You're too old.

[mjcoon]

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.

If London Then Brighton?

 

[The Q]

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.

With your highly expensive to the rate payer but cheap to the user bus and tram system in Edinburgh I'd not need a car there. But once you leave the city...
Long since gone are the days when I had free parking at the Castle..

 

[The Q]

If London Then Brighton?

No idea, I've only been to Brighton once and have no reason to go there again, Manchester / Edinburgh are our problems as we have relatives there or in the surroundings.. The Manchester emission zone is huge, luckily it doesn't include going through on a motorway.. And I've just checked they do allow classic vehicles in without charge.. something they weren't originally going to do..

 

[ProDave]

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.

Is my car special then?

Last year, visiting a relative in Greater London, she lived outside the ULEZ but good old google took me on a short cut that meant I went onto the ULEZ, i did not know until I saw the sign. So I quickly checked on the TFL site, entered my registration and found my 2005 petrol Subaru complied and did not have to pay the ULEZ charge.

I got the impression it is mainly diesel cars that struggle to pass? If my 18 year old petrol car complies, surely most petrol cars do?

 

[Lightwave395]

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.

My 15 year old Saab convertible failed it's MOT a few weeks ago because the main beam light switch wasn't working. The local IOW garage said they'd 'investigated' and it would need a new 'Column Intergration Module' pcb of which a refurbed unit would cost £450

I took the car off the IOW to a Saab specialist in Southampton (ex-factory trained mechanics) who fixed the switch connection for a fraction of that, I'd have had a go but you have to remove the airbag and steering wheel to get to it

If you have an older car find a local 'proper' mechanic or car electronics hotshot, my car goes to the North Island in future for it's annual servicing !

 

[newtothis]

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.

Modern 'luxury' cars, with the touchscreen console where there used to be buttons and knobs, are the worst. The manufacturers of high-end cars don't need to worry about the longevity of these systems, however. Their customers are the wealthy that buy new every year or two. As long as they last that long, they seem like a quality product. The third owner, however, gets lumped with a 5-10 year old lump of engine that won't start because computer says no. But they have no recourse to the manufacturer, so the manufacturer just focuses on putting more whizzy bits in to sell to the customers who buy new, no matter how unreliable that whizzy bit turns out to be in a few years.
Pre-computerised cars could last for decades. I wonder how many on here are using computers/phones more than five years old. My guess would be it is a minority.

 

[newtothis]

.

 

[dgadee]

With your highly expensive to the rate payer but cheap to the user bus and tram system in Edinburgh I'd not need a car there. But once you leave the city...
Long since gone are the days when I had free parking at the Castle..

Yes, bus and tram service are very good in the centre and, to be honest, what does outside the centre of Edinburgh have for the sophisticated man about town? We gave up the 2nd car and the mate walks everywhere and gives off about drivers and their speed.

When the tram gets to Newhaven I won't have to take the car down to the fishmongers either. The only need I have is moving things down to the boat every now and again.

 

[mjcoon]

I took the car off the IOW to a Saab specialist in Southampton (ex-factory trained mechanics) who fixed the switch connection for a fraction of that, I'd have had a go but you have to remove the airbag and steering wheel to get to it

I undertook a minor job on my old Astra's ignition switch a few years ago. The Haynes manual was very insistent about being sure that the airbag was disconnected before sticking your head down by the steering column and messing about with the electrics!

 

[Lightwave395]

I undertook a minor job on my old Astra's ignition switch a few years ago. The Haynes manual was very insistent about being sure that the airbag was disconnected before sticking your head down by the steering column and messing about with the electrics!

Indeed, I was told to disconnect the battery and wait for at least 20 mins, remove and handle the airbag very carefully, don't leave it anywhere it could be kicked / knocked or breathed on and refit it as soon as possible. I chickened out in the end...

 

[Kukri]

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.

I think I ought not to comment further on this thread until the 6th of October, as I have just booked my ten year old, 236,093 miles, car in for its annual service and MOT on that day, and Providence may be watching!

 

[Daydream believer]

Is my car special then?

Last year, visiting a relative in Greater London, she lived outside the ULEZ but good old google took me on a short cut that meant I went onto the ULEZ, i did not know until I saw the sign. So I quickly checked on the TFL site, entered my registration and found my 2005 petrol Subaru complied and did not have to pay the ULEZ charge.

I got the impression it is mainly diesel cars that struggle to pass? If my 18 year old petrol car complies, surely most petrol cars do?

I think that you are confusing the congestion charge ( which I mentioned) & the ultra low emission charge (which you are mentioning). They are 2 different things

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes, bus and tram service are very good in the centre and, to be honest, what does outside the centre of Edinburgh have for the sophisticated man about town? We gave up the 2nd car and the mate walks everywhere and gives off about drivers and their speed.

When the tram gets to Newhaven I won't have to take the car down to the fishmongers either. The only need I have is moving things down to the boat every now and again.

If most of your movements are within the limits of a city then i can recomend a Brompton E bike. The basic Brompton is built round city use. It is claimed that there are 75.000 in London alone. I find the electric version excellent in traffic. The acceleration at lights is very useful & being able to fold the brompton & take it on a train or bus is the best bit. Especially the basic lightweight versions. One can put it under the office desk at work or under a table in a restaurant. So convenient & not always reliant on public transport. I have spoken to a couple of people who have sold their cars & bought ebikes plus trailers for the shopping trips.

 

[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.
[/QUQUOUOTE="Daydream believer, post: 8049847, member: 107255
If most of your movements are within the limits of a city then i can recomend a Brompton E bike. The basic Brompton is built round city use. It is claimed that there are 75.000 in London alone. I find the electric version excellent in traffic. The acceleration at lights is very useful & being able to fold the brompton & take it on a train or bus is the best bit. Especially the basic lightweight versions. One can put it under the office desk at work or under a table in a restaurant. So convenient & not always reliant on public transport. I have spoken to a couple of people who have sold their cars & bought ebikes plus trailers for the shopping trips.

We have two on the other boat and I will bring one back home, I think, and add a powered wheel. New proper bike lanes are being built so I will be allowed out on a bike. Without then the mate thinks I will not survive long.

 

[Daydream believer]

We have two on the other boat and I will bring one back home, I think, and add a powered wheel. New proper bike lanes are being built so I will be allowed out on a bike. Without then the mate thinks I will not survive long.

The Uk population has not developed the "bike awareness" that our neighbours have, in Holland & Belgium.
This awareness, is part of the reason why scooters ( with a range of 60KM would you believe) are becoming so popular there.
Pedestrians, as well as motorists, have to be aware of bikes. Cycle users need to have a sense of respect to others.
Unfortunately, respect comes hard to sectors of our population.

 

[kwb78]

That is a matter of political will as much as anything - have a look at some old photos of Dutch towns from the 60s and early 70s before they implemented their extensive cycling infrastructure and they looked very much like ours do now - cars everywhere with little room for anything else. There was a conscious effort to prioritise cycling and other forms of transport over the car after the 1973 oil crisis, not without considerable opposition from the usual lobbies, but they persisted and now they have a system where cycling is safe and enjoyable and makes up a significant proportion of local journeys. I doubt many Dutch people would be willing to go back to how it was before.

Last year, visiting a relative in Greater London, she lived outside the ULEZ but good old google took me on a short cut that meant I went onto the ULEZ, i did not know until I saw the sign. So I quickly checked on the TFL site, entered my registration and found my 2005 petrol Subaru complied and did not have to pay the ULEZ charge.

I got the impression it is mainly diesel cars that struggle to pass? If my 18 year old petrol car complies, surely most petrol cars do?

The ULEZ zone allows petrol cars which meet Euro 4 specs which was a requirement for cars from 2005, however some cars manufactured prior to that date may also meet the specification. Diesel cars need to be Euro 6 which was introduced in 2015 so many more are affected by it. The higher spec for diesels is largely to do with particulate filtering, which isn't so relevant for petrol engines.

 

[Daydream believer]

That is a matter of political will as much as anything - have a look at some old photos of Dutch towns from the 60s and early 70s before they implemented their extensive cycling infrastructure and they looked very much like ours do now - cars everywhere with little room for anything else. There was a conscious effort to prioritise cycling and other forms of transport over the car after the 1973 oil crisis, not without considerable opposition from the usual lobbies, but they persisted and now they have a system where cycling is safe and enjoyable and makes up a significant proportion of local journeys. I doubt many Dutch people would be willing to go back to how it was

That is true. Of course it is a lot to do with how they went about it. I think that introducing things like congestion charging in London ( for instance) just alienates the public at large . More so, when they cannot see the money thus raised not being used to improve the travel infrastructure. More like spent on useless schemes with no connection to the thing which the cash was raised.
If the money raised was fully expended on developing alternative transport - such as cycleways- rather than the some of the poorly maintained efforts we have now, then the public might support it & get behind it.
Apart from the problem of getting goods & maintenance vehicles into London, I would have had no problem cycling when I worked there. I used to park my car In Bloomsbury Square & use my bike to get to my sites . I could go down Oxford Street & down Fulham Palace road for example in half an hour. Cycling across Hyde park after dark is quite an experience. One could get past Kensington Palace Road & Park Lane in rush hour so quick it saved me hours visiting clients or checking my men where they were working. Getting them there with their kit was another nightmare though.

 

[newtothis]

That is a matter of political will as much as anything - have a look at some old photos of Dutch towns from the 60s and early 70s before they implemented their extensive cycling infrastructure and they looked very much like ours do now - cars everywhere with little room for anything else. There was a conscious effort to prioritise cycling and other forms of transport over the car after the 1973 oil crisis, not without considerable opposition from the usual lobbies, but they persisted and now they have a system where cycling is safe and enjoyable and makes up a significant proportion of local journeys. I doubt many Dutch people would be willing to go back to how it was before.

There was also a very strong campaign by a group of mothers who had lost children to vehicle accidents. I think the Netherlands had the worst road death record per capita in Europe at the time.
By encouraging cycling and getting fewer cars on the road, there were fewer deaths from cars, and cycling itself became safer, which encouraged more cycling. Win-win.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

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 ?

Even with my EV, I have no desire to enter the London low Emissions Zone, even though I could!

 

[Adrian62]

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.

The pre 1958 date may not be correct because I have a 1963 Austin Healey and that has combined side lights / indicators and taillight/indicator lights . No amber lights on the car . Which is how it came from factory .