21 replies to this topic

[dklawson]

Tiger, I certainly cannot speak for anything that transpires in the U.K. However, I will comment on the rolling age cutoff for safety inspections where I live.

It is very, very uncommon for a person here to own a car that is more than 10 years old. I have always been the exception. It appears that the presumption by our DOT/DMV is that anyone owning a car 35 years or more in age is doing so to have a collector car. Legally, our cars (35+ years in age) are considered "antiques" by the DMV. The extension from that appears to be that we (the antique owners) maintain our cars well enough and use them seldom enough that they do not justify the annual inspection.

Is that right or wrong? I cannot say. I maintain my collector cars as well (if not better) than my daily drivers. I can definitely say that is also true for my friends and acquaintances who own cars of similar vintage. That is not to say that applies to everyone. I certainly did not mind the annual inspections when they were required of my cars. However, we did not have rules as extensive as those Donn mentioned earlier where his car was close to failing because of surface rust on a brake pipe.

May those of you who qualify for your new MOT laws benefit from them and continue to maintain your cars well and operate them safely.

[minidaves]

believe me the mot in the uk is now just a test, one day for a laugh i am going to take a car in that will just pass an mot.

[tiger99]

Doug, yes I agree that those who value classic cars will tend to maintain them to the very highest standards, and for those people, who are the vast majority of classic car owners, the MOT is almost an irrelevance, as their cars will be some of the best maintained on the road. And, it is quite easy to keep a Mini in good order, compared to many modern vehicles. But, at least in the UK, there are a fair number of mindless morons who regard the MOT as nothing but a complete nuisance. They have no concept of how dangerous a car can become, and will avoid the MOT if possible, They now have a legal way of doing that, by acquiring some old piece of junk that is only fit for the crusher. There are also still some, fortunately not as many as previously, used car dealers who will take advantage of gullible buyers by persuading them of the advantage of not needing an MOT. We already see adverts on Ebay and elsewhere proclaiming boldly that no MOT is required, which attracts the wrong type of people.

I do have to wonder whether the abolition of the MOT for classics is a devious plot by the government to get rid of classic cars altogether, by banning them when the accident rate rises, as it surely will. Classics are already severely restricted in large parts of the EU, apparently due to pressure from BMW and Mercedes, amongst others.

Up till now, classic cars, and for that matter, kit cars and various modified vehicles, have tended to have a low accident rate, because almost all owners were genuine car enthusiasts, and even though some, doubtless including many Mini owners, may well drive them hard, because they invite you to drive them hard, the safety record is still good, which is why in most cases classic car insurance is cheap compared to modern cars. I fear that all that is about to change.

[samsfern]

You can get away glueing them or puncture repairing them, as long as it prevents the ingress of dirt itll pass the mot.

[tiger99]

Yes, if they are rubber (possibly not nowadays, unfortunately) and are cleaned properly, a standard bicycle repair kit will be able to fix a small hole effectively. A small split, again if scrupulously cleaned, will respond to superglue, which bonds rubber rather well. It also bonds skin extremely well, so try not to end up in casualty dept to have a drive shaft seperated from your fingers! Disposable gloves are very necessary.

[dklawson]

For some reason I am picturing a rubber glove flopping around, stuck to a CV joint as one drives down the road.

[xrocketengineer]

For some reason I am picturing a rubber glove flopping around, stuck to a CV joint as one drives down the road.