Hi
I was in my local garage the other day and was chatting to the chap who was MOTing my car.
He said that from September all MOT stations will be connected to a DTLR computer which will record the results of the emissions tests as well as other criteria in the test and the car's mileage.
While I don't doubt him, has anyone else heard of this? Surely this will go towards ending the clocking of cars as well as computerising all those who do not have an MOT cert.
Any comments, or have I been misled?
Jonathan
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I am not sure about the intro date but this is all true.....and more.
For example you can't get a fail at one station then shop around for an easier/luckier tester because each subsequent station will know all the details of the earlier fail.
This little known change could be one of the geatest steps in decades to curb the use of iffy (condition or i/d) cars.
David
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Damn it - please see my thread earlier where I had an MOT the works came in close to £500. Went to another garage and got the same slip of paper for £150 incl. test.
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My local (honestjohn reccommended garage) also mentioned something about this. Does this really mean that all info will be centrally coordinated and that clocking will be very detectable? Sounds too good to be true. I hope the AA and RAC will be able to access this info when your asking for a car-check.
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Martin,
All I can say is if it is introduced in the form it was announced at MOT testers courses late last year then it will be a major clamp down on "flexibility" as practiced by "the boys".
David
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Seems like a good start, but it won't stop clocking for 2 reasons I can think of
1 - Does nothing to stop clocking in the first 3 years, where there is probably most to be gained
2 - Doesn't stop disconnecting speedo or wiping off half the milage put on between MOT's. e.g.3 a 40k miles/year car only gaining 20k miles between MOT's
Andy
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First, who's going to disconnect the speedo for any length of time between MOT's? The dealer cannot do it seeing as he wont have the car that long and the owner certainly won't bother doing it.
Second, I think you'll find clocking is far more prevalent on cars over 3 years than under 3 years of age.
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Is this going to be another computer system, which will cost the tax payer millions and at the end of the day, will not work ?
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A good friend of mine bought a new Punto on mileage-limited balloon payment. Covered about 20k miles per year for 3 years but disconnected the speedo 50% of the time to stay within the limits of the finace agreement. It was an easy job and saved him a fortune. Unfortunately someone now has a car which has covered 60k+miles with minimal servicing and doesn't know.
I have no evidence about the proportion of clocking carried out on 3 year old cars, but I am sure there is more dishonest money to be made by knocking 50k miles off a 2 year old car than a 5 year old.
T.Lucas posted on a recent thread that he knew a mileage reduction industry worker who reckoned most of his business was with fleets and hire companies.
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The serious bucks are made with the under 3yr old cars,so no record with MOT.Maybe a good idea to MOT test cars from 12 months old?
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its not just to stop mileage fraud its mainly o control the testing stations before you start a test you will be required to input the chassis numberand mileage then you will be told whether or not to test the vehicle so this time will be logged. when you complete the test you have to input the result this time is logged
the average test is supposed to take 47 minutes can be reduced to 30 mins if the car is fairly new and extend to 90 mins for an old car if the test station pass rate is not average the examiners can sit with there laptop computers watching exactly what is going on from outside the test stationand if a Dreg sierra takes 20 minutes for testing they know the mot has not been conducted properly what this will do is control all the testing stations and hopefully make mots fairer for everyone it will stop the people doing dodgy mots and stop the people doing too strict mots for the repair work
incidentally a few stations will be piloting this throughout the year and latest news is it will be brought in properly for next year
dave
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Sound a good idea, but who is going to do all this "checking"?
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Apparently the same inspectors from the ministry of transport the do the checking now these are the same guys you see doing the emissions checks on the roads with the police so with any luck they will have less time to make me late for work in the mornings now if i could just find a way to miss the census stops .....hhhhhhhhhmmmmmm
dave
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Dave
Unscrupulous dealer approach to remote 'monitoring' - Log in, 20 mins MOT and 20 mins on another job, log out?
Regards
John
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Could mean the end of free retests if you do your own repairs. According to the rules, if your car fails and you take it away and repair it yourself, the retest is supposed to be a full test (at the full price), not just an inspection of the things it failed on first time (except for certain minor items). Many garages however will give you a free retest, and just check the failed items - but if they know they are being monitored, they won't be too keen to continue this.
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... is watching you, and the logical follow-on could very well be to have annual mileage checks for all cars from a year old, to take up TL's sensible point, with MOT kicking in at three years as before. Interesting input from Dave, and Richard Hall.
BB
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