No mot if car is 40 years old .

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Jasonmarie
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No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Jasonmarie »

So I have been reading this document most of the day and trust me it was like being back at Sunday school so have skip parts but I think as from November this year all car registered before November 1977 with not have to go threw a MOT .

Please note I am not a political person so this might just be a plan more then fact and have posted the link for all to read so in others words " I have it all wrong " as they might need to pass it threw the government first before it becomes law .

Enjoy the read

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... c-interest
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by tejb1 »

It seems that the results of their work have indicated that this is the option they want - it'll probably need a modification to the law, but I shouldn't have thought there's any risk of it not going through.

That said, I assume it will still be possible to put a car in for an MoT even when one is not required by law. I certainly think I'd want to do this. (Would insurers start to offer lower premiums for those who do vs those who don't?).
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Caprifan Rob »

Free car tax for classics is a great thing (wish mine was free) but scrapping the MOT for old cars? Surely they are the ones that need yearly safety checks the most :shock:
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by andyd »

Caprifan Rob wrote:Free car tax for classics is a great thing (wish mine was free) but scrapping the MOT for old cars? Surely they are the ones that need yearly safety checks the most :shock:
:agree: Especially if the MOT was free of charge too :D
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Caprifan Rob wrote: scrapping the MOT for old cars? Surely they are the ones that need yearly safety checks the most :shock:
I think the theory is that owners of classics are more diligent when it comes to maintenance and safety checks. Whether that's the case in reality or not will become apparent.....

Andrew.
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Jasonmarie »

I feel that I will keep up with the MOT as it's easy to make mistakes and if there was something wrong I would want to know about it , OK I still have 10 more years before the rule comes in for me but I know I would not buy a car that somebody was selling if it had not been checked for years . Just my thought .
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Caprifan Rob »

andyd wrote:
Caprifan Rob wrote:Free car tax for classics is a great thing (wish mine was free)
:agree: Especially if the MOT was free of charge too :D
I'm liking the free bit the best :)
Andrew 2.8i wrote: I think the theory is that owners of classics are more diligent when it comes to maintenance and safety checks. Whether that's the case in reality or not will become apparent.....
:agree: Thing is, the people making the bill probably have vast funds to pay professionals to look after their pride & joys and keep them in 'fine fettle', wish I lived in that world :)
Jasonmarie wrote:I would not buy a car that somebody was selling if it had not been checked for years . Just my thought .
My thoughts too. :!:
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by tejb1 »

I wonder if economics will play a part - as jasonmarie says a car which has still been MoTd can justify a higher value perhaps, and maybe insurers will want one anyway.

Also, next time there's a serious RTA involving a classic with questionable roadworthiness, that hasn't been MoTd as it is exempt, the press will have a field day...

Did read a comment by a chap who was an experienced mechanic, owned 3 classics, ran a garage and MoT station and even he got occasionally caught out by unexpected failures when putting his cars in for test. If that's the case with someone like that, what for the rest of us?

Personally I would be much happier driving a car that had an experienced, independent person give it an inspection than not. For the sake of 40 quid and an hour each year it's worth it.
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Caprigear »

If your Capri is in good condition then an MOT shouldn't be anything to worry about, if it isn't then should it even be on the road?
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by 340truck »

Caprigear wrote:If your Capri is in good condition then an MOT shouldn't be anything to worry about, if it isn't then should it even be on the road?
:agree:
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by keithscapri »

I've got 2 cortina's a1966 and 1970 that will fall into this no mot category. Both I must add are mot'd and I will continue to get them mot'd every year for piece of mind. I've not come across any older car enthusiasts who support it . Think if you have mot on your old motor it will certainly still prove if your selling its no rust bucket .
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Jasonmarie »

I have just been reading some more stuff about the MOT and they were going to do it for cars 30 years or older but the response was 57% to keep the MOT .
Yes I would still have a mot as I want to know I am as safe and my family who travel with me . Also I wonder if a car fails you have to then get the work done to drive on the road ?
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi,
Some interesting opinions being expressed here. I can't help thinking that instead of taking an MOT exempt car for a test, why not ask the garage to perform a safety check to highlight any issues instead? It would probably work out cheaper and achieve the same result.

Andrew.
Last edited by Andrew 2.8i on Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by D366Y »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
Some interesting opinions being expressed here. I can't help thinking that instead of taking an MOT exempt car for a test, why not ask the garage to perform a safety check to highlight any issues instead? It would probably work out cheaper and acheive the same result.

Andrew.
I was thinking the same thing; one of the reasons that they want to get rid of the MOT for older cars is that "the new test doesn't apply to old cars in the same way" which is a valid point in some respects, but scrapping it altogether seems like one step too far...

A safety check of some kind, like a half MOT, that still checks tyres, brakes, lights and rust would seem like a better move?
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Paul G »

D366Y wrote:
Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
Some interesting opinions being expressed here. I can't help thinking that instead of taking an MOT exempt car for a test, why not ask the garage to perform a safety check to highlight any issues instead? It would probably work out cheaper and acheive the same result.

Andrew.
I was thinking the same thing; one of the reasons that they want to get rid of the MOT for older cars is that "the new test doesn't apply to old cars in the same way" which is a valid point in some respects, but scrapping it altogether seems like one step too far...

A safety check of some kind, like a half MOT, that still checks tyres, brakes, lights and rust would seem like a better move?
:agree:

Most old cars are owned by loving owners but unfortunately many of them are not that knowlegeable about the actual mechanics of a vehicle, nor do they have access to a pit or ramp in order to have a proper look under their cars. Just reading the Q&A section of this forum highlights this.

Several older vehicles have to be tested in a specific way to get faults to show up which owners may not know and wouldn't be able to recognise the fault even if they saw it. An example would be old Marinas and Morris 1000's. There is a rule of thumb in mechanics that you should never jack a car up by the suspension arms at the front but if you don't jack a Marina on them then wear in the lower steering trunnions will not be apparant and later it will wear so much that the car will collapse, resting on its sump with the wheel splayed out. This applies to a lot of cars with longitudinal torsion bar or double wishbone suspension systems.

I am surprised that insurance companies are not up in arms about the no mot idea. Yes it doesn't need to be a full MOT, most of which is bollox anyway. However, as other people have said an annual or bi-annual inspection should at least be made of steering, suspension, brakes and pipes, driveshafts on FWD cars, excessive smoke, fuel pipes and tanks due to the ethanol issue and rust within 1 foot (30cms) of a suspension, steering, seatbelt or body - to - chassis mounting. Possibly exhaust security ie rubber mountings could also be considered but most owners would know if the system itself was blowing and get it fixed.

Lights, tyres, horn, wipers and washers and items that can be seen externally should be matters for the owner and faults in these would probably result in the car getting stopped by the police anyway. Personally I think tyres should have a use by date on them but that's a different matter.

If an owner is caught regularly flouting the regulations with an unroadworthy car then he should be compelled to take it for a full MOT.
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Caprigear »

I can certainly assure you that not all cars are cared for by loving owners. If you encountered the kinds of things that I've seen over the years. A large percentage of cars are owned by people who have neither the funds or the ability to maintain the vehicles properly.

Anybody who think that the idea of getting rid of the MOT test is a good one are in my opinion crazy. The cars will simply be run until they either break down or fall apart -which ever happens soonest!

Another thought, when you cause an accident in your untested death trap or god forbid, kill someone is your insurance going to pay out? I don't think so.

Compared to a lot of newer cars, a Capri in decent condition is so straightforward to MOT so why not have that peace of mind? If the answer is it'll save you a few quid every year should you even be owning a car.
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Paul G »

Caprigear wrote:I can certainly assure you that not all cars are cared for by loving owners. If you encountered the kinds of things that I've seen over the years. A large percentage of cars are owned by people who have neither the funds or the ability to maintain the vehicles properly.

Anybody who think that the idea of getting rid of the MOT test is a good one are in my opinion crazy. The cars will simply be run until they either break down or fall apart -which ever happens soonest!

Another thought, when you cause an accident in your untested death trap or god forbid, kill someone is your insurance going to pay out? I don't think so.

Compared to a lot of newer cars, a Capri in decent condition is so straightforward to MOT so why not have that peace of mind? If the answer is it'll save you a few quid every year should you even be owning a car.
I agree with this 100% regarding old "modern" cars that are used as daily runners. When I was on the spanners I reckon about 85% of them that I worked on had brake or suspension faults, mainly leaking wheel cylinders, broken coil spings or knackered bushes and balljoints. What Martin says about people just continuing to drive these death traps until they break or crash is spot on and yes if people cannot or will not afford to maintain a car then they should not have them. In these circumstances the MOT is a vital check to try to keep safety standards up.
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by andyd »

Paul G wrote: What Martin says about people just continuing to drive these death traps until they break or crash is spot on and yes if people cannot or will not afford to maintain a car then they should not have them. In these circumstances the MOT is a vital check to try to keep safety standards up.
:agree: Classics especially should be looked after and maintained well.
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Jasonmarie »

I have a very long thought on this and what has come to mind is my mother in law she has a mot at the doctors every year and trust me they have found many faults with the old girl . Now I might stop taking her to all these appointments and see how she goes for say 2 years , if she makes it’s then we don’t really need to take our cars if not I might buy another Capri on my inheritance and say your all right we should get these old cars mot every year .
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Re: No mot if car is 40 years old .

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Caprigear wrote:I can certainly assure you that not all cars are cared for by loving owners.
It would appear that the statistics agree with this. Apparently 22.7% of vehicles built between 1966 and 1977, i.e. those that are currently required to be tested and will be exempt under the new legislation, fail the MOT. That's a lot of cars that could be driving around with defects that have not been detected, or have been ignored by their owners......

Another interesting statistic from the report is that only 6% of cars that are currently exempt from the MOT are voluntarily taken for a test annually.

Andrew.
Last edited by Andrew 2.8i on Sat Sep 23, 2017 8:38 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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