steamy Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 Hi Guys, My request for advice is not technical but cannot find a better place for it. I have a 1967 TR4A which until now I have continued to get MOT'd but now wish to apply for a MOT exemption. looking online says I will need to fill in a V112 form and present at post office with my 'tax' renewal form. My MOT is due end May and my 'tax' is August so no renewal form and I cannot find any other info of what to do? If I just drove it until August without new MOT I guess I would be illegal even though I don't need one. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Regards Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 If it’s already registered as historic it should be ok but I’d keep up with the mot’s Quote Link to post Share on other sites
steamy Posted May 2 Author Report Share Posted May 2 Yes Hamish it is registered as Historic. Thank you for your input. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
North London Mike Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 +2 for maintaining a MOT history. Good to have somebody else look at the car once a year............... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 +1 for MOT because it will encourage you to check it over yourself for the MOT and the MOT inspector will be a second pair of eyes. Best to find a garage used to classic cars though. It may also be useful to have an MOT record for when you come to sell the car. Keith Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted May 2 Report Share Posted May 2 You do not need to apply for MOT exemption if already classed as an "historic vehicle" But I agree with others, get one done anyway for peace of mind. Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 Hi Ian, what would your thinking be on no longer mot.ing your car? I have to say I.m with the ‘Get an annual ticket camp’ John. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brenda Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 +1 it’s surprising how many classic’s don’t have an MOT. Mike Redrose group. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iain Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 +1 for continuing MOTs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Motorsport Mickey Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 I'm gonna buck the trend here. Dozens of cars and owners are prosecuted every year because although their cars had a current MOT, when stopped on the road or involved in an accident and the car was checked...it didn't comply with the MOT requirements. The MOT is a snapshot in time, at that time, on that day the car was capable of passing the MOT requirements...that's all. If you've rebuilt or service your car yourself you are very capable of maintaining it to the requirements of the MOT, if you go on the internet you can find the MOT requirements and if you check your car yourself and are satisfied, then the car will pass the MOT if it is checked. It's a movable and ongoing requirement to continue to keep an eye on your car throughout it's life, mend it, drive it, check it, mend it etc. I have confidence that my car will pass the MOT, when I check it,... tomorrow is another story. Just because a garage writes a piece of paper which shows that on a particular day and time your car passed the MOT requirements, and you added the certificate to the others going back through the years. If your cars fails the test requirement when a policeman or test centre checks it and you are prosecuted, ...no matter the number of sheafs of MOTs you wave at th em...you'll be found guilty in court of driving a vehicle not capable of passing MOT requirements, the law allows no leniency because your MOT certificates goes back dozens of years. Sure, if you want a different pair of eyes to look around your car for you, enter into an agreement with a mate who knows the requirements to check your car, and you check his, but really the checks that you can do will be enough to pick up a vehicle needing rework to the required standard. If you have confidence and you apply the MOT requirements to your car, it will pass the MOT then there is no advantage to be had. As pointed out above, if your car has a logbook which shows it is a historic vehicle then it doesn't require a MOT. Drive it with impunity...as long as it would meet MOT standards if they were applied to it. It's a self certification. Mick Richards Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phil Dean Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 I spoke to a classic car insurance company about this. If you have an accident and the car is not MOTd they will look further into the accident the thinking is the car is not ALWAYS fit to be on the road without an MOT. Even if is not your fault this person told me about a situation were the other parties insurance even tho they were at fault insisted the classic car had a full inspection because it did not have an MOT. !!!! Phil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 (edited) As Mick says, an MoT means nothing Phil except on the day it was carried out. Lots of things can go wrong over 12months. You could drive over some glass and cut a tyre as soon as you leave the Mot station...... An insurance company may very well have inspections done after an accident whether or not there is a current MoT. Edited May 3 by RobH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harrytr5 Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 I am firmly in the camp of annual MOT's and my long time MOT inspector who I became friends over the years (RS 1600 MK1 and Pre XR2 Fiesta owner) failed my TR5 due to powder coating everything and machined surfaces becoming slack due to squiggling up of the coating (lesson soon learnt) and I always clean off now. This law of not needing an MOT does not make sense. A forty year old banger can be bought by an unspeculating youngster which can be a death trap! Stupid law. Regards Harry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 I accept that an MOT might mean nothing but I do think that a pile of MoTs especially when no longer legally required does say something about the owner. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trchris Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 As Mick above says on the day the vehicle is presented it needs to meet the requirements which some may find this hard to believe can vary hugely between test stations , one person’s opinion on wear is different from others. When l use to attend testers refresher courses the vosa instructor told us of an incident where a two cars pulled up on the street visible to the garage whereby the wheels were switched the car presented and passed the mot then back to the street and wheels were switched again nothing could be done because the vehicle passed when presented . There’s plenty of other examples l can share so my advice would be yes get a mot because not everyone has a nice vehicle lift to give a thorough examination but also and more importantly make sure it’s properly maintained and visually inspected every few months and don’t leave a repair “for the winter” Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 FWIW these days Im tending to see more and more very "Shiny on the top" cars that are the owners pride and joy and theyve polished them to within an inch of their lives but when you delve underneath or under bonnet are in a shocking state. They only do a few miles every year to local shows or Sunday drives out and the rattles etc are just taken as part of it being an "Old car" and until it actually stops or something falls off they very rarely actually get anything mechanical looked at. Even then they tend to take it to someone who may class themselves as a "Classic garage" but often that doesnt mean they know every classic inside out. At least with a yearly MOT then yes its only good at the precise point that its been tested but at least theyre also more likely to pick up stuff that may well fail pretty soon. They would also pick up something like I had a while ago where a very shiny underside of a chassis had been filled and painted over damage and holes! Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phil Dean Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 Maybe this is a practical example for those of us who are NOT master mechanics. When I was having the engine rebuilt in my Avenger for the second time the car was left parked at the engine builders for not one month as promised but 4 months whilst the engine was rebuilt, it was parked on a downward slope but not facing down hill but across the slope. When I got the car back i noticed a reasonable wheel wobble when braking from say 40 down to a stop more pronounced on a slip road off the motorway down to the roundabout near my house. I started the investigation thinking maybe a wheel was out or tyre not running true or maybe loose steering joints etc no evidence there. The mot garage got it first time during the test the braking tolerance was out. warped disc. The discs were fluted for better braking when hot and because of the way it had been parked the extra weight on that side of the car had put a slight deformation into the disc. Not a major problem the garage had one of those machines that can machine few thou of either side of the disc he did both sides of the car. Result no more wheel wobble under braking. It would have probably taken me months to find. Its useful to have a professional go over your car even if its just once a year. My car is in for its annual MOT on Wednesday and probably only covered 1000 or less in the last 12 months it will be interesting to see what the result will be. Phil. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jerrytr5 Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 I'm starting to struggle to find MoT testers who are old enough to know how to test an older vehicle, and I am sure this will become more of an issue. I went round the vehicle to show my last tester the salient points, he may have been more than 18 but didn't look it. Not sure I should be paying to give someone a training course though. Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
michaelfinnis Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 On 5/3/2024 at 8:51 AM, Motorsport Mickey said: I'm gonna buck the trend here. Dozens of cars and owners are prosecuted every year because although their cars had a current MOT, when stopped on the road or involved in an accident and the car was checked...it didn't comply with the MOT requirements. The MOT is a snapshot in time, at that time, on that day the car was capable of passing the MOT requirements...that's all. If you've rebuilt or service your car yourself you are very capable of maintaining it to the requirements of the MOT, if you go on the internet you can find the MOT requirements and if you check your car yourself and are satisfied, then the car will pass the MOT if it is checked. It's a movable and ongoing requirement to continue to keep an eye on your car throughout it's life, mend it, drive it, check it, mend it etc. I have confidence that my car will pass the MOT, when I check it,... tomorrow is another story. Just because a garage writes a piece of paper which shows that on a particular day and time your car passed the MOT requirements, and you added the certificate to the others going back through the years. If your cars fails the test requirement when a policeman or test centre checks it and you are prosecuted, ...no matter the number of sheafs of MOTs you wave at th em...you'll be found guilty in court of driving a vehicle not capable of passing MOT requirements, the law allows no leniency because your MOT certificates goes back dozens of years. Sure, if you want a different pair of eyes to look around your car for you, enter into an agreement with a mate who knows the requirements to check your car, and you check his, but really the checks that you can do will be enough to pick up a vehicle needing rework to the required standard. If you have confidence and you apply the MOT requirements to your car, it will pass the MOT then there is no advantage to be had. As pointed out above, if your car has a logbook which shows it is a historic vehicle then it doesn't require a MOT. Drive it with impunity...as long as it would meet MOT standards if they were applied to it. It's a self certification. Mick Richards Agree, if you’re mechanically competent,not sure how many modern MOT stations are capable of carrying out appropriate testing of 50/60/70s cars any way. The main value is in getting the car up on a lift to get a really good look underneath. My old school MOT station always used to let me get under and have a look myself, and would point out anything they thought worth keeping an eye on,but there’s not many places like that about now. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harrytr5 Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 Langley Autocraft, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire 01923 269456 (Nigel MOT man) have been MOT ing my Triumphs for more years that I care to mention. He knows his stuff and our TR,s. Dan who does my Four wheel tracking has left Discount Tyres and now can be found at Langley 4x4 01923 266333. I have no financial interest in the above just a very satisfied customer and can be of interest of Members who are looking for that work. Regards Harry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 Im lucky that the guy who does all my tests is an enthusiast and also understands fly off handbrakes and trunnions and taper wheel bearings and also steering boxes. The garage guys know me well so I join them for testing and get a good look underneath and they also allow me to do voluntary brake tests to check systems if Im not sure of things like brake imbalance too. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 14 hours ago, jerrytr5 said: I'm starting to struggle to find MoT testers who are old enough to know how to test an older vehicle, and I am sure this will become more of an issue. I went round the vehicle to show my last tester the salient points, he may have been more than 18 but didn't look it. Not sure I should be paying to give someone a training course though. Jerry I agree I think this is going to become more of a problem as time goes by. The old mechanics who were familiar with classics are retiring and in some cases the family garage is closing down. The garage I went to for last 50 years has closed down. Not only would they do the MOT's but helped sort out re-coring the radiator and welding the chassis and 'using' their machine press. They would advise if they could see possible upcoming issues with the car. A big loss locally now they are gone. A couple of days ago I had to educate a young store assistant that Triumph made cars as well as motorbikes. I also remember a trip to a tyre depot where the assistant said the handbrake was jammed on so he could not move the car to fit new tyres. He had never come across a fly-off handbrake before. They also adjusted the tracking to toe in one inch! Makes interesting driving with that degree of toe-in. So I guess that if you have the car MOT'ed then find a friendly old school garage. Keith Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifrog Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 5 hours ago, keith1948 said: They also adjusted the tracking to toe in one inch! Makes interesting driving with that degree of toe-in. Keith I recently had my 3a tracking set up at a local rural garage here in France, much to my amazement even though I went with the details from the service manual, their machine actually had the Triumph TR 3a in its database with all the correct data checked against the manual! cheers Alan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 The MOT test exemption is not an exemption from the requirement to be roadworthy. The exemption came in because the test requirements had become less relevant to our cars and the testers less aware of what was appropriate in terms of play/performance. A once over by an experienced eye is probably good, a spotty kid with no knowledge is possible less so. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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