Poss changes to MOT

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/11042011/36/mot-changes-save-drivers-hundreds-0.html

Scamp and Astra (Nissan got the chop) both Mot'd this month

So we'll have idiots driving around for two years with dodgy lights or brakes instead on one.

I am sure Mr Westgit will have something to say on this subject !

Don't get me started!!!! Would you like to be involved in an accident with a vehicle that has done 160,000 and has never been to a garage? There are such vehicles about. When it constitutes to probably 40 - 50% of our business it will affect us a great deal.This is something that has been bubbling for about 4-5 years and has come from,you've guessed it,the EU. We have the safest record per person on car accidents and fatalities but the EU want to change that. We look after a car that has done 365,000 on a 2007 reg,to the new regulations it would be up for it's first MOT,bizare or what!! To the concientious of us that have there car seviced on an annnual basis,no problem,but for every one of those there is another that is not.

a vehicle that has done 160,000 and has never been to a garage

Sounds like my Scamp! The odo shows 127000 and the car is ten years older than that. Only ever been to a garage for MoTs, and for a couple of welding jobs that I wasn't up to at the time.


As regards the EU, using the same standards everywhere would have its points. Don't forget that all member countries, including ourselves, have an input, and can you see the Germans dumbing down the (biennial) TüV test?

P.S. having the same test everywhere would avoid this problem.

P.P.S. Info here on the requirements in different countries. The Dutch and the Swedes have the right idea!

The RMIF (Retail Motor Industries Federation)did a big campain on this about 18 months ago,in fact,I think,there was a government vote on it and it got rejected. I am sure that you Bob check your oil and water,your lights and tyre pressures before a long run.I'm sure you also change your oil when it needs it, there are those that don't,beleive me,and we see them annually when their MOT is due.

There are some that believe that the garage does an oil change when they do an MoT

I am sure that you check your oil and water,your lights and tyre pressures

Of course. The one advantage of an old and unreliable vehicle is that such checks, at frequent intervals, are essential, and so actual failures are rare. On the (comparatively) modern and therefore reliable car that is my everyday transport, they hardly get looked at between services. And I have to confess, that has caused me problems in the past.

Actually I'm not sure what that proves, but it bears out my observations about the Dutch and Swedes, who test annually except for cars older than 30 years for which biennial testing would appear to be good enough.

There will always be those that don't want to pay for road tax, mot's and insurance and with the price of fuel still climbing that number will no doubt increase (insurance has gone up 37%). The boys in blue now have the technology to read your number plate to see if you are one of growing number not complying with law not like the rest of us, but as seen on the TV the fines and penalties are no deterent. Save your pennies and buy a new or nealy new car and you won't have to bother with MOT's.

You will always get they person who buys a £300.00 cheapy as seen on the roadside,not everyone can afford payments of £140.00 per month for a new little runabout. It's the £300.00 cheapy that will be the MOT stations bread and butter.

Good subject though,something with a bit of clout and controversy.

wezgit daan saaf wrote:You will always get they person who buys a £300.00 cheapy as seen on the roadside,not everyone can afford payments of £140.00 per month for a new little runabout. It's the £300.00 cheapy that will be the MOT stations bread and butter.

Good subject though,something with a bit of clout and controversy.

And so say all of us! As a family who does indeed buy cheap and cheerful runabouts, I swear by the value for money they provide. Not for us buying on the never never - Our latest acquisition has just cost us £200!!! (A little 1.1 Saxo for Dawn to learn to drive in.) A couple of hundred spent on a couple of problems, Tony can service it and it will be good for a few years service. It's cheap to insure too!

That's value for money!

(Car no 8 on the drive )

I dont think that i have ever had a car less than 10 years old.
Never been able to afford it and def not on the never never.

I have always reckoned that a years MoT is roughly worth £300, any more than that get shot off it.
1 Nissan Primera went for the chop and i have now got a Vx Astra (Y reg, 2001)

So much for feeling chuffed that both Scamp and Astra passed their Mot's.
The Scamp only needed front bottom arm bushes. I parked outside for the re test, the examiner got in, then got out it wouldnt start .
The wire from the piggy back solenoid to the Starter motor was shorting to the body. Wire repositioned,engine started and Mot passed.

Astra positioned on front drive ready to take bumper off and fit (hopefully) towbar on. So i took Scamp to work (nights) gears crunching, double de-clutching (eeeee them were the days). Checked at work fluid 1/2 way down res and shiney oil down clutch pedal lever.
Crunching all the way home in high revs, had to start it in 1st on the starter motor 3 times. Luckerly after i changed the engine last year it start staight away. Got home 7.20, straight on Ebay shops and bought one and hopefully after previous ex with this seller it will be here Fri just as i finish nights and have 3 days off.

Could have been worse 2 weeks time it would have happened on the Easter off-roading do

Happy / frustrating Scamping

We had a company van once on 3 year lease,what a mistake.When we handed it back it had done just 7000 miles in the 3 years,we went around it and repaired any dents that we thougty needed doing.They came down and went around it with a magnifying glass and charged us a further £600.00 before we handed the van back!! And there was no discount as the milage was so low. So,like you Tony and Rob,never again.

You buy your house on a sort of never never don't you ?

Once you have bought your first new car with 5, 7 or even longer warranty and some even pay your MOT's its someone elses problem all you have to do is clean it, check / top consumables and keep an eye on the 2nd hand / trade in value to gauge when its time to get shot of it. Personally I get fed up with getting ripped off when it gets to MOT time, even dealers are rogues sometimes, Kwikfiit did Nettie's car MOT last year it passed no probs but they advised it needed a new timing belt I told them to think again as we had a new fitted a month or two before the MOT by Daewoo (now Chevrolet).

Perhaps its an age thing, you get to a point where crawling around under an old banger in a cold damp garage doesn't have the same thrill it used to.

Lucky we don't live in Dubai.

The Emirate of Dubai is to become the first country in the world to enact a law effectively banning older vehicles from its highways. On 1st January 2009 a law came into effect that meant that the licencing authorities will no longer allow the registration of vehicles that are 20 or more years old.

Since Dubai has a yearly registration policy this effectively bans older vehicles.

The law got tougher in 2010 when the cut-off date was reduced to 10 years.

The law does provide a provision to protect owners of 'genuinely classic or historic vehicles' a commission is to be set up where an owner can explain why their car should not be scrapped even though it is 10 years old.

Most main dealers are rip off merchants
People go there to get their little book stamped by a highly trained qualified technician..................pity that the work was carried out by the 17 year old . They pay alot of money thinking that they get a better price on resale, not realising that they have spent more getting the servicings done.

My 10 year old Astra which i got from the auction only had 70K on the clock.....Oh year i thought...then i read the service book and it was all documented there..........by the backstreet garage.

I have always been lucky and found a decent trustworthy backstreet garage who hasn't ripped me off.

The biggest rip off merchants are the garages that offer a cheap rate for the MoT, these are "Job creation" merchants as i think Martin would agree.

On all jobs car/DIY, i carry out an assessment:
The head says i can do the job but my body says i cant!
How long will the job drag on for if i do it
If theres ant O/time going it will pay for the job if i earn a higher rate than i am paying out

Mind you 10 years ago i got rid of the tinitus in my ears which increased as the job dragged on .................she left me

Martin & Nettie wrote:You buy your house on a sort of never never don't you ?

Well yes, but property doesn't tend to devalue like cars do......
And like a lot of folks, we've thrown as much money at the mortgage as we can to be rid of the financial burden as early as poss. We wanted it gone by the time I was 40, but we did a reality check (neither of us are on what you'd call good money) and had to move the goal posts slightly. We're now aiming at 'before Reg is 40' so we've got 3 years to play with. But if all keeps going to plan, we'll be mortgage-free by this time next year.

So as you've probably guessed, getting cars on finance isn't something that we'd do ourselves, but each to their own an' all that.

Hope you all have a good weekend, the weather's looking very promising here,
Elaine & Mr Reg.

[/quote]Perhaps its an age thing, you get to a point where crawling around under an old banger in a cold damp garage doesn't have the same thrill it used to.[/quote]


That's why I bought a secondhand Honda,yes I have to give it an annual service and an MOT,and as things wear out I have to replace them.You normally still have to pay for wear and tear items usually on a 5 or 7 year warranty.And, as I said before,not everyone can afford the monthly payments,I know that one of our mechanics bought a Megane Coupe on a "super offer" "only £300 per month" it said,it was not until he found he couldn't go out or afford the petrol for the thing,he ended handing it back before the end of the term.Still,each to their own as one says.