We were ticking off our new tax year checklist for last week's Finance Fridays. This week we are looking at some more changes for 2018. From 20th May new MOT rules come into place and so will affect anyone with a car between three and 40 years old. Here are some of the new changes to look out for.
Dangerous, major and minor – Instead of 'pass' and 'fail' faults will be judged in three categories as dangerous, major or minor. There has already been criticism that it will be open to interpretation by individual garages. If a fault is deemed major or dangerous it will be an automatic failure for the car. If the fault is recorded as dangerous then it will be illegal to drive the car in the UK until the problem has been fixed and the car has been re-tested and passes a new MOT test. If a minor defect is noted it will be noted on the MOT certificate and recorded online. This is similar to how an advisory is currently noted.
Don't book an early test – If your current MOT certificate still has a time to run don't book an early test under the new system. If it fails under the new test your old MOT certificate will not be valid any longer despite having an expiry date on it. If you keep driving your car you could be subject to a hefty fine of up to £2,500 and 3 points on your licence
Exhausts – For diesel cars if 'visible smoke of any colour' is seen to be coming from the exhaust it will be an automatic failure. A failure will also be recorded if the diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been removed from the exhaust or if it has been tampered with.
Lights – New additions to the MOT will be the testing of certain lights. For cars first used from 1st September 2009 the reversing lights will be checked. If the car was first used after March 2018 then the daytime running lights and front fog lights will be inspected. Obviously this won't actually come into force until 2021 as this year's new cars won't need a MOT for three years.
Vintage cars – Currently only cars from before 1960 are exempt from having an annual MOT but this will be extended to cars older than 40 years old. Owners can present their cars for a voluntary MOT test if they wish to. It is thought that older cars are better maintained by their owners as they are car enthusiasts and not used on a regular basis. Cars will still of course need to be deemed road worthy.
MOT reminder – Something you can sign up to today is the government's email or text reminder service. It seems the most common reason people had for being late with the MOT for their car was because they had forgotten the date it was due. Now you can receive a reminder a month before the MOT is due so you can book it in with your garage and another one will be sent two weeks before the MOT is due.
If you want to join in with this week's Finance Fridays then add your link to the linky below. Any post concerning financial matters is allowed. Full details here. It doesn't have to be published today as you have until 23.55 on Tuesday 17th April 2018 to join in.
If you use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Google+ please tag me and I will retweet, Like, Share or +1 as appropriate. You can find me here:
Twitter:@jibberjabberuk- please use the hashtag #FinanceFridays
Facebook:Jibberjabberuk
Instagram:@jibberjabberuk
Google+:Jibber JabberUK
Dangerous, major and minor – Instead of 'pass' and 'fail' faults will be judged in three categories as dangerous, major or minor. There has already been criticism that it will be open to interpretation by individual garages. If a fault is deemed major or dangerous it will be an automatic failure for the car. If the fault is recorded as dangerous then it will be illegal to drive the car in the UK until the problem has been fixed and the car has been re-tested and passes a new MOT test. If a minor defect is noted it will be noted on the MOT certificate and recorded online. This is similar to how an advisory is currently noted.
Don't book an early test – If your current MOT certificate still has a time to run don't book an early test under the new system. If it fails under the new test your old MOT certificate will not be valid any longer despite having an expiry date on it. If you keep driving your car you could be subject to a hefty fine of up to £2,500 and 3 points on your licence
Exhausts – For diesel cars if 'visible smoke of any colour' is seen to be coming from the exhaust it will be an automatic failure. A failure will also be recorded if the diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been removed from the exhaust or if it has been tampered with.
Lights – New additions to the MOT will be the testing of certain lights. For cars first used from 1st September 2009 the reversing lights will be checked. If the car was first used after March 2018 then the daytime running lights and front fog lights will be inspected. Obviously this won't actually come into force until 2021 as this year's new cars won't need a MOT for three years.
Vintage cars – Currently only cars from before 1960 are exempt from having an annual MOT but this will be extended to cars older than 40 years old. Owners can present their cars for a voluntary MOT test if they wish to. It is thought that older cars are better maintained by their owners as they are car enthusiasts and not used on a regular basis. Cars will still of course need to be deemed road worthy.
MOT reminder – Something you can sign up to today is the government's email or text reminder service. It seems the most common reason people had for being late with the MOT for their car was because they had forgotten the date it was due. Now you can receive a reminder a month before the MOT is due so you can book it in with your garage and another one will be sent two weeks before the MOT is due.
If you want to join in with this week's Finance Fridays then add your link to the linky below. Any post concerning financial matters is allowed. Full details here. It doesn't have to be published today as you have until 23.55 on Tuesday 17th April 2018 to join in.
If you use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Google+ please tag me and I will retweet, Like, Share or +1 as appropriate. You can find me here:
Twitter:@jibberjabberuk- please use the hashtag #FinanceFridays
Facebook:Jibberjabberuk
Instagram:@jibberjabberuk
Google+:Jibber JabberUK
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