Classic car MOT
Discussion
I think Riley Blue is right.
With old cars the MoT does not require fitting things that were not required when the car was new, but if they are fitted they must pass MoT inspection. e.g. my 1912 car did not need electric lamps when new but, it fitted they must all work now.
Seat Belts came in during the van's production life so early ones don't need 'em.
With old cars the MoT does not require fitting things that were not required when the car was new, but if they are fitted they must pass MoT inspection. e.g. my 1912 car did not need electric lamps when new but, it fitted they must all work now.
Seat Belts came in during the van's production life so early ones don't need 'em.
I mentioned this earlier in the week on another thread.
I was interested in a classic but the dealer refused to MoT it (even though I offered to pay for the test), stating that "old cars aren't compatible with the modern MoT test".
My gut feeling is I dodged a bullet, but I guess I'll never know. I believe Riley Blue above is right: if it's fitted, then it must pass. Certainly in the days when I used to fit Cibie Oscars to everything, they had to be aligned and wired up correctly
I was interested in a classic but the dealer refused to MoT it (even though I offered to pay for the test), stating that "old cars aren't compatible with the modern MoT test".
My gut feeling is I dodged a bullet, but I guess I'll never know. I believe Riley Blue above is right: if it's fitted, then it must pass. Certainly in the days when I used to fit Cibie Oscars to everything, they had to be aligned and wired up correctly
Turbobanana said:
I mentioned this earlier in the week on another thread.
I was interested in a classic but the dealer refused to MoT it (even though I offered to pay for the test), stating that "old cars aren't compatible with the modern MoT test".
My gut feeling is I dodged a bullet, but I guess I'll never know. I believe Riley Blue above is right: if it's fitted, then it must pass. Certainly in the days when I used to fit Cibie Oscars to everything, they had to be aligned and wired up correctly
Sounds like he didn't want the job! I've seen cars at classic auctions with a current MoT that are 50 years old, never mind 40. It's the only way to demonstrate roadworthiness for a static vehicle that in most auction venues, you can't even start up, let alone drive. I've have thought an MoT centre was obliged to carry out a requested test?I was interested in a classic but the dealer refused to MoT it (even though I offered to pay for the test), stating that "old cars aren't compatible with the modern MoT test".
My gut feeling is I dodged a bullet, but I guess I'll never know. I believe Riley Blue above is right: if it's fitted, then it must pass. Certainly in the days when I used to fit Cibie Oscars to everything, they had to be aligned and wired up correctly
Could they at least have carried out a safety check on a ramp? It's rotten / dangerous chassis or suspension that's important and a ramp is needed, really. Brakes and tyre inspection and cursory check of lights and you'd be good to go.
SS2. said:
Turbobanana] said:
..if it's fitted, then it must pass. Certainly in the days when I used to fit Cibie Oscars to everything, they had to be aligned and wired up correctly
Certainly ?Re the A35 seat belt, I'd get it renewed, if you have an accident and it fails and the passenger suffers head injuries as a result how would you feel.
In my time, I've found most MoT inspectors are "sympathetic" to older cars, obviously checking for safety etc but making allowances for emissions, drum brakes etc. They also won't check or rather fail you on something that wasn't required in it's day but will comment that it needs attention.
Skyedriver said:
SS2. said:
Turbobanana] said:
..if it's fitted, then it must pass. Certainly in the days when I used to fit Cibie Oscars to everything, they had to be aligned and wired up correctly
Certainly ?Items are either testable, or they're not.
And if they're not, they cannot be a reason to fail a test.
Another internet myth that 'if it's fitted, it has to work'.
V8covin said:
Your car still needs to be roadworthy even if it's MOT exempt..... not sure how they classify roadworthy but certainly seat belts would come under that
And linked to that:1. If you put an "MOT exempt" vehicle in for a voluntary MOT test and it fails there's evidence that it's not roadworthy.
2. Even if you take it to a garage for a "Non-MOT once over" and they identify any safety related items you'd be on very shaky legal ground. I mean if you've taken your car to a professional garage and they've told you for example "There's serious rot around the passenger seatbelt mounting point. That would fail an MOT." you'd know it wasn't roadworthy, so be breaking the law from that point. Ignore it/have an accident where your passengers seat belt rips out the floor and they are injured or worse killed and your "I didn't know about the rot/I had no reason to believed the vehicle wasn't roadworthy" defense won't last long when the mechanic takes the prosecution stand and says "Yea, he asked me to check it over a month before the accident and I told him he had rot in the seatbelt mounting that would fail an MOT so the vehicles wasn't roadworthy.".
3. And of course posting on an Internet forum that you think your passenger seatbelt might not be safe suggests you have a concern about it/the roadworthyness of your vehicle...
I'm going to assume the OP is a responsible, honorable human being (potentially unlike Turbobanana's dealer) in which case if you never use the passenger seat and it wasn't an original fitment, remove the belt. If nothing else a potential passenger can see there's no seat belt and make a decission for themselves if they are happy to travel sans-belt or would prefer to decline your lift (as opposed to you letting them think they are safely belted when you're concerned the belt won't do its job). But personally I'd just swap both seatbelts - they aren't expeneive for most cars and if the passenger's one is past its best chances are the driver's one, the one YOU'RE wearing is the same age and had a similar life...
Skyedriver said:
SS2. said:
Turbobanana] said:
..if it's fitted, then it must pass. Certainly in the days when I used to fit Cibie Oscars to everything, they had to be aligned and wired up correctly
Certainly ?steveo3002 said:
you could ask the garage to have a look over it without logging an mot....if theres any saftey issues they can tell you without having a fail logged
When I took it into my local ‘classic car’ garage they sorted the brakes for me, the boss did mention to me that the van was in good order. Certainly I wouldn’t want to drive anything that was in a dodgy condition.The seat belt will be replaced
Riley Blue said:
AFAIK an MOT fail is an MOT fail irrespective of the age of the vehicle i.e. once submitted for a test, even if it's over 40 years old, it has to pass to be driveable on the road.
Not exactly true.https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test
You can drive a car away from an MOT test if it has no 'dangerous' faults.
You can fix any faults which would make it 'not roadworthy' and drive it so long as it's either exempt or has an MOT which hasn't expired.
You don't have to get it re-tested.
Whether any 'major' faults exist which would not render the vehicle 'unroadworthy' might be debatable?
I suppose a passenger seatbelt would not stop the vehicle being 'roadworthy' with no passenger?
A towbar fault would be OK so long as you don't tow anything?
what year is the A35 van?
my A35 van is 1963 and doesn't have seat belts fitted. I last MOT it in 2019 when i fitted another number plate. The last van was built in 1968 and would have had belts fitted as it was the law at the time.
Check your chassis number. If it starts AV5 or AV6 it wouldn't have had the belts fitted from new. So you could remove them before the test and source a replacement afterwards. If it is an AV8 van, then it would need belts for the MOT.
my A35 van is 1963 and doesn't have seat belts fitted. I last MOT it in 2019 when i fitted another number plate. The last van was built in 1968 and would have had belts fitted as it was the law at the time.
Check your chassis number. If it starts AV5 or AV6 it wouldn't have had the belts fitted from new. So you could remove them before the test and source a replacement afterwards. If it is an AV8 van, then it would need belts for the MOT.
austina35 said:
what year is the A35 van?
my A35 van is 1963 and doesn't have seat belts fitted. I last MOT it in 2019 when i fitted another number plate. The last van was built in 1968 and would have had belts fitted as it was the law at the time.
Check your chassis number. If it starts AV5 or AV6 it wouldn't have had the belts fitted from new. So you could remove them before the test and source a replacement afterwards. If it is an AV8 van, then it would need belts for the MOT.
My van is a 1961 version, expect the belts have been since fitted by a previous owner. The drivers belt is good leaving just the passenger side for renewal. I looked up the MOT test and the van was last tested 2017.my A35 van is 1963 and doesn't have seat belts fitted. I last MOT it in 2019 when i fitted another number plate. The last van was built in 1968 and would have had belts fitted as it was the law at the time.
Check your chassis number. If it starts AV5 or AV6 it wouldn't have had the belts fitted from new. So you could remove them before the test and source a replacement afterwards. If it is an AV8 van, then it would need belts for the MOT.
I will see if I can post a couple of images of it.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/xJPeZTbg.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/rztP7Krn" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/rztP7Krn.jpg)
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