MOT date changed to 1977

[andrewh]

Apologies if this is posted elsewhere, just falling asleep to NewsNight last night and I a sure I heard Kirsty finish with the news the MOTs have been brought into line with tax free status. I am pleased from a pocket point of view, definitely as I have a few cars that will now no longer need MOTs, but to be honest. a 60s or 70s car can be a very rapid piece of kit and should be MOT'd for safe use in my view. Not everyone has a ramp to look for brake fluid leaks etc underneath and a glance from an MOT examiner is a very worthwhile safety check. I wonder, and it has been said before, if this is a creeping compliance issue. That is that Classics don't comply so perhaps one day they cannot be used on the road at all?

[MarkE]

I think that this is still in the consultation phase Andrew. The EU are driving for a 30 year cut-off for MOTs, and the UK have countered with a 40 year proposal, hence the 1976 date.

I would certainly carry on getting an MOT-type safety check on my cars for peace of mind, and I really do think that a second, more critical, pair of eyes looking over a 50 year old car has to be a good idea.

I believe that the government thinking for older cars not needing an MOT is more around cost vs risk, as the vast majority of classics are owned (and cosseted) by older drivers, and many cars get driven only a couple of hundred miles a year, in good weather! It should open up an opportunity for garages to offer 'classic car service and safety checks', if they can find anybody who understands points and condensers, dynamos and carburetors !

There are undoubtedly going to be issues taking classics into cities in the near future, but that's based on the pollution output of the cars. When the ultra-low emissions zone is introduced in London soon, any car entering the area bounded by the North and South Circular roads will be subject to a hefty charge if they are not electric or hybrid, and that will be on top of the congestion charge. Many cities in Europe are introducing similar schemes, and as electric cars become more popular, so the pressure to price polluting cars off the road will continue to rise.

I can see a time when classics will have to be transported to and from events, and allowed to potter around a circuit for a prescribed number of miles. Hopefully this will be after my time, but I do believe that the writing is on the wall.

Mark

[cactusman]

Mark is right...this is just a proposal at present and given the change of pm and brexit I can't see it happening any time soon. For the time being all cars manufactured on or after Jan 1 st 1960 need a current mot to be road legal. I would certainly continue to have a yearly independent inspection even if they do bring the date forward to the same as the tax exempt status.....Although you do still need to "tax" your car annually. It is just that the cost is zero. There is supposed to be a consultation at some point....we shall see what happens.

As to classics being driven off the road....I doubt it will happen . The classic car business generates huge amounts of tax revenue so no government will ban them. Once everyone has every day electric cars the amount of pollution caused by classics will be vanishingly small. Remember many MPs have classics! I am sure exemptions will be granted to allow for cars shows for example.

[Herzeg]

Mark

You got me seriously worried when I saw your mention of the North Circular as I live a stones throw inside it, but here's an extract from the TFL website

"Historic vehicles

All vehicles that have a 'historic' vehicle tax class will be exempt from the ULEZ. This tax class excludes any vehicle used commercially. Read the eligibility criteria for the historic vehicle exemption on Gov.uk.

Vehicles built before 1 January 1973 will also be exempt from ULEZ. These vehicles were built
before emissions standards came into force and are exempted because of their unsuitability for
engine conversion or replacement.

John

[MarkE]

Sorry John, I didn't realize that historics were exempt! I play with Renault Clio V6 cars as well, the mid engined daft machines, and the forum for those was lit up a few months ago by folks who live inside the ULEZ. I seem to remember them taking about having to pay a £10 to pop to the shops to get some milk!
Mark

[Simon P]

I live just inside as well - and like you it will affect my integrale even if not my E-type. That said, my understanding is that it would be a tenner for someone coming in from outside, but only £1 or £2 if you're resident. Of more concern, given that neither car gets driven that often is that is would seem to affect the family car (due to be over 10 years old by the time the new rules come in). I don't know where the Mayor's coming from with this one: why should I need to consider chucking in a perfectly good car, which passes all its MOT emissions tests requirements, just because it's reached some arbitrary age?

[Herzeg]

Simon

The TFL website says there will be a three year grace period for non-compliant vehicles to allow you to alter or replace them with newer vehicles. After that it's full fare even for residents.

I guess owners of newer classics will have to fit the james bond style revolving number plates, have one exempt set and a real one - check that on anpr

[mgcjag]

That may sound rediculous revolving number plates.... but my mum still lives in central London...its getting very common for people to park up and then remove their number plate.....so they dont pay for parking..( no free road parking in Central London) .and no tax disc means unidentifiabe car......for some reason they dont get towed.....they park all night and off they go in tbe morning

[neil4444]

Here's an alternative for Central London parking...

[Herzeg]

Steve

Before tax discs were dispensed with, a friend of mine used to work a lot in Kensington. He would reverse the tax disk, cover his front number plate with tape and leave the tailgate open so the number plate was not visible. The wardens are not allowed to touch your vehicle and unbelievably he got away with this. He only did it whilst loading or unloading but what a game.

John

[Simon P]

The TFL website says there will be a three year grace period for non-compliant vehicles to allow you to alter or replace them with newer vehicles. After that it's full fare even for residents.

Hmmm.... that seems at odds with the current position on the existing Congestion Charge, which is:

Residents living within the congestion charging zone are eligible to register one private vehicle each for a 90% discount. An annual payment of £10 is required to register for this discount

This raises two possibilities:

(i) TFL is mid-consultation and as yet doesn't know its ar*e from its elbow
(ii) The whole thing has little to do with 'air quality' and is in fact simply a giant revenue-generating exercise and an excuse to photograph and record the movement of every vehicle entering London...

[Herzeg]

Hi

Not defending it, but you need to separate the ulez and congestion zones. The latter is the centre of London that only an idiot would drive into without good reason. Parking per hour is more than the cost of a tube ticket, transport links are good and I never drive there. The ULEZ zone covers a huge swathe of London and effectively closes an area of maybe substanitally more than 100 square miles.

Still will hurt but I never paid the congestion charge and I only live three miles away from it.

John