EXCLUSIVE
Voluntary MoT figures reveal the scale of faults spotted on older cars
More than a quarter of the pre-1982 classics submitted for voluntary MoTs last year failed their inspection – and more than 2000 were flagged up as having faults categorised as ‘dangerous’.
Information that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency supplied to Classic Car Weekly has revealed that 13,487 of the 52,122 vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1982 that were tested failed. Of those 3955 were classified as ‘minor’ fails, 7303 as ‘major’ fails and 2229 as ‘dangerous’ fails.
The 52,122 voluntary MoTs represents a 77 per cent decline compared to the 221,860 tested in 2017, the last year before exemption from annual tests was introduced to a mixed reception in May 2018.
The Department for Transport is currently asking for views on how exemption for ‘Historic’ vehicles has fared as part of a wider review into the future of MoT testing. The consultation, which also includes proposals to change MoTs inspections from annual to biennial, closes today (22 March).
Classic specialists have welcomed the principle of regular inspections to help ensure classic car safety but said that stricter MoT test standards have made them less suited to older vehicles.
Foster and Heanes garage service manager, James Ravenscroft, said: ‘Would you want to drive around in a car where you have no clue as to how safe it is? Tyres are a common stumbling point – cracks that you wouldn’t necessarily spot on the inner face of a tyre are easier to
