MOT history mystery ?????

Just looking at a car on autotrader that I’m considering and alarm bells are ringing but I can’t figure out what is going on.

Started by doing the MOT history check on this 2015 vehicle and all looked ok since first test in 2018, mileage seemed to add up sensibly but there was a missing MOT for 2023 so ordered the £4.95 autorader vehicle check.

The report showed that there had been a plate change. Starting with the current plate changed to a different one in july 2018 and back to the original in may 23.

Did the MOT history check on the different plate and it is on a 2019 vehicle, same make, model and colour with MOTs for every year including 23 with mileage that seems right for a 2019 vehicle.

So what’s going on? How could both plates be getting MOTs each year? Could there be a legit reason for this or should I stay well clear?

Cheers!

Private plate transferred to his new car ?

I can’t remember if they put the VIN on the MOT?. Would help work out which car goes with which MOT

Yeah it would help but doesn’t seem to show that. And why would both reg nos. be getting an MOT every year?

Is the mot history identical? It might just be that the DVLA are helpfully joining the dots for you.

Alternatively the owner of the car you’re looking at liked it so much he bought a new one almost exactly the same and transferred his plate over.

Otherwise private hire vehicles need mots every 6 months afaik

^ No, the MOTs for the original plate had their anniversary in october with mileages appropriate to a vehicle of that age. The MOTs of the alt. plate had their anniversries in may/july with mileages appropriate for a 2019 vehicle but the 2024 MOT for the current reg. is also in may.

Have you asked the trader, op? I mean, they might just BS you but they might have genuine knowledge of what’s going on?

Good luck, does sound odd but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an issue of course.

Yeah I asked but he said he didn’t know.

If your not sure just find a different vehicle.

^Is the obvious answer but as it looks good I want to know if there could be a reasonable explanation.

Clarify some details please…

It started in 2015 as e.g. ABC123A and is advertised in 2024 as ABC123A? Or is it not showing a reg in photos at all?

July 2018 to May 2023 it became XYZ1

What did it become in May 2023?

Check vehicle history for XYZ1

How many owners, do you know? And is it a ‘special’ reg

How about car 1 bought new on private plate

Car 2 (identical) bought after 3 years and plate transferred

Car 1 remains in business/family

Car 2 kept for 3 years, then punted on minus private plate which goes back on car 1

Does that make any sense?

To be fair it would make me wary too. What sort of car is it?

What are the chances it has been sat on a forecourt after being repaired hence the missing mot?

Or sold to new owner in march who forgot to mot in October?

My current car had a confusing history on the detailed MOT check due to private plates going on at some point. (brother is in the trade and can do full checks)

But the history you get from https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ is detailed enough to see if there are any dodgy tests.

My wife forgot to MOT her car For about months. It was only when we came to renew the insurance that we realised we hadn’t MOT’d it!

We don’t even have private plates…

If you check mot history of a vehicle it’ll give you the full history irrespective of any plate changes, so any perceived overlaps are not relevant.

@timba some clarification:

It started life as ABC123 in June 2015 and is currently for sale on that plate. Changed to PRIV1 end of July 2018 which also is the date of first keeper change. Changed back to ABC123 end of May 23 on the same date as second keeper change.

From gov MOT checker:

ABC123 had the following MOTs and mileage:

Sept 17 30,098

July 18 33, 178

June 19 41,377

Oct 20 50,287

Oct 21 63,638

Oct 22 66,638

23 mising

Jun 24 91,341

PRIV1 first registered july 2019 had the following:

Jul 22 33,540

May 23 45,357

Apr 24 52,425

Looking at that, it looks possible that the second keeper maybe sold it after buying their new motor and somehow passed off the new motor’s MOT as being for this car, hence the latest MOT being in June instead of october although if that’s the case the MOT mileage would be suspiciously low. I just don’t know…

Just looks like it wasn’t mot at all in 23 to me.

Parked up off road needing repaired crash damaged, given to their feckless kid who’s useless and didn’t bother moting so drove it around without an mot etc etc. Lots of reasons.

@trail_rat you’re probably right, after googling the dealer the alarm bells got louder so gonna give it a miss. Cheers!