Katie Collier

Drivers are warned that fraudulent garages may issue MOT certificates without properly inspecting vehicles, potentially leaving unsafe cars on the road and causing repair, insurance and legal problems. Five warning signs include no physical inspection, a guaranteed pass, an MOT record missing from the government’s online database, an unusually rapid test and unusual payment practices such as cash-only transactions without receipts. The DVSA has introduced a scheme requiring testing stations to upload photographs showing vehicles on the inspection ramp, beginning with about 2,500 garages across Great Britain, to make “ghost MOTs” more difficult.