Congratulations!
I am sure many members envy you, I do for one. Have you done much preservation work on it in the past, spraying inside sills, etc.
the car was too old when he got it for that to have any worthwhile effect. It needs to be done when new, and repeated frequently. Who does that, when they're unlikely to get the benefit?
I agree with you. I only have one 20 year old Omega left, and when that fails MOT that will go too. Yet members here report MOT testers applauding the condition of their cars, which must be 16 years old by now. Were their cars unusually well made?
Andrew's car passes inspections for several reasons:
He doesn't play at routine maintenance, but does the whole job in one go.
He doesn't cheap out on parts, see above.
He uses the car as a tool for work, so it's used frequently. This is probably the most important variable for longevity
He's used the same MOT station for years(same one I do), and they know what to expect.
I've presented a lot of scruffy looking cars for MOTs, and had similar comments: it looks shit, but is better than a lot of shiny cars we see.