New MOT rules! Great for classics owners!

Lashout_UK · 21 May 2018 at 18:07

Nasher said:
No crumple zones, metal bumpers and probably steel panels far superior to most modern stuff. I bet it would flatten a modern car in a collision

Naaaah, stuff of that era folds like an absolute pancake if you hit anything in it at a moderate speed. Plus you've fixed steering columns, no belts (or lap belts), poorly retained, unsupportive seats and seriously heavy engines that just want to punch their way through the bulkhead... Insta-death if you have a hefty shunt in one.

Here's a Charger of that era after a 60mph crash test into a wall. Substantial speed, sure, but still...

Here's the crash on film (20sec on). Kabooom!

Slam62 · 21 May 2018 at 18:09

hmm, i'm afraid I don't like these old cars on the road, I don't understand why suddenly all these important safety and emissions rules don't apply to any car on the public road.

xs2man · 21 May 2018 at 18:11

Malt_Vinegar said:
How long till garages offer "Pre MOT tests" to allow cars to be checked unofficially to allow people to fix their own cars again?

This has always been a thing though no? I've always been able to request one.

mushtafa · 21 May 2018 at 18:39

JRS said:
Okay. And how many 'moderns' do you see with tyre fails, brake fails, light fails, DPF delete fails, crappy remap fails and so on with all those folk that use the MOT as their annual service? 'cause believe me, I can *walk* from my home to my parents home and point out a number of cars that shouldn't ought to be on the road...and none of them are older than 10 years.

And hell, even stupid stuff trips up the odd semi-modern car. My old Seicento had an advisory every year like clockwork for a bad front anti-roll bar bush. Which I guess would have been fair enough, if it actually had a front anti-roll bar. Since it didn't, one has to wonder what it was that these MOT testers were looking at...I never did find out in the 12 years that I ran that dear old thing.

I'm not sure what you're argument here is? This is a thread regarding older vehicles being exempt.

And yes, some modern stuff is terrible. The government wanted 4-2-2 testing, but almost every MOT tester and mechanic was against the idea. Luckily they've now dropped it, and sticking with 3-1-1.

The amount of people who are buying vehicles on finance because they can scrape together the monthly cost, but they can't afford to service/maintain it is increasing. We see customers with 5 year old diesel BMWs that have never been serviced and always have part worn tyres fitted when needed (Not by us!).

Your example of you Seicento ARB bush - what did the garage/tester say about it when challenged?

[TW]Fox · 21 May 2018 at 18:43

mushtafa said:
The government wanted 4-2-2 testing, but almost every MOT tester and mechanic was against the idea.

I wonder why?

mushtafa · 21 May 2018 at 19:22

I know what you're getting at here, but it was such a bad idea!

Jumper118 · 21 May 2018 at 23:21

Lashout_UK said:
Naaaah, stuff of that era folds like an absolute pancake if you hit anything in it at a moderate speed. Plus you've fixed steering columns, no belts (or lap belts), poorly retained, unsupportive seats and seriously heavy engines that just want to punch their way through the bulkhead... Insta-death if you have a hefty shunt in one.

Here's a Charger of that era after a 60mph crash test into a wall. Substantial speed, sure, but still...

Here's the crash on film (20sec on). Kabooom!

I've seen dukes of hazard and those chargers can take a beating. Even launching over a massive jump at over 100mph they are fine. These crash tests were rigged to get people to buy prius's instead of very safe v8 muscle cars.

Lopéz · 22 May 2018 at 05:33

ShiWarrior said:
no seatbelt ? surely thats a fail ?

Why would it be a fail?

Lashout_UK · 22 May 2018 at 08:53

Jumper118 said:
I've seen dukes of hazard and those chargers can take a beating. Even launching over a massive jump at over 100mph they are fine. These crash tests were rigged to get people to buy prius's instead of very safe v8 muscle cars.

Not sure if serious?

*Whoosh*

Just read the last bit. Phew.

Definitely haven't had enough caffeine this morning...

CaptainRAVE · 22 May 2018 at 11:47

The cars most in need of an MOT no longer need an MOT. Brilliant.

SC0TTRS · 22 May 2018 at 12:03

I still think it should be compulsory for Classic cars to have an MOT, even if it's free!

Their argument is they believed that all classic owners are fully qualified Mechanics, and keep their car well maintained and in tip-top condition, but were relying on DIY Mechanic's (for the most part) that's watched to much Wheeler Dealers on QUEST, tinkering with things they shouldn't...

vanpeebles · 22 May 2018 at 12:13

And yet they still do a better job than what goes on behind the scenes at most dealers

grudas · 22 May 2018 at 12:31

CaptainRAVE said:
The cars most in need of an MOT no longer need an MOT. Brilliant.

there's no point as there are hardly any on the roads at that age and those that are will usually be owned by purists and driven once a month on a sunny day.

my mate owns an MG GT and he has done 7miles last year.

MooMoo444 · 22 May 2018 at 12:35

Lashout_UK said:

I think he would be fine

CaptainRAVE · 22 May 2018 at 12:37

MooMoo444 said:
I think he would be fine

Kenai · 22 May 2018 at 12:38

CaptainRAVE said:
The cars most in need of an MOT no longer need an MOT. Brilliant.

It makes sense really, it's a waste of everyone's time to spend an hour (I'm sure minimum times are checked by VOSA?) checking a 1985 car for DPFs, Xenons and washers, self levelling systems etc. that the cars just don't have. There are so few on the road that you're only really missing a handful of 'running an 80s car still that isn't a classic' sheds.

Edit - counting fail, 80s would only be 30 years old anyway, you're looking at older than 1978. The only pre 1978 cars still being nursed along are going to be classics or proper fanboy type oldboy owners.

MooMoo444 · 22 May 2018 at 12:46

..but why would someone check for modern technology on old cars? Surely it would make more sense to keep the tests going but only check essentials on these cars such as brakes, tyres, suspension, corrosion etc.

Malt_Vinegar · 22 May 2018 at 13:21

MooMoo444 said:
..but why would someone check for modern technology on old cars? Surely it would make more sense to keep the tests going but only check essentials on these cars such as brakes, tyres, suspension, corrosion etc.

Then you have to train a whole load of Techs on how to test very old systems/parts and methods that are not valid on modern cars. These are things that 99% of them would never actually have to use at work!

Then you have to provide separate test manuals/parameters and equipment to test them.

It becomes a bit of a hefty process. I can totally see why they have gone this way.

b0rn2sk8 · 22 May 2018 at 16:43

Would they though? How is it any different to what they were doing last month?

Can test centres refuse to test a car they don’t have the expertise to test?

Joe T · 22 May 2018 at 16:53

Malt_Vinegar said:
Then you have to train a whole load of Techs on how to test very old systems/parts and methods that are not valid on modern cars. These are things that 99% of them would never actually have to use at work!

Then you have to provide separate test manuals/parameters and equipment to test them.

It becomes a bit of a hefty process. I can totally see why they have gone this way.

As MOT's are still available for exempt cars (plus mandatory those older cars that have been modified), this is a 100% non-valid argument.

New MOT rules! Great for classics owners!

Transmission breaker