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MOTs every two years?


lumuah
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50% of MOT testing stations will be done for - or the price will double. Also when it fails there will be twice the work to be done and not many will budget for it.

 

They'll bottle it and leave the status quo.

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Just buy a brand new car every three years. Sorted.

 

Or effectively 'lease/rent' one as most do.

 

Two years makes sense from a safety point of view, but what about cars over ten years old, technological advances or not there will be some real wrecks surviving and soldiering on under these new measures.

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The vast majority of drivers don't look after their cars as it is, how many even know where to check the oil or screenwash, brake fluid etc on their current car? The mentality is to put fuel in it until it breaks, or only take it to the garage at MOT time. Make that every 2 years and the number of unroadworthy cars driving around will shoot up. Even the article says;

''The MoT test costs just over £50 but it can easily increase to £200 or more with tyre replacement and repairs for wear and tear, such as brake discs.

 

The proliferation of potholes caused by the recent cold winters can also sharply raise the cost of MoTs though the damage they cause to suspension systems. ''

 

Imagine all that damage done in a year, but you only find out about it twice as bad at MOT time. Your wife or children going round in cars that could potentially be deemed unsafe because they didn't think they needed to do any maintenance for 2 years instead of one. Scary thought.

Edited by gaz
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There are enough crap cars on the road without this clearly mad idea. You only have to drive in places without an annual test (eg South Africa) to appreciate why we need it.

 

I wonder if Saint David (MOT Expert) will raise his head on this one?

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Or effectively 'lease/rent' one as most do.

 

Two years makes sense from a safety point of view, but what about cars over ten years old, technological advances or not there will be some real wrecks surviving and soldiering on under these new measures.

 

The article does say there are a number of proposals, all of which after the 6-8 year point would be back on annual inspection. I think it is reasonable that newer cars don't need quite as much in the way of MoTs as they need to be maintained at the correct intervals to maintain the warranty. This maintainance would be more thorough than the MoT anyway, and if a fault is found it is fixed. Only an idiot would buy a car and not want to keep the warranty valid.

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Stupid idea, most cars fail on one thing after 12 months so are we going to let them get into a worse state by only testing every two years?

 

My car is now 11 years old. It has failed once, and I did actually spot it the day before the test, as there was a small oil leak.

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When you see some of the states out on the road I'm glad they order an MOT every year. What some people try to get away with is unbelievable.

 

Some people do not have the common sense to be able to keep their vehicle in a road worthy condition for 2 years.

 

Think this is a bad idea.

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But the law still states that if your car is unroadworthy, then you are breaking the law regardless of whether you have a current MOT. As we seem to be taking more traffic police off the roads, then I guess that in hindsight it might be a bad thing in practice, although good in theory. The other thing to take into account is that modern cars are designed so much better than old ones.

 

Another thing...as more manufacturers are offering 5 year warranties (and some 7 or 10 year ones), then in order to keep your warranty (which I imagine nearly 100% of people do) you have to have it serviced properly/regularly. While there is no compunction to get any repair done, I imagine most people would. Whatever happens, I still think that cars 10+ years old should be MOT'd annually.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Stupid idea, most cars fail on one thing after 12 months so are we going to let them get into a worse state by only testing every two years?

 

Four years ago the M O T examiner told me that our Corsa needed a new clutch,(he was unaware that I had been a motor mechanic longer than he had been alive) Four years later that clutch is still going strong. Don't believe everything that you are told, they may be fishing for unnecessary work!

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Although not a trained mechanic, i know my way around a car, my mechanic is 100% honest (he doesn't know the extent of my knowledge). I do agree that some may try it on but that's only a small percentage; let's not get all Daily Mail paranoid about it!!

Its hard for garages to get it right 100% of the time, there is currently an argument raging on a forum i'm a member of between a highly recommended specialist and an enthusiast. The specialist is used to dealing with people who look after their cars and want things replaced that show wear rather than waiting until the part fails, whilst the enthusiast is complaining that he advised the replacement of a 'weeping' shock absorber stating it had loads of life left in it; who's in the wrong? A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing!

As for the 2 year MOT i honestly fail to see how it can improve things, i see plenty of cars drive around for months with broken bulbs simply because the owner never checks, at least with the current 1 year system it's caught occasionally.

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Although not a trained mechanic, i know my way around a car, my mechanic is 100% honest (he doesn't know the extent of my knowledge). I do agree that some may try it on but that's only a small percentage; let's not get all Daily Mail paranoid about it!!

Its hard for garages to get it right 100% of the time, there is currently an argument raging on a forum i'm a member of between a highly recommended specialist and an enthusiast. The specialist is used to dealing with people who look after their cars and want things replaced that show wear rather than waiting until the part fails, whilst the enthusiast is complaining that he advised the replacement of a 'weeping' shock absorber stating it had loads of life left in it; who's in the wrong? A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing!

As for the 2 year MOT i honestly fail to see how it can improve things, i see plenty of cars drive around for months with broken bulbs simply because the owner never checks, at least with the current 1 year system it's caught occasionally.

 

A weeping shock absorber is an M O T failure.

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A weeping shock absorber is an M O T failure.

 

That's what i thought, the 'enthusiast' is arguing the toss between weeping and misting!! Apparently he is under the impression that if it's not big enough to cause a drip it will pass an MOT???

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Here in NZ even a brand new car must be tested before it is allowed on the road. Cars etc have to be tested every year until they get to seven

and then they have to be tested every six months. Even stranger is the fact that you do not need to insure your vehicle for 3rd party damage.

 

.

 

Bizzare. You don't exactly see cars with wheels flying off or anything like that over here!

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That's what i thought, the 'enthusiast' is arguing the toss between weeping and misting!! Apparently he is under the impression that if it's not big enough to cause a drip it will pass an MOT???

 

As far as I'm aware, any leak at all is a failure. the extent of a leak doesn't come into it.

If it leaks at all, then the seals are going or gone and/or there is wear in the shaft (plunger). The shock absorber is scrap.

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