Pre-1960 vehicles to be exempt from MoT Test

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by grantp

I've often wondered how it can possibly be economic to run a 4x4 and trailer with 2 sheep in it to a market somewhere miles away, and then back again (presumably with 2 different sheep) and still expect to make a profit with diesel at the price it is.

The old customs & "exercise" do have a go when there are farmers markets going on as it's not too difficult for them to get hold of red (or green) and some take the chance.
I don't blame them seeing that we are getting shafted every time we fill up, my Pug estate knocks a hundred quid about when I do !

[wheelsportaddict]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Not sure about this one as it seems like a rust worms charter. Maybe an annual structual condition only would have made more sense IMHO.

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

If you consider that a major portion of these cars will have; no windscreen washers, in some cases no windscreen, cable operated drum brakes, no catalytic converter, lights on cycle pods, ash frames etc. then the MOT makes no sense anyway.

Surely that means that some sort of testing should still be used? Removing the need for pre-1960 vehicles to undergo an MOT would surely lead to some very dangerous vehicles being on the road - just look at some of the vehicles on the roads in America where an MOT style test is not required.

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by wheelsportaddict

Surely that means that some sort of testing should still be used? Removing the need for pre-1960 vehicles to undergo an MOT would surely lead to some very dangerous vehicles being on the road - just look at some of the vehicles on the roads in America where an MOT style test is not required.

...and for balance just look to mainland Europe where no test pre-1960 has been the rule for a while now, with no evidence of the problem you describe

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by wheelsportaddict

Surely that means that some sort of testing should still be used? Removing the need for pre-1960 vehicles to undergo an MOT would surely lead to some very dangerous vehicles being on the road - just look at some of the vehicles on the roads in America where an MOT style test is not required.

That's more of a state by state thing here, when I lived in Virginia they got to the point of pulling over cars not running headlights in the rain to reinforce the importance of correct functioning of your car. Plus you have to go through annual inspections plus emissions usually, private garages in VA but most NE states have state-run offices you go to. And most states have a scale based on the age of the car, you don't have to hit modern standards in your classic car just the standard of the year your car was built. Now here in Georgia, that's another story; been behind cars on a CROWDED 6 lane road that have zero functioning rear lights. When a little Civic has no lights and jumps on the brakes the 30k lb truck I'm driving has no chance and I've about crapped myself more than a few times in the morning, wakes ya up better than coffee. While they may not be pre-1960 cars but the number of 1980s and 90s cars that wouldn't meet most states inspections that are on the roads here would blow your mind and make you fear driving. Also makes you wonder why the 1000s of sound, wheels or stick-on 'performance' parts but no work on any of the running gear or lights??

[grantp]

One of the things that has often puzzled me is how many cut-and-shut cars must be around and still gettting through MOT tests (presumably) somehow.

I recall following a Citroen Saxo or Pug 106 (didn't pay much attention to which snce they are the same. ) 2 very young lads in it. Oldish car but not too tatty. Lowered of course. And crabbing for Britain. Front and rear axle alignment must have been at least 6 inches out.

Then you see the photos of the aftermath of a fatal accident where a small car has, apparently, been driven so badly that having hit something like a wall or a street sign the thing has split into two parts, often right down the middle with the roof attached to one to back or front (never both) and the parts of the car are separated by some distance. The reports often comment on people being thrown from the car , bodies strewn around the scene and so on.

Always the report finds someone who can definitiely state that the car was speeding before the accident and of course the thing being spread down the road clearly confirms that. Except maybe it doesn't. If the thing is a bodged repair, sold to a lad who, if insured, will be paying maybe 5 times more per annum for the insurance that he paid for the car, the chances are that it's a cut-and-shut. Maybe the accident could be attributed to that too, at least in part.

But the press never seems to pick up in that potential and one very rarely hears anything about dangerous vehicles these days, though there must be many more of those about and clocking up miles than there are badly checked pre-1960 classics.

[GORDON STREETER]

Anyway this isn't "cut n dried" as my mate found out on an MOT refresher course last week, it's still a proposal at the moment !

[Tim Falce]

According to the VOSA updates I get it is a done deal

[dtype38]

Listening to a minister on the radio a couple of weeks ago, the reasoning was quite simple. Pre 1960 cars make up 0.6% of cars on our roads but are only involved in 0.03% of accidents. Make what you will of that statistic but the implication is that owners of pre 1960 cars are a lot more careful with their vehicles, and how they use them, so can be trusted to keep them roadworthy.

[GORDON STREETER]

I can see a few Thames Traders ending up with "New Rage Travellers" because of this, as it includes commercials

[ROGER JORDAN]

Originally Posted by grantp

I've often wondered how it can possibly be economic to run a 4x4 and trailer with 2 sheep in it to a market somewhere miles away, and then back again (presumably with 2 different sheep) and still expect to make a profit with diesel at the price it is.

It`s called subsidies !!

[FastDB2s]

It comes in on the 18th November 2012 as stated at the beginning of this thread, our Mot station was notified only the other day, worst days work ever - so far by the EU.