You're too old.

[Daydream believer]

I’m on my last car. It’s a diesel.

You did not look to bad last time we saw you. Have you had a chat to the doctor about it?
Would be sad to see you go so soon
PS. Can I have your boat after you have gone? ?

 

[Daydream believer]

Old cars only have to pass the emission test of the time it was built..

Extract from Govt website re MOT

The only vehicles that do not have an emissions test as part of the MOT are:

• vehicles with fewer than 4 wheels
• vehicles with 2-stroke engines
• hybrid vehicles
• quadricycles
• hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
• electric vehicles

So where does it mention older vehicles being exempt.? Or is there a separate section relating to classic cars?

 

[Kukri]

You did not look to bad last time we saw you. Have you had a chat to the doctor about it?

It’s ten years old. I’m seventy at the end of this month. It did 33,000 miles a year until Covid-19, which had the benign effect of causing Anglia Railways to finally do what I had asked them to do for years and bring in a part time season ticket. I hope to get another decade out of it on its new much reduced mileage.

 

[The Q]

Extract from Govt website re MOT

The only vehicles that do not have an emissions test as part of the MOT are:

• vehicles with fewer than 4 wheels
• vehicles with 2-stroke engines
• hybrid vehicles
• quadricycles
• hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
• electric vehicles

So where does it mention older vehicles being exempt.? Or is there a separate section relating to classic cars?

re read my post, it doesn't say they are exempt, it says they only have to pass the tests of the day they were built.. UK construction and use regulations are not backdated..

 

[Daydream believer]

re read my post, it doesn't say they are exempt, it says they only have to pass the tests of the day they were built.. UK construction and use regulations are not backdated..

I do not get your drift. I must be missing something here.
All vehicles ( apart from those listed) are tested as part of the MOT. Surely if they fail to meet the required standard they fail- Is that not the case?
You seem to suggest that older vehicles do not get tested during their life . The Govt website suggests different.
I had a petrol Bedford Midi van , some years ago . The garage servicing it, prior to the test, advised me that it would have been close to a failure; but they solved the issue somehow. I think ( may be wrong) that they altered the ignition, or air exhaust/mixture, prior to the test. So that was definitely subject to testing. But that was over 20 years ago.

 

[ProDave]

The 1 in 12 hill that I have to go down and then up again to get anywhere from my house would render that tow vehicle inneffective,.

 

[ProDave]

So where does it mention older vehicles being exempt.? Or is there a separate section relating to classic cars?

When my series Landrover needed an MOT (before they made >40 year old exempt) it did not have an emissions test, because there was no manufacturers data published when it was built to show what the emissions should have been, so nothing to test to.

 

[The Q]

I do not get your drift. I must be missing something here.
All vehicles ( apart from those listed) are tested as part of the MOT. Surely if they fail to meet the required standard they fail- Is that not the case?
You seem to suggest that older vehicles do not get tested during their life . The Govt website suggests different.
I had a petrol Bedford Midi van , some years ago . The garage servicing it, prior to the test, advised me that it would have been close to a failure; but they solved the issue somehow. I think ( may be wrong) that they altered the ignition, or air exhaust/mixture, prior to the test. So that was definitely subject to testing. But that was over 20 years ago.

The standards to pass are related to the date they were built All MOTs are NOT the same..
For instance:
if your car is pre 1965 it does not have to have seat belts because they weren't a requirement then.
If your car is Pre 1958, then your indicators do not have to be amber in colour..
So my 1984 Landrover has to pass the emission test levels that were in force in 1984, not todays much lower limits.

 

[38mess]

My 20 year old immaculate condition diesel Clio failed it's mot on emissions. I had it from new. When it failed I couldn't be bothered to fix it. I now have a lovely diesel Skoda Fabia which I love
.

 

[Daydream believer]

The standards to pass are related to the date they were built All MOTs are NOT the same..
For instance:
if your car is pre 1965 it does not have to have seat belts because they weren't a requirement then.
If your car is Pre 1958, then your indicators do not have to be amber in colour..
So my 1984 Landrover has to pass the emission test levels that were in force in 1984, not todays much lower limits.

Thanks for the explanation
What happens if go intothe London emission zone ?_ Assuming you did actually want to go
Do you pay the higher charge, Or do you enter as exempt, One assumes that you cannot be banned altogether ?

 

[Stemar]

Old cars only have to pass the emission test of the time it was built

Good job it's not the same for old people, when you consider the emissions from a new-born.

 

[Iliade]

LPG seems already to be being phased out by the filling stations. The fear is that HMG may yet stop the sale of DERV for PLG, then petrol is next on the list...

This will be fine until all the lithium runs out...

 

[ProDave]

Thanks for the explanation
What happens if go intothe London emission zone ?_ Assuming you did actually want to go
Do you pay the higher charge, Or do you enter as exempt, One assumes that you cannot be banned altogether ?

I looked it up (entered my reg no) My 1972 Landrover can enter the ULEZ without charge. I don't intent to test the theory, I could not afford the fuel to get there just to try it, and the distance is so far there is a high chance it would beak down on the way.

 

[kwb78]

The standards to pass are related to the date they were built All MOTs are NOT the same..
For instance:
if your car is pre 1965 it does not have to have seat belts because they weren't a requirement then.
If your car is Pre 1958, then your indicators do not have to be amber in colour..
So my 1984 Landrover has to pass the emission test levels that were in force in 1984, not todays much lower limits.

Also cars older than 40 years are no longer required to have an MOT test carried out at all provided they haven't been substantially changed - they are required to be roadworthy, but there is no obligation to have them officially checked.

 

[Daydream believer]

LPG seems already to be being phased out by the filling stations. The fear is that HMG may yet stop the sale of DERV for PLG, then petrol is next on the list...

I had a contract with a construction Co that had some LPG smart cars as pool cars for their resident liaison officers. They ran in & out of London many times a week. Due to their being LPG there was no congestion charge. However, there was, at the time, no garages offering LPG near any of their London bases so they always ran on petrol.

 

[Daydream believer]

deleted

 

[oldharry]

Why shouldn't his Fiesta last another 20 years or so?

Old cars just need maintenance these days, they don't rust like they used to.

Because sooner later it will develop an electronic fault, which will stop the engine but be undiagnosable. It will cost a bomb for wrong diagnostics and replacement of non faulty parts, but remain unreliable to the point of giving up and off to the scrapyard.

My local scrappie reckons other than accident write offs, over 3/4 of the cars in his yard have electronics failures that could not be diagnosed, or were simply uneconomic to repair or reprogram.

 

[The Q]

Thanks for the explanation
What happens if go intothe London emission zone ?_ Assuming you did actually want to go
Do you pay the higher charge, Or do you enter as exempt, One assumes that you cannot be banned altogether ?

At the moment I'd have to pay the higher charge, once she reaches over 40 years old then I can register her as a classic vehicle.
No tax, no emission charge in London, MOT not required.. (But you can still be done for being unroadworthy)
However I believe some other areas are Not allowing classic vehicles in their areas, without paying the emission charges.

 

[dgadee]

Because sooner later it will develop an electronic fault, which will stop the engine but be undiagnosable. It will cost a bomb for wrong diagnostics and replacement of non faulty parts, but remain unreliable to the point of giving up and off to the scrapyard.

My local scrappie reckons other than accident write offs, over 3/4 of the cars in his yard have electronics failures that could not be diagnosed, or were simply uneconomic to repair or reprogram.

True, I suspect. They should all use Raspberry Pi's as the control unit.

LEZ will get my diesel end of next year, I think. And I wonder if I need a replacement. It sits in the centre of Edinburgh unused most days.

 

[James_Calvert]

Because sooner later it will develop an electronic fault, which will stop the engine but be undiagnosable. It will cost a bomb for wrong diagnostics and replacement of non faulty parts, but remain unreliable to the point of giving up and off to the scrapyard.

My local scrappie reckons other than accident write offs, over 3/4 of the cars in his yard have electronics failures that could not be diagnosed, or were simply uneconomic to repair or reprogram.

Interesting stat.

My old Volvo had a few electrical issues over the years, I think most sensors got replaced one time or another. One weird one was a water temperature sensor which cut the engine out just as it had warmed up.

Up to that point the car had always gone to the local main dealer for servicing and repairs but when they said they couldn't schedule looking at it until the end of the following week I moved onto using a Volvo "specialist" who was much more responsive.