Friday 18th May 2018

Prior Convictions: MOT rule changes

From Sunday, any car over 40 years old will become MOT exempt. All 293,000 of them.

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As of May 20, 293,000 more vehicles will become exempt from the annual MOT test. The Department for Transport has extended an exemption for the 197,000 cars built before 1960 to include those built more than 40 years ago. They rejected an idea to make it apply to cars built more than 30 years ago.

For why, Keats, for why? Because, according to the DfT, these cars are "usually maintained in good condition and used on few occasions". Alongside that comes the slightly contradictory suggestions that garages a) might not be adequately testing cars over this age because some modern MOT standards are less applicable, while b) acknowledging that cars of this age have a substantially lower rate of failure than average. Which I take to mean that garages must, at times, be using their nous to overlook minor foibles.

"We consider the element of risk arising from taking vehicles over 40 years old out of the testing regime is small," says the DfT.

Owners will still have the option of putting their cars through a voluntary MOT and "they will still, like all vehicle owners, need to ensure that they meet the legal requirement of keeping their vehicle in a roadworthy condition at all times."

Now, I'm slightly torn about this one. For a start, I can see the sense in freeing garages from having to use their discretion that comes with some classics: the amount of free play in the steering system of a 1965 car, for example, might be a bit different to a 2008 hatchback. And it will allow the DfT to tighten the new MOT tests to keep it appropriate for modern cars, without making life even harder for classic owners, or overwhelming garages with standards that vary depending on a car's age.

But I also see - because I own this precise kind of car - the possibility of vehicles that haven't been tested recently and are SORN'd, returning to the road without a thorough safety check first. Or the potential for an owner who can't quite remember when their cars was last looked over, find themselves out on a surprise sunny morning, and receiving a nastier surprise when something breaks.

I suppose, though, that most classic car owners are in some way mechanically minded. I suppose that, for the most part, seeing as it would be the classic car owner taking the risk - and who'd voluntarily want to? - that we'll still submit our cars for the kind of safety checks that the DfT envisages garages offering.

And I suppose, in an age where you're told what you cannot do rather often, it's quite refreshing for somebody to hand back trust over to us, because the risk is small, it sounds like common sense, and it'll be alright. But there's that nagging doubt about situations like these. We've all had one: ah, it'll be alright. Until it isn't.

[Faffmeister]

A retrograde step I feel. Maybe an MOT 'lite' should have been introduced. You can just see the tabloids and the t'interweb going ape when the first no MOT old car accident hits the press.......