New MOT rules! Great for classics owners!

Joe T · 22 May 2018 at 16:58

Kenai said:
The only pre 1978 cars still being nursed along are going to be classics or proper fanboy type oldboy owners.

So? Do all of those owners have ramps to get under their cars every year to check the suspension, corrosion etc? Do they have a rolling road to check the efficiency of the brakes?

Cars that are driven less frequently are just as much in need of regular and thorough checks as cars that are used more often. So much of the time it's not using cars that leads to problems.

Lashout_UK · 22 May 2018 at 17:05

Yup. And even enthusiasts can miss very serious problems.

PardonTheWait · 22 May 2018 at 23:49

My car is now MOT exempt and I’m still going to have it tested every year. As said it doesn’t matter how much time I’ve spent rolling around underneath it, I could still miss something.

I also feel like classic insurers are going to start either demanding an MOT to insure a car, or raising premiums heavily if one hasn’t been carried out.

And to be fair if they don’t, they should.

I understand both sides of this - a lot of newer MOT testers just don’t understand what they’re dealing with with old cars, and a lot of older cars are cherished and looked after. But plenty aren’t. The rot you see on some old cars is just shocking. And by some I mean basically all, unless it’s been repaired already or it’s just arrived from a dry country.

I feel like MOT testers should just be properly trained and educated on older cars.

mikeh501 · 23 May 2018 at 06:39

Joe T said:
So? Do all of those owners have ramps to get under their cars every year to check the suspension, corrosion etc? Do they have a rolling road to check the efficiency of the brakes?

Cars that are driven less frequently are just as much in need of regular and thorough checks as cars that are used more often. So much of the time it's not using cars that leads to problems.

My old Land Rover can’t even be tested on a rolling road lol. They need to do a road test with a Tapley meter lol. Ball ache for them, and the brakes are **** anyhow.

AHarvey · 23 May 2018 at 11:45

[TW]Fox said:
Only if its deemed dangerous - regular fails are ok.

Yep, one of the T4 owners in our VW club just had it mot'd.

Failed with a few things such as uneven brake wear on the rear but was a dangerous fail because the brake level sensor was unplugged on one side and was told he couldn't drive it.

[TW]Fox · 23 May 2018 at 11:48

A pad wear sensor is a dangerous fail?!?

InvaderGIR · 23 May 2018 at 11:49

Can we see the MOT result because that doesn't sound right at all?

Jez · 23 May 2018 at 11:59

Is the new manual published online? A wear sensor being classed as dangerous seems mad.

InvaderGIR · 23 May 2018 at 12:02

Jez said:
Is the new manual published online? A wear sensor being classed as dangerous seems mad.

General changes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...testers/overview-of-mot-changes-from-may-2018

Actual manual area from within that page: https://www.gov.uk/topic/mot/manuals

CaptainRAVE · 23 May 2018 at 12:02

I remember a wreck of a car that my dad restored. So much hidden away that an MOT tester would never have seen anyway. Passed first time too

grudas · 23 May 2018 at 12:06

AHarvey said:
Yep, one of the T4 owners in our VW club just had it mot'd.

Failed with a few things such as uneven brake wear on the rear but was a dangerous fail because the brake level sensor was unplugged on one side and was told he couldn't drive it.

so he had to get it repaired at the garage doing the MOT right?

bet garages are rubbing their hands.

AHarvey · 23 May 2018 at 12:11

grudas said:
so he had to get it repaired at the garage doing the MOT right? bet garages are rubbing their hands.

Not sure tbh, he said he wasn't allowed to drive it home.

The best part is the front brake with the issue was only 5 months old and it's barely used. I would have thought uneven brake wear would've been a lot more dangerous than a single unplugged sensor on a new disc/pad.

Jez · 23 May 2018 at 12:45

InvaderGIR said:
General changes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...testers/overview-of-mot-changes-from-may-2018

Actual manual area from within that page: https://www.gov.uk/topic/mot/manuals

https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/class3457/Section-1-Brakes.html

Defect Category

Brake lining or pad:

wear indicator illuminated

Major

To be fair, why did he put the car in for MOT with obvious warning lights on anyway

That deserves a fail. Its not a dangerous fault though.

Lopéz · 23 May 2018 at 17:16

AHarvey said:
Yep, one of the T4 owners in our VW club just had it mot'd.

Failed with a few things such as uneven brake wear on the rear but was a dangerous fail because the brake level sensor was unplugged on one side and was told he couldn't drive it.

As far as I know, MOT stations cannot prevent you driving it. They aren't VOSA.

AHarvey · 23 May 2018 at 17:34

Lopéz said:
As far as I know, MOT stations cannot prevent you driving it. They aren't VOSA.

I was thinking more that it's now an MOT failure and as you've been told not to drive it the police can stop you for driving with no MOT.

mushtafa · 23 May 2018 at 19:42

MOT stations can't stop anyone driving away. It's illegal if we withheld the keys for example.

A lot of the wording and major/dangerous categories are silly - typical people in suits writing the manual at their desk.

For example, we can no longer fail brake fluid for being below the minimum mark. But they've added in a failure for contaminated fluid.
We're not allowed to remove caps, so how would we check for contamination?

There's a lot of silly rules which I hope will slightly change in the coming months.

Link to manual https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/class3457/

mushtafa · 23 May 2018 at 19:45

The dangerous bit has always been in the test. If a tester wanted to tick the dangerous box, it gets applied to the failure/advisory.

It's now an automatic thing for certain items.

Basically means, you've been told (and in writing on the MOT) that it's dangerous to drive. If you were to get caught driving it, you'd get in trouble - even if you had 2 weeks left of your existing MOT.

Cyber-Mav · 24 May 2018 at 14:26

neighbor was gonna scrap his mk1 escort due to there being too much rust on it and other issues which would have prevented it getting an mot. now hes been driving it around since monday. lol. i suspect a lot of old death traps are doing the same thing now.

sigma · 24 May 2018 at 14:36

mushtafa said:
The dangerous bit has always been in the test. If a tester wanted to tick the dangerous box, it gets applied to the failure/advisory.

It's now an automatic thing for certain items.

Basically means, you've been told (and in writing on the MOT) that it's dangerous to drive. If you were to get caught driving it, you'd get in trouble - even if you had 2 weeks left of your existing MOT.

Does the driving 'to and from' test place still exemption still apply?

Akagi · 24 May 2018 at 14:45

Disagree strongly with this. Any car should be subject to an MOT test before it is allowed on public roads. Plenty of people have classic cars who do not maintain them properly.

Dad has 4 vehicles ranging from 1929 to 1948 and all of them are MOT'd.