fail go away.

They aren’t feeding the service department needless jobs so I don’t think there is something nefarious going on with the intermittent ABS light. On this occasion anyway.

LV426

There are no lies in the advisory.  It clearly states owner reported; did not happen.  Absolutely true.  The direct experience of the tester (i.e. that conversation) is reported accurately.  Don't see how it can be criticised.  Agree, though - insist on a full fix while warranty still in place.  Insist that any such fix is itself warranted.