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

[canis]

Originally Posted by christheancient

Back when I was a 'yoof', I had a part-time job in a garage and I remember quite vividly two 'milestones'. One was the Mini being launched and the other was the introduction of the first vehicle testing (vehicles over 10 years old).

I 'sort of helped' on some of those '10 o'clock tests' and was sometimes completely amazed at some of the 'problems' we found - particularly in braking systems many of which relied on a plethora of frayed cables and badly worn clevis pins. I was particularly glad when I got to the point where I could afford to buy a car of my own in that it gave me some skills in knowing what to look for.

So; the 'new' test is going to be tougher? Good! I'm not scared of it (well, not too much) and am pleased that it is being introduced as it means most cars out there are going to be even safer. Perhaps my wallet might have second thoughts if something were to found wrong (mine's due early May - before the 15th - so I had better make sure I'm booked in in good time as I have a feeling some places might get busy with people trying to beat the deadline?); but I don't anticipate any problems?

Anyway, I'd be happy to know that my car is even safer under the new regime. And, re-assuringly, so a lot of other cars should be as well.

Likewise, I remember some right old wrecks going around. Drivers using their handbrakes to slow down because the hydraulics had gone, Collapsed suspensions, Bald tyres.

All these changes seem fairly sensible on the whole.

[4x4]

Just need to look at the number of 3 year old cars which are in for their first MOT and fail to see the reason why they need to tighten thing up

[Simon Jones]

Some folk incorrectly work on the basis that if car passes MOT it means its roadworthy for the next 12 months & therefore needs no further checks or maintenance. Those are probably the same people who think its ok to drive round for weeks on end with front foglights on because a dipped beam bulb has failed. If the result of the tightened test is that there are a few less dangerous, or inappropriately modified cars on the road, then that's a good thing for the rest of us who make the effort to do things properly.

[60041]

Any attempt to make cars safer is ok by me and I can’t see anything in the new proposals to worry about.
The only problem will be the owners who don’t care about whether their cars are legal or not, who will remove their eBay special headlight bulbs the night before the test, at the same time as they are changing their illegal number plates, and put them back in once they get home.
When I first started to drive, defective or badly set lights were an excuse for the police to stop you and they would then check over the rest of the vehicle; whether they found a problem or not depended as much on your attitude as on the condition of the vehicle.
Now, with the near total lack of traffic police, people will happily run around with their illegal lights blinding everybody else without any worries.

[green van man]

This thing about misaligned lights.
I had the dip beam lamp fail on my xc70, nothing serious just old age. Went to change lamp in a lay-by, I carry spares, and thought what an easy job, pull the pins, remove headlight unit and change lamp, refit and replace pins. Easy least, EXCEPT, that night I found the beam way off. The lamp is held in a spring clip, 3 goes at refitting the lamp and while better not as it should be. Booked car into dealers for headlight alignment cheak, beam was way off spec and all I had done was pull a lamp out of a spring clip and fit the new one in the same clip, the only thing that could vary was the position of the lamp in the clip and getting the new lamp into the same position as the old is near impossible.

My old v70 had positive location of the headlight lamps and each and every one went back in the same position as the old came out of, not so the P3, I now carry the necessary tools to adjust the headlights if I need to change a lamp at the roadside but if I do it requires an alignment cheak ASAP to ensure the beam is correct.

How many go to halfords, have a lamp changed and all working, then do not even think the alignment will need checking as all they've done is change a lamp.

Paul.

[MikeS100]

Glad to see hid's are still ok if fitted correctly.

'Some vehicles may be fitted with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps. It is not permitted to
convert existing halogen headlamp units for use with HID bulbs. If it is clear that such a conversion has
been carried out, rather than replacing the entire unit with one designed and approved for use with HID
bulbs, the headlamp should be rejected.'

I went to a lot of time, effort and expense to fit the proper projection headlights when fitting my hid's and as soon as I had finished I went straight to the local garage and paid them to align them properly. I completely agree that hid's in standard halogen headlights are a menace but properly installed hid's are so much safer, the difference between the hid's in my C70 and the standard headlights in my V70 is practically night and day! I could probably improve my V70 by getting the headlight reflectors rechromed but I still feel the hid's are better and safer.

[rippedoffagain]

Originally Posted by MikeS100

but properly installed hid's are so much safer

Are they? With respect, can you point to any statistics or evidence to support that?

I genuinely don't mean that in an argumentative way. It's just a claim that I've seen/heard a few times, but if asked to back it up, the answer is invariably that it's obvious, because if it's brighter you can see better. Nobody ever considers that brighter lights will degrade the night vision of other drivers. Or that brighter lights can psychologically lead to a false confidence, or even this scenario, you are behind somebody with normal headlights. Visibility is a bit poor, and your super bright headlights causing some really confusing shadow profiles for the driver in front.

I have no stats or evidence to prove that super bright headlights are not safer than regular ones. I just wonder if any evidence has emerged in recent years one way or the other or if it's still just opinion.

[MikeS100]

No evidence, just my opinion based on experience driving my C70 both with and without and an ongoing comparison with the V70. I don't believe my hid's impact other drivers as they are aligned correctly and I have never been flashed by a driver coming the other way, however I must admit I've never thought about the driver in front of me. Again correctly aligned lights should not interfere with mirrors but I cannot comment on confusing shadows etc. I have been the driver in front on many occasions and I have never been bothered by bright headlights behind me, even the ones that are not aligned properly and probably hid bulbs in a halogen headlight, I just dip the rear view mirror and it's not a problem.

It's all opinion and everyone is entitled to their own, but I do not believe correctly fitted hid's cause an issue to other drivers and they are certainly much safer for me when I am driving through unlit country lanes in the dark on my way home from work. I support the tougher stance if it means we get some of the illegal hid's off the road as they are dangerous when dazzling other drivers, I'm just glad they are being sensible and it's not a blanket ban on retro fitted hid's. I do sympathise with those that are bothered by all hid's whether fitted correctly or not, my father complains about modern lights now he is getting older, but for me I see hid's as a welcome improvement to make my journey safer.

I'm interested to see the new technology coming through now where it blanks off part of the output when it detects another car, if that works properly that could be the answer to all the issues of dazzling other drivers. Eventually we might all have built in night vision, that would be the end of conversations like this!

[rippedoffagain]

Other drivers won't always give a clear signal that they're dazzled. They could be far too busy not crashing.

I'm not suggesting this is a HID issue, but one evening when I was driving home from work, on a narrow bit of country road, and oncoming vehicle had insanely bright lights. It may have just been his main beam. I didn't have time to think about that. I was far more concerned with the fact that I could not longer see the edges of the road. I was too busy thinking my only option is to brake hard and hope I stopped or regained my vision before going into the ditch on either side because I literally had no idea how I was positioned in the road at this point. At no point did I flash the other driver. No point. I assumed he could see me. My sole focus was on not crashing.

I think 'correctly aligned' is an interesting point when considering other drivers too. It surely assumes that you only ever drive on perfectly level roads.

Edit: lack of flashing doesn't necessarily mean all is well. I very rarely flash other drivers for dazzling me. My logic is this. If I can't see, I'm absolutely reliant on the other driver being able to see. It's no good having two cars heading towards each other, both drivers barely able to see because each has destroyed the night vision of the other.

[harveys]

Originally Posted by MikeS100

Glad to see hid's are still ok if fitted correctly.

'Some vehicles may be fitted with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps. It is not permitted to
convert existing halogen headlamp units for use with HID bulbs. If it is clear that such a conversion has
been carried out, rather than replacing the entire unit with one designed and approved for use with HID
bulbs, the headlamp should be rejected.'

I went to a lot of time, effort and expense to fit the proper projection headlights when fitting my hid's and as soon as I had finished I went straight to the local garage and paid them to align them properly. I completely agree that hid's in standard halogen headlights are a menace but properly installed hid's are so much safer, the difference between the hid's in my C70 and the standard headlights in my V70 is practically night and day! I could probably improve my V70 by getting the headlight reflectors rechromed but I still feel the hid's are better and safer.

Just to say the mot handbook does referred to the headlamps must have the correct type approval letters on the outer glass if HID is fitted.
Well the draft one that is.