[Colonel Panic]

Looks like as of 2018 there will be a rolling 40 year exemption from requiring an MOT test, bringing two more of my classic heaps in to the world of no longer needing one. Great news.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... c-interest

FWIW, I also have a 1956 jalopy which hasn't required an MOT for a few years now, but for reassurance I normally put this through an MOT every other year just so that someone who is more aware of safety defects than me passes an eye over it.

[romille]

That is really good news, utterly sensible.

[Flyingfemme]

Woohoo!

[Chris Martyr]

I totally agree that it's not just great news , but also some good common sense on behalf of those at the sharp end.
Apart from my everyday Honda CRV , I have two other classics which are well over 40 years old and both of these are probably as good as when they rolled out of their respective production plants . I see to that !
I'm sure that there'll be the argument about "death traps on our roads" but that doesn't quite stack up these days as a lot of older vehicles from that period are steadily increasing in value and are maintenance-wise not really practical for the average oik to thrash around as everyday transport.
GOOD news [for a change]..

[Irv Lee]

Calm down, calm down, it is the car that needs to be over forty years old...

[Flying_john]

40 quid saved - thats good news. My MGC is far better than it ever was when BMC (British Leyland) made it.

[Chris Martyr]

Calm down, calm down, it is the car that needs to be over forty years old...

Irv,,,the cars will have no problems with their respective safety checks , I'm sure.
No-one said that it included the bloody drivers though !..

[Bill Haddow]

Why is it still called MOT when the Ministry of Transport was scrubbed nearly 50 years ago? (I recall Kuwait introducing an MOT which they said stood for Motor Over-all Test, but provided the jalopy produced marginally less smoke than a Burmese fishing village and had a good loud horn it passed)

Bill H

[Rob P]

My MGC is far better than it ever was when BMC (British Leyland) made it.

That's setting the bar low.

Rob P

[stickandrudderman]

As someone who restores old cars for a living, I am not a fan of this change. Not a month goes by without me being asked to do a "post purchase inspection" and finding that some unscrupulous turd polisher has found yet another victim. Not having to provide an MOT will certainly make their job a lot easier and a lot more profitable.

[PaulB]

Are there so many potential victims that pre-purchase inspections would mean losing the purchase to another buyer?

[Colonel Panic]

As someone who restores old cars for a living, I am not a fan of this change. Not a month goes by without me being asked to do a "post purchase inspection" and finding that some unscrupulous turd polisher has found yet another victim. Not having to provide an MOT will certainly make their job a lot easier and a lot more profitable.

Interesting; but even under the new regs I'd not buy a 40+ yo car without an MOT.

I recently bought a 1999 Defender and pretty much the first thing I did was to take it to my local friendly MOT station and asked him to do a quick safety check. The fact that it came with a valid MOT made no difference to me - whether or not a car comes with an MOT means very little. (The absence of one more so).

[Cessna57]

My 50 year old car failed it's last MOT as the rear brakes weren't effective enough, and I had a worn trunnion.

Very bad idea to drop MOT's, are you chaps telling me yours have never failed one ?

I'm going to have to find an MOT man that will do one without having to do the paperwork.

Time to buy a classic mini though if you no longer have to worry about rotten subframes!

[AerBabe]

That's great if you're someone who really knows their cars and does the work to keep them safe. Personally I'll keep taking dear Morley along for his regular check ups.

Speaking of which... does anyone know a good mechanic in/around Winchester?

[Colonel Panic]

My 50 year old car failed it's last MOT as the rear brakes weren't effective enough, and I had a worn trunnion.

I'm going to have to find an MOT man that will do one without having to do the paperwork.

Were you unaware of the poor braking performance? If not, then agree that you should continue to get an annual check up.

Whilst an MOT will become not required, you are still at liberty to have it put through the test, and any MOT station will continue to do it; no need to find one that will "do it without the paperwork".