safety testing - the "MoT test"

[fonzooorooo]

These comments are based purely on private motorists -

For a lot of "us" (enthusiasts with spanners and older cars), the MOT is the only time a professional sees the car. Given that it's a "modern" type car that the tester understands (requirements for vintage cars are different, as the owner often has more knowledge than the tester) they are likely to spot things that we can't. This is no reflection on us - we're limited by equipment... It's hard to inspect every inch of the underside of a car when lying outside in the street with the car up on a pair of ramps! A 12 month interval seems reasonable for these cars - I'm actually glad of it - it sets me a deadline to sort those things that I've seen, and know need doing, but can't quite be bothered to get round to!

Service intervals are getting longer. If we were driving pre-'50s cars, we (or, if we were less enthusiastic, and had fewer spanners to wield; our mechanic) would be under the car greasing axles, kingpins... stuff like that. This could make the difference between seeing a mechanic every couple of weeks with a "true" classic, to every couple of years with a modern car.

Modern cars (which our leaders would like us all to be driving) are trending toward a 7 year designed life. Presumably with 100K anticipated mileage. That's from manufacture to scrap. (cue environmental debate) But, in the interests of safety and emissions, this is deemed to be the way to go. ... IF the manufacturers do their job properly, there's ultimately no reason for a car with a 7 year life to need testing. Any safety issues would be manufacturer recalls. I was told a couple of days ago about Honda piloting a car with a lock on the bonnet - to which only dealers have a key. Oil and water have filler caps and are the only user-serviceable items. The next stage is to constantly monitor tyre and brake wear, so lights come on when a change is required. Idiot-proof motoring.

The fact that there's still a MOT at 3 (and indeed, at the proposed 4) years old shows a lack of faith from the authorities in the skills of the manufacturers. I have to wonder whether the yearly MOT test should begin after the vehicle has exceeded it's designed life. After all, I doubt anyone at VW seriously expected so many of us to be driving 20 or 30 year old examples of their (relatively) cheap cars... As an aside, it'd be interesting to know the design life of some of our cars...

[Ryan]

After all, I doubt anyone at VW seriously expected so many of us to be driving 20 or 30 year old examples of their (relatively) cheap cars... As an aside, it'd be interesting to know the design life of some of our cars...

That shouldn't come as much of a surprise to VW as there were still loads of older beetles chugging about when the mk2 came our way.

[Nate]

One garage in our area is offering a MoT for £9.99 ??????????

that's coz the entire motor trade is on it's knees, and independant repairers have had it extremely tough recently, with the effect of the recession and the scrappage scheme

We already run the gauntlet of uninsured drivers

apparently not! the new insurance rules apparently make it impossible to own a car that isn't insured. which is why i'm still picking them up for the police

And without being sexist how many lady drivers know about the mechanics of a car and only find out they have "a problem" when it gets it's MoT ??????? Sorry ladies.

interestingly, the stuff i go out to roadside, it's normally the female drivers who have all fluids topped up and 4 legal tyres, compared to blokes who "have been meaning to check under there...

As an example there was a Corsa in the car park last month with a front tyre worn down to canvas. Imagine that being driven on a dark wet motorway and trying to stop that from 70 to say nothing of the risk of a blowout as well!

we see it day in, day out. the number of vehicles that fail the mot on tyres is scarey - roughly 80% of failures include at least one defective tyre

Personally I think that a smaller yearly MOT as well as a mileage based test is needed.

same idea as the major and minor service? so you get a "bigger" test every 30k or something? actually i like that idea

I was told a couple of days ago about Honda piloting a car with a lock on the bonnet - to which only dealers have a key. Oil and water have filler caps and are the only user-serviceable items. The next stage is to constantly monitor tyre and brake wear, so lights come on when a change is required. Idiot-proof motoring.

bmw have already been experementing with engines that are "sealed for life" - i.e. all fluids never need checking or topping up. and if your engine breaks, you just fit a new one

The fact that there's still a MOT at 3 (and indeed, at the proposed 4) years old shows a lack of faith from the authorities in the skills of the manufacturers.

tbh, i don't think that's it at all. cars contain many parts which aren't intended to last as long as the car (brakes, tyres, bushes...) which will wear out fast.

i am gonna write to vosa and the transport minister about this, and thought it might be fun to include the poll in the letter. i will report back...

[Ryan]

I was told a couple of days ago about Honda piloting a car with a lock on the bonnet - to which only dealers have a key. Oil and water have filler caps and are the only user-serviceable items. The next stage is to constantly monitor tyre and brake wear, so lights come on when a change is required. Idiot-proof motoring.

bmw have already been experementing with engines that are "sealed for life" - i.e. all fluids never need checking or topping up. and if your engine breaks, you just fit a new one

Like VW gearboxes then

[steve]

I was told a couple of days ago about Honda piloting a car with a lock on the bonnet - to which only dealers have a key. Oil and water have filler caps and are the only user-serviceable items.

Audi A2's aren't a million miles away from that. If you open the bonnet there's a set of filler caps. Anything more serious than that, you're pretty much going to need a vehicle lift.

[lewp91]

one thing to consider how much an MOT costs a garage, apparently there isn't that much money in a test, hence why you'll only get one man on your car during the test and if you can help then great! (i may be a local mechanic but i still did half the checks on the ramp and did the emissions revving on my last car )

so with that in mind surely cutting it in half to every 2 years effectively halves their income of cars to get MOT'd, this is going to hit the industry in a bad way surely if it were ever to be implemented?

At the end of the day you should be paying £35 for an MOT, if you're paying £50 you haven't looked hard enough for a local small reputable garage
so really £35 isn't much to know your car isn't going to kill you or others..

MOT repairs on the other hand is a different thing all together, I'll agree when i say that MOT stations aren't the cheapest when it comes to service work to pass your car, its best to either do it your self if you can, (trade discount makes it so much more worth it ) or make friends with a quality garage with a high reputation.

i must say however; i hate the idea of the locked bonnet, its not really yours if you cant touch it or play with it is it????
land rover have also made prototype 40k engines entirely made of ceramic that's made out of one piece then cut with light and lasers, cant remember the actual terms of it.. but my partners dad (works in LR design) has seen it and couldnt belive it would run haha

Lew

[Old Mac Rocco]

At the end of the day you should be paying £35 for an MOT, if you're paying £50 you haven't looked hard enough for a local small reputable garage

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Ow ... DG_4022514


Cars up to eight passenger seats £54.85.

It's been a while since I paid £35.00, that's why I can't understand how garages can offer an MoT for £9.99 ???????????

Old Mac Rocco wrote:We already run the gauntlet of uninsured drivers

I know of two people hit by uninsured drivers in the last two - three months.

Old Mac Rocco wrote:And without being sexist how many lady drivers know about the mechanics of a car and only find out they have "a problem" when it gets it's MoT ??????? Sorry ladies.

Two daughters mechanical skill = ZERO (from experience)

Well done for raising this subject lots of views and opinions.

[Nate]

It's been a while since I paid £35.00, that's why I can't understand how garages can offer an MoT for £9.99 ???????????

i think the vosa contribution is still under a tenner, so they won't be loosing money on it, only time. and it gets people through the door. mot and service, they make their money back on the servicing (many, if not most, people get the 2 done together) and they'll be hoping to pick up any repairs needed to get the ticket. the motortrade is desparate, garages are going under daily and they need to get punters thru the door. there are a few in swindon charging £20, and i've seen one at £15 when booked with a service

one thing to consider how much an MOT costs a garage, apparently there isn't that much money in a test, hence why you'll only get one man on your car during the test and if you can help then great! (i may be a local mechanic but i still did half the checks on the ramp and did the emissions revving on my last car )

unless they've got an automated test lane, then you can't do a test with only 1 person. you probably get the same deal as me - expected to help with the tests (i always try to book 8am test as my tester is really bad at getting out of bed and i can get loads of it done before he gets there ) and favourable terms

[sander hoogendijk]

once a year we have to have our cars tested. it costs us around £50 (less if we know a "tame" garage) and while i'm sure many of us dread the "moment of truth", we can at least see the sense in it.

there are rumours flying around about the frequency of the safety testing for cars in the uk changing from the current format (first test at 3 years old, then every year after, also known as 3-1-1) to cars being tested for the first time at 4 years old and then every other year from then on (4-2-2)

so a transit being used by a courier driver could easily have 500k+ on the clock by the time it went in for it's first safety test. similarly, a typical family car could easily have done well in excess of 100k with no safety inspection.

surely this can't be a good idea? i'm curious what yous lot think

In the netherlands there are already rules that gives petrol driven cars 4-2-2-1 (MOT inspections)
and diesel and LPG driven cars 3-1-1.
normally petrol cars don't drive that much in 8 years but diesels and lpg's do.
and the quality for the cars are much better now.
most of the car manufactures already give 3 or more years garentee

and for cars older than 30years its also 2years for mot.(because they are driven as oldtimers less mileage)

[Mr Funk]

Think I heard on the radio yesterday that the idea had been shelved

[Nate]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16831793

good news indeed :)

[scirsteve]

another reason to have annual checks,

I saw a bit of one of those traffic cop type programs the other day,
featuring a corsa that had rolled and was sitting on its roof the front passenger was
quite worse for wear having had his cab headroom diminished significantly !

After inspection of the vehicle, which from a tyre point of view was quite easy as the owner had
parked it upside down, the tyres were worn right down to the cord !

It surprises me how many modern cars drive around with really bald tyres.
I often have look in the supermarket at these super safe, state of art new cars, surprising how frequently you see
bald tyres.

I have a friend who thinks that her newer car is superior to my old bangers, although
she lets her tyres get balder than I would and has a number of accidents in the past few years to obviously prove the opposite.

Even brand new cars should have an mot test even it is just for things like bald tyres.