New MOT problems on the horizon.

[scotsjohn]

I don't want to be alarmist as I haven't got the full word on what's in store in 2012, but it could put a lot of people in the shit. Basically an across Europe move to introduce a common MOT system. It will basically view ANY mods as a no-no, with another couple of dozen checks added to the existing list. Basically your car will have to be to manufacturers spec. There's even word of ECU interrogation to spot intervention in the fuelling parameters. This isn't just going to hit the individual, it's the whole modding industry that will be at risk. This came from a guy in the commercial diagnostics industry and he seemed pretty sure of what's in store. Maybe time to vote for UKIP.

[gavin.starr]

Is the UK government really going to be that stupid. Car modifications are quite a large market in the UK and world wide if they tried to implement this there would be an up roar on a very large scale.

I really cant and hope that this never happens.

[scotsjohn]

Ultimately it's going to be up to EU legislation getting imposed on us , but something along the lines I've mentioned was proposed back in the mid nineties. It was successfully beaten by lobbying from the kit-car industry, but the main mover behind it was the German government. Strangely enough, the German modding scene took off after that. Up till then painting daisies on your campervan was about it. Insistance on TUV approval brought out a rash of latent engineering expertise that left the germans with egg on their faces. These ideas don't go away though and it looks like round two is coming up.

[grungeisdead]

bollocks and scaremongering

how will they define a mod? if its oem and didnt come on the car in question, is it allowed?

if its an optional extra but wasnt fitted at factory?

what about classic cars, which have aftermarket parts and panels as others are obsolete.

dont think you need to go running to UKIP just yet!

[scotsjohn]

Hope you're right, but the guy I was talking to was pretty convincing. As Gavin points out, it's a big industry that would be screwed, not just individuals. Screwing big business isn't uncommon though. Ears to the ground on this one.

[scotsjohn]

bollocks and scaremongering

Maybe not. Take a look at www.the-ace.org.uk  New legislation. It's also in an article in Performance BMW I believe. It doesn't make pretty reading. Manufacturers basically looking to claim some sort of intellectual property on ECU programmes; alterations to aerodynamics;  window tinting;wheel clearance; rolling resistance of wider tyres. Real shit and some of it will stick, it always does. They've got FIFTY new ways to shaft you.

[AlexG40]

That article is all about Historic cars (30 years plus) and whether or not repair/renovation will allow cars to continue to be classed as Historic with a view to avoiding legislation (probably tax exemption etc). I can't see anything that refers to MOT on normal road cars in this article or the PDF that it links to.

IMO stuff like this is scaremongery. There are new rules in the MOT regarding aftermarket exhausts etc but they all allow for an element of discretion. If they really wanted to start banning modification there would be no room for negotiation but there is.   By now they would have banned lead additives for fuel, cars with no catalytic convertors and probably anything without airbags etc.

[scotsjohn]

Take a look at that site again Alex under current legislation updates. I was talking to my main man at MOT time last week and yes, he reckons much of what is proposed can't be retrospective. He also pointed out that financing metering equipment for such things as exhaust noise levels or window tint density wasn't likely to be forthcoming from VOSA . His notion on this is that Plod will enforce whatever they can under existing legislation. Items such as wheel/arch clearance and wheel protrusion from the arch however, were in with a raft of stricter visual inspections proposed. Some of this will become relevant; softy softly catchee monkey.