Biennial MOT tests

JonRGV250

JonRGV250

JonRGV250

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Biennial MOT tests.

Last week this ridiculous suggestion reared it's ugly head again, and I'm 100% certain it won't be implimented, just like the many times it's been suggested before.

www.motortrader.com

Proposal to scrap annual MoT comes under fire

The annual MOT could be replaced by a biennial test if government plans to ease the cost of living get the go ahead. It is widely reported that Transport S
www.motortrader.com www.motortrader.com

From my own point of view, I've been a tester for longer than I care to remember and absolutely nothing shocks me anymore with the state of some of the cars I test.
For example, these are some pics from cars I tested today..

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J1XEatS.jpg

Fairly obvious the problems above.

VpKPz5O.jpg

CV boot not secure, and it's been like that for a while.
You really don't want to lose all the grease from that.

QTdfNxh.jpg

Steering rack gaitor completely split and welcoming in road grime and god knows what else.

STg3lwb.jpg

Lower suspension arm bush almost completely seperated from the arm, and the other side was the same.
Also one of the bottom ball joints had excessive play, as well as both CV boots on the O/S being split and spewing grease, and rear pads about to go metal to metal.

Now bear in mind, that was just me testing 8 cars today.

Some (but not all) people think a fresh MOT is a clean bill of health for 12 months and ignore any advisories and just carry on driving.
It's not hard to imagine the sheer amount of unroadworthy cars sharing the same road space as the rest of us, and it's suggested that we only test every 24 months!

Is saving £54.85 due to the cost of living crisis really worth it?
 
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ahh the government.

"we're worried about the cost of living and its effect on driving, lets propose the one change that will have minimal impact on the cost of motoring whilst simultaneously increasing the risk of vehicles being maintained in a dangerous condition"

"but sir, we could reduce VED, or fuel duty"

"you're fired"
 
Should be time and mileage based imo. That way people who don't drive much don't have to get annual MOTs.

Every 2 years or 10k miles. With a minimum time of 12 months.
 
I've been a tester for many years too and totally agree. It's absolutely obsurd to be thinking about making it bi-annual, if someone can't afford to keep their car road legal then this is not the fix for that problem. I've seen my fair share of damn right dangerous cars in for MOT, some of those are even at their first MOT at 3 years old.
 
I don't think split gaiters and snapped springs are going to cause a huge accident as such, car might drive weird but overall catastrophic failure would be very unlucky.

When it comes to tyres though, those should be assessed annually. The state some people leave them in within 12 months is bad enough, allowing another 12 months plus our usual weather... Gonna be the cause of even more unecessary accidents in my opinion.
 
Dup said:
I don't think split gaiters and snapped springs are going to cause a huge accident as such, car might drive weird but overall catastrophic failure would be very unlucky.

When it comes to tyres though, those should be assessed annually. The state some people leave them in within 12 months is bad enough, allowing another 12 months plus our usual weather... Gonna be the cause of even more unecessary accidents in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Snapped spring can easily drop off the spring cup, casuing that corner to suddenly drop with possible loss of control, or it could (and quite often does) drop and dig into the tyre causing quite a rapid deflation of the tyre.

Rack gaiters, not generally going to cause issues for a long time but water and grit in the rack isn't going to do it any favours. Unlikely to cause any sudden problems, but it's still something that should be functioning correctly.
 
Whoever is suggesting that a fifty quid every other year saving is a solution for the cost of living crisis should be fired.

I'm looking at those pictures and have no idea what's wrong, but I don't know cars, which is the whole point of getting someone who knows what they're looking at to look at it every year.
 
Are we surprised? compromise safety so we dont have to tax billionaires more or do those nasty windfall taxes.

Also this really only defers MOT costs (by that I mean repair costs to pass, a car passing MOT without repairs needed is a small expense in the current crisis), it doesnt save them.
 
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