The changes are not just going to affect owners of classic/old cars over 40 years old - i.e.1978 on a rolling basis. I've done a 'cut n' paste 'from a variety of sources to get the info on what is expected but not 100% confirmed at the present moment. Advisories are to be replaced with minor fails. These are all pre-written & approved by DVSA. You will still get a pass but they will be noted on your test certificate. Manual advisories are still being worked out but may disappear completely. Those of you who have changed your standard headlight bulbs for HID's will now get a major fail even if the aim is correct. It has always been an offence to fit HID bulbs to halogen headlamps so the MOT is now in line with that. Reverse lights are now part of the MOT for any car registered from 1st September 2009 (59 plate onwards). Daytime running lamps (DRL's) & front fog lamps must work on vehicles registered from March 2018 (18 plate onwards). Engine Management Light is now a major fail. It must come on with the ignition and then turn off when the engine is started. Brake pad warning lights are a major fail Handbrake with excessive travel is now a major fail. Before it would only a fail if there was no reserve travel. Contaminated (dirty) brake fluid is a major fail. Not sure how that will work as the MOT tester isn't allowed to remove the fluid cap. Oil leaks (engine, gearbox etc.) can be a major failure if they are deemed large enough. It seems they have removed the failure for tyres not being fitted according to sidewall instructions. Inner/outer or rotation incorrect. Any modifications/removal to emissions related devices, this includes DPF'S and EGR's is now a major fail. Where a DPF canister has clearly been cut open and re-welded, it will now fail. A vehicle fitted with a DPF that emits any kind of visible smoke during the metered test will now fail Emissions limits for diesels registered on or after 1st of January 2014 have been reduced. All diesels will now need to pass the limit that was set by the manufacturer when the car was new. This can be found on the VIN plate. So lots of fun and games to come later this year. ;) I personally have no worries - especially as I have the BMW MOT Protect in place. which covers the car's 2nd and 3rd MOT
Do you believe this is a good thing, that is a move in the right direction, or a bad thing? Myself, I like it. It is so frustrating to purchase a vehicle and find the MOT certificate isn't worth the paper it's written on. You may be interested to know, before blaming the good old UK government, that it's the EU that's responsible for tightening up the MOT procedure,. The full text, and I'll warn you it's a lengthy one, can be found at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014L0045 The site is in French, but there's a link to a PDF file in English (EN). Something that does need changing in the UK is who should be allowed to conduct MOTs. In other countries, those that conduct the MOT aren't allowed to carry out the rectification work, so have no axe to grind.
It’s about time the headlight HID was addressed, albeit very easy to work around and present Mot bulbs for 1 day, Christ I wouldn’t be surprised if they went as far as group buying Whilst I use to favour fitment in projector lights, there’s now nothing worse or more frustrating than coming head on with a charging bull with scattered beams
Fun and games is right - that will really put the cat amongst the pigeons. Especially as many vehicles post 2014 do NOT meet manufacturers specified data. I also doubt that many MOT centres will have any sophisticated monitoring equipment, other than a CO2 probe. I'm pleased to hear that DIY HID headlights will be a fail. So many cars at night will dazzle oncoming drivers even on dipped lights. They are a PITA.
I disagree. I have a couple of good reliable repair garages that are also MOT centres. In the past they have found the odd component resulting in a fail which they have changed at the time and then issued the MOT pass certificate, thus saving the inconvenience of an extra trip.
My concern after a quick read is the matter of TPMS says they are included on cars first used after 1 Jan 2012 , my wife's QQ is registered Sept 2012 and has never had any. Regs do not say if fitted originally .
I wouldn't be overly concerned. If tpms were fitted it would obvious by the longer airvalve , and also display within the car would read in bar/psi. Glad the MOT is getting stricter by the year. Too many folks run cars on a false budget with substandard parts (inc headlight bulbs). I keep all of our cars to approved spec,so about time others did so
... Which is a fair point, but i would contend you are in a lucky minority. IMO the real problem is that most of the national chains of tyre and service centres' primary motivation is to make money and therefore they have a vested interest in finding reasons to fail your pride and joy. That was certainly my experience in the past. That said, there's always the potential scope for backhanders however the industry is structured.
For the same reason that I wouldn't trust those places to service my car, I wouldn't go any where near them to get an MOT. But that's no reason to penalise the hundreds of Garage / MOT centres that do a good job. Maybe instead, the authorities should be more selective in which companies are allowed to carry out MOT tests. An example when I had my Golf in for MOT. The tester noticed that one of my rear wheels had some resistance to rotation. Off came the wheel to reveal that the friction material on one of the brake pads had come away. So I was issued a FAIL. Twenty minutes later, his parts supplier arrived with two sets of rear brake pads, and less than an hour later he issued the PASS certificate. You wouldn't find better service than that. It was also noticeable that my fuel consumption improved afterwards.
I will be presenting my car for its first MOT in march I will have to look at dates and get it booked in I am not expecting any bills other than the cost of MOT as i also have the MOT protect and it will be presented with its winter wheels on so all rubber is good
This is what the testers themselves are being told by DVSA in their 1st message of 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...nspection-manual-and-in-service-emission-data
It strikes me reading this that classifying something as "minor" is potentially a marvellous way of a BMW dealer not having to rectify it under the "BMW Protect" scheme...
Why would any dealer not want to repair them though? It's a ticket to print money essentially, I'd say a car is more likely to fail if it has MOT protect for exactly that reason especially if the parts are in stock or available to be ordered that day. From a customers point of view they're getting new parts so no loss and the dealer gets a parts sale and the labour.
