The Government has just announced that it will retain the existing annual MOT test frequency as opposed to a proposed system of testing every two years. However, it has also announced that it wants to work with industry codes of practice to raise garage standards and further tighten regulation in the second-hand vehicle market.
The key decisions made by government include:
Retaining the existing rules on MOT test frequency; with an initial test three years from first registration and every year thereafter.
Encouraging the take up of industry codes of practice, such as the OFT-approved schemes run by Motor Codes, and expand them to include MOT testing.
Helping motorists to spot ‘clocked’ second hand vehicles, by changing MOT certificates so that they carry the last three years’ mileage information as well as the mileage on the day of the test.
Arranging ‘mystery shopper’ tests to help improve performance in addition to those already carried out by VOSA.
Commenting on the Government’s proposals, Institute of Advanced Motorists director of policy and research Neil Greig said: "A recent IAM survey showed that most drivers were happy with the three year frequency but many had concerns with the quality of MOT testing stations. Thirty per cent believe garages are not independent enough to conduct MOTs, 26 per cent think that garages deliberately find things wrong in order to get money out of them, and 40 per cent think there is no consistency between garages in the way they do the test.”
In other words, if you find a good garage, stick with it!
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