Does The Mot Need Its Own Mot?

A little over a year ago, this column discussed the potential of extending the period of the first MOT for cars and motorcycles from three to four years.

- Lucy Hargrave

Following a public consultation, the Government decided not to alter the duration. However, since 20 May 2018, the MOT test underwent five significant changes.

1) Categorisation of defects: The first and biggest change is in the categorisation of defects. The simplicity of a pass or fail is gone and is replaced by an intricate 5-tier structure; Dangerous (fail and not driveable), Major (fail and repair now), Minor (pass, but repair asap), Advisory (pass, but monitor), and a straight Pass.

2) Stricter rules for diesel vehicles: The second change sees stricter rules put in place for diesel cars fitted with diesel particulate filters (DPF). From now on, if a diesel car with a DPF emits smoke from the exhaust or the DPF has been tampered with in any way, the vehicle will (Major) fail.