I've had brand new bushes failed at mot because the tester dirtied his nails and the best swb90 on the planet has been layed up on a sorn in my backyard because i accidentally made an mot tester work late on a friday you see...
Aye. Finding a decent MOT station is half the battle.
I think it helps that your MOT station knows that, anything it fails on, you're going to take it away and fix yourself. So there's no financial incentive for them to fail it, in order to get a bit of work for themselves. In fact, there's a disincentive for them to fail it, as they'll have to set time aside for the free re-test.
I must have tried every MOT station within a 5 mile radius of my house before settling on the one I use now, who I'd describe as 'Firm but Fair'. If it's something dangerous like dodgy brakes or structural corrosion, they'll fail it on the spot. If it's something daft like a number plate bulb not working or a windscreen wiper blade being a bit worn, he'll just say
"You'll need to sort that out" and, on one occasion, when one of my indicator bulbs was gone, he went and dug one out of a drawer and handed me it, so I could put it in, while he got on with the rest of the test.
They always give me the feeling that they're on your side and want your motor to pass. So will talk me through what they're noticing, such as anything that might need attention in future, while they're doing the test. Even if it's not an MOT item.
Contrast that with a place I went to a couple of times before, where the guy would look at you as if he was a magistrate and you'd been brought before him for molesting children. He'd fail it on every minuscule thing he could find and read you the list of failures and advisories afterwards, like it was a charge sheet and you were personally responsible for building the car and for offending his eyes by forcing him to even look at it.
On the second [and last!] time I went there, he jumped in my van and yanked really hard on the handbrake. At which point, the handbrake cable snapped. He got out of the van, looked at me in disgust and said
"Well, that's failed for a start. You've got no handbrake!"
"Coz you've just broken it!" I protested
"If it breaks during the test, it fails!" he said and just walked off. Not even a word of apology or a sympathetic
"These things happen some times". And, of course he then went on to fail it on about half a dozen other trivial things like 'Wrong colour of fluffy dice', 'Tax disc stuck on slightly crooked', 'Radio tuned to wrong station'... etc.
Needless to say, I never went there again.