Major changes to the MOT test on 20th of May 2018
 

Read this today on another forum...


Some of you may have already heard that there are big changes coming to the MOT test this May. Here are just a few of the biggest changes that are most likely to affect you. Please take these with a pinch of salt as nothing will be finalised until the end of April and will probably still be subject to change after that date. Remember it will take your MOT tester time to get up to speed with these too!

So...

Advisories are being 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. For example the current limit for your diesel car may be 1.50. That could change to as low as 0.30 with the new rules.

These are just some of the bigger changes to the MOT test the average motorist is likely to be affected by. There are dozens, perhaps even over 100 changes to the actual MOT test and to the way testers record tests on the MOT computer. Please remember these are all subject to change in the coming months and remember spare a thought for your MOT tester before you say...

"Well it passed like that last year!"

Source - https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-emission-data

Any vehicle that is well maintained should walk through that list without any major issues. If the fitting of HID's and the removal of emissions devices is going to be subject to inspection: that can only be a good thing.

The other big change, not on the list is the exemption of MOT requirements for cars over 40 years old. Whilst most classic owners maintain their cars well, I'm not so sure it is a good idea to remove the need for an annual independent inspection.

Sounds like another attempt to legislate older cars off the road. In the name of safety and the environment, we must all place our perfectly good cars in the bin and immediately lease a disposable Dacia.

How do you manage to get to this statement from the update on MOT regulations - which I may add are very sensible, especially if they force the people who are removing DPFs or fitting HID in place of halogen lights off the road - not before time.

A little alarmed - must meet manufacturers spec for soots smoke etc. Good idea, but havent the manufacturers just been caught out fibbing ? Is this going to scrap a lot of fairly new and expensive cars ?

Age of the car has nothing to do with it. A well maintained car will have no issues. Failing cars whose moron owners have fitted stupid lights lights is only a good thing.

People are always trying to beat the system, it’s about time it caught up.

Any changes to MOT rules should apply to cars registered after the rule change, except for obvious safety related ones.

So diesel cars already on the road now, will suddenly have to perform like brand new, even if they are 4 years old and might have done 100k by now. Is it a coincidence that they are going back to 2014 on this point, and many leases are 4 years?

The MOT test us already pretty comprehensive. It is just not enacted properly in many cases. Perhaps any legal changes should be aimed at clamping down on places that pass cars without properly doing the current test. Perhaps that way we might see less great clouds of smoke coming from diesel exhausts every time they change gear or accelerate hard, and perhaps we'd all be able to see better at night with fewer misaligned headlights shining right in our faces.

You still have the better of me, I can't see how this affects older cars any more than new cars, and certainly nothing that suggests or implies 4 years. There are no requirements that mean older cars have to have anything extra fitted, there are no retrospective requirements - all that will be required is that what is there functions correctly, as designed and installed when the car was manufactured.

Emmissions limits on diesels registered after 1st Jan 2014 have been reduced.

Pardon me for interrupting..
but having a 2003 V70 myself, I`m not that keen on calling a 2014 model "old"..

Then again.. this article gives me a hell lotta more homework to do before i change wheels..
gonna have to choose something that will pass no matter what.