New MOT rules in January 2012 – much more than I thought.

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Singvogel

Singvogel

Well-Known Member
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Aberdeenshire or Bosna i Hercegovina.
In the interests of ‘harmonisation’ we are apparently having to ‘fall into line’ with the rest of the EU as of the 1st of Jan 2012.

Re-maps, tuning boxes, cats, power increases, lights - the list goes on of what is to be checked and seemingly there must be no increase over the OEM output!

I cannot find a definitive Vehicle Inspectorate press release meant for us - the public – only notes for testers.

Taking bits off is not approved either – so they will be checking for EGRs and Cats too?

What nonsense is this?

We have a tradition in this country of after-market car accessories and improvements.

There is a whole car part industry that is going to be thrown into confusion here.

What is an OEM spec replacement, and what is an 'illegal' modification?

Even my wiper blades are an upgrade!!

My Synergy 2 has an off position - so are the testers going to crawl all over cars physically looking for extra equipment and then checking precisely what it does?

Lord help the off-roaders or rally enthusiasts who have changed / modified loads of things.

I am aware that in Germany for example, you may not fit alternative wheels or change tyre sizes without written approval for the parts, either from the manufacturer of the car or the TUV testing authority. Is this where we are headed eventually?

What are we coming to? Any test for all this stuff is going to take much longer than at present, and cost us much more too!

Comments, opinions and more info if you have it please.
 
as said its all **** and wind till it comes into efect do a search on here and you will see some links to the "proposed" new manual ..........and much of what you say isnt in there so where you getting this from ??........another forum where some one is scare mongering > >?
 
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I too hope it's all '**** and wind' as you say, and I too thought it was scaremongering until I spent an hour or so delving into it.

I've read the last 2 testers newsletters and read a lot of EC stuff too.

I personally hope that it's all crap - but until I see more I'm unsure.

We need a definite piece of information from the DVLA or VI or whatever they are called these days.

I really want to be able to say that it's not going to happen, and I hope someone who really knows one way or the other will say something soon.
 
MOT tests are too stringent as it is, especially on newer cars. The likes of the USA and Canada don't have such high standards, yet it works for them...

I used to be pro EU but now I'm starting to think that we'd be better off on the whole if we left the EU.

I was just scanning down through the list of MOT requirements and noticed this:

4.1.6 Headlamp cleaning device (where mandatory):
Device not operating.
Click to expand...

My disco had headlight washer jets but I removed them to fit a winch bumper. Will it fail because of this?
 
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Singvogel said:
I too hope it's all '**** and wind' as you say, and I too thought it was scaremongering until I spent an hour or so delving into it.

I've read the last 2 testers newsletters and read a lot of EC stuff too.

I personally hope that it's all crap - but until I see more I'm unsure.

We need a definite piece of information from the DVLA or VI or whatever they are called these days.

I really want to be able to say that it's not going to happen, and I hope someone who really knows one way or the other will say something soon.
Click to expand...

it is all crap here is the manual .....there loads a new things but not many of those you mention ......

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/MOT Inspection Manual.pdf
 
The stuff Sing is mentioning is the 'proposed' stuff and what they might bring in in the future.

At the minute the changes are mainly to do with road safety things. Like non-legal headlamps, towing electrics working properly and stuff like that.


I'm curious as to how people think MOT stations are going to test for all this stuff as well. I dont see MOT stations dynoing your car, removing exhausts to check you havent drilled the cat out, searching for concealed remap ecu's.

Its all meant to be safety related anyway. I cant fully understand them becoming more stringent on things that you cant currently fail cars for, but definately should be able to. I'm talking more about chav style modifications, as opposed to offroading orientated ones.
 
Watch to see the cost of MOTs go through the roof as it takes the guys longer to check all the extra stuff. Mines due in Feb but might get it done in December as the SRS bulbs disconnected as its staying on and I haven't had time to take the steering wheel off and clean the connection yet.
 
There was talk of changing the frequency of the MOT to every 2 years to fall in line with Europe - not heard if this is to be done or scrapped though
 
We, just being bloody continentals, have to pass the MOT yearly. Also all kinds of modifications are forbidden. For example, on the older (some models) BMW's there are still drumbrakes in the rear (as the FL has), well mounting disk breakes at the rear wheels, to improve safety....., is forbidden. Other modifications when done by official garages, with certificate of the constructor, are allowed but considered as tuning and has to pay extra. Putting in another engine (more HP) is forbidden and when seen the car doesn't pass the mot. Anyway, all the things we were jealous about considered to the UK, risk to become the same as for us, feel sorry for you all there if this is going to happen. All gimmicksn like synergy boxes etc.. "verboten", my EGR disconnected (have to put the big motorcover on so that controllers won't see, also have put a rollerbearing in the tube and I pushed it on the egr again, looks original), also a very strict control on the rims/tyres on the car, only those mentioned on the COC (Europen certificat of conformity) are allowed or again no mot passed. Anyway, start to enjoy the thought....:eek::eek::eek:
Oh, and before I forget, overhere the mot can't be passed at your local garage as you can overthere but has to be done at a specific mot station (where one sometimes can queue up for hours......:mad::mad:)
 
"My disco had headlight washer jets but I removed them to fit a winch bumper. Will it fail because of this?"

If you've got Xenon headlamps, washers are mandatory, and it will fail.
If you've got Halogen headlamps, washers are optional, and it will pass.
 
This is how it is in Spain, its easier to pass an mot than it is in the uk, as they check less things. when you go to the mot centre you sit in the car, first thing they do is emmisions, then the driver has to switch on lights, wipers, indicators etc, the inspector then puts his hand through the window and checks the front seat belts, then you move further along over the inspection pit, there is a loud speaker at the side and the inspector shouts instruction, press brake, turn steering wheel etc. The only problem is accesories, you have to have any "non factory" accesories stamped in to the log book, otherwise it will fail, most people remove accesories, bullbars lights etc the day before, then refit them later
 
I wish I could re-title this thread:

New MOT rules in January 2012 - nothing to worry about.

I suggest you read the official 2012 Testers' Inspection Manual.

Everything they can or can't, will or won't, test, is in there - all 206 pages of it.

It's indexed so you can find things quickly.

I looked through it, and realised all the horror stories were just scaremongering.

Check it yourself - here's the link:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repositor...n Manual.pdf
 
pharos said:
"My disco had headlight washer jets but I removed them to fit a winch bumper. Will it fail because of this?"

If you've got Xenon headlamps, washers are mandatory, and it will fail.
If you've got Halogen headlamps, washers are optional, and it will pass.
Click to expand...

My interpretation of the rules after reading them carefully is that you will not fail for having headlight washer jets removed - but you would fail if they were still fitted but not working. I would make sure you had fitted neat little rubber plugs in any holes where they were before.

My interpretation is that ALL h/light washers are optional as the exact wording in the manual says:

"Vehicles equipped with High Intensity Discharge (HID) or LED dipped beam headlamps may be fitted with headlamp washers and a suspension or headlamp self levelling system."

The colour highlighting is mine - the important legal point is they do not say 'must be fitted' - therefore not having any is OK. However as in the case above, if they are there then they must be working. Again exact wording in the reason for rejection section says:

"A headlamp levelling or cleaning device inoperative or otherwise obviously defective."

Again the legal point is that there is no mention of failing if the device is missing - only a fail if it is fitted and not working.

So the bottom line is 'If it doesn't work - take it off and plug any holes', as
in this section you cannot fail for something that is not there.

The 2012 Manual is very interesting for the things it does NOT say as much as what it does say.
 
Contrary to what ian11 says overhere you drive your car just in front of the station and from there the inspectors take over and do it all themselves, you can just walk along with your car through the "lane" while it passes all the different test locations.
 
Yup Willo - I can visualize that.

Same as in Luxembourg.

Country is so small that they only have one testing station I believe.

Half-way from Lux city to Remich - I passed a hour there watching the proceedings whilst on a tachograph break a year or so ago.

It was a much more military-type operation than here in Scotland UK.

They were going through the lanes like a factory production line.

A car drove out the end every 3 minutes - but unfortunately I didn't think to time the whole procedure from start to finish.
 
Here's a new link that works http://mottesters.co.uk/files/special notices/MOT Inspection Manual.pdf

Things I thought they might be anal about..................

2. Retractable step not operating correctly.
3.
a. A stair missing
b. a stair or its anti-slip provision:
 insecure
 damaged or deteriorated to the extent
that it is likely to be a trip hazard or
cause injury.

Got fatigue after 20 minutes. Can't find any nonsense about putting in different engines etc. Landrover would have to drastically reduce their calculations about vehicles still on the road if they enforced original specs on the engine. And i'd be screwed.
 
Working in the industry, I'm confident that we will not fall into the 'no mods allowed' camp when it comes to MOT tests etc. The after market scene is far too strong to allow it, there is already a MASSIVE online petition snowballing on the government site to get the 2 year mot proposal scrapped. It will put up the cost of MOT's and effect garage trade. Granted it isn't meant for vehicles of a certain age. These proposals to dis-allow any kind of modification to vehicles would cripple the aftermarket trade, causing more problems for the economy and effectively victimising a whole generation and way of life. I thinks that tightening up on certain rules is correct, how many cars have you seen 'done up' on the road that look like death traps??

There is one proposal to have MOT testers 'sign off' a cars modification (anything safety or performance related, or something that could injure or cause and accident) though, so if you fit a bull bar for instance, the mot tester would be responsible for checking it to make sure its mounted correctly. This might not be such a bad thing me thinks.

I have been promised a copy of the new reg's asap from my tame garage/mot tester asap.
 
I was in Italy not so long ago, I just happened to notice the appalling condition of quite a few older cars, to get your avarage plod over here rather worked up to say the least.

The answer when asked " how do you get that through the regular inspection revisione" (This is every two years) I don't bother to do it, the car can be confiscated or the fine varies from 170 to 500ish euros if the car has not been inspected, the windscreen stickers are easy to copy and nobody really gives a ****.
Greece is even worse.

We in the UK on the other hand, are all over new regulations like a rashand clamp down on motorists as soon as the Germans or French come up with a new rule to impose like only selling straight bannanas, or you can only use road wheels and other parts made in our factories on your british cars, we impose it at the earlies opportunity. For God's sake let the UK decide whats best for our cars, it has worked very well for the most part in it's pre Jan 2012 form, for cars older than 3 years since 1967. There are quite a number of members on here with modified, enhanced and vastly improved over original specced and designed vehicles. Do we have a collective voice that can lobby the minister for transport regarding any further changes proposed???
 
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