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Covid and the MOT


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Since the change in rules regarding MOT for classics, I continued to have my car done. However, with the current situation and given that I cannot see myself doing much driving this year, I'm thinking of claiming the exemption. My MOT is due end of April,  so there's a chance that it might be difficult to get it done at that time. I could get it in now, but then I'd rather not be mixing with people if I can avoid it. I did wonder if MOTs would be officially halted for a while. Anyone heard if that's a possibility? 

If I do claim the exemption, do I just need to state it when I next tax the car? And do I have to fill out and submit a V112 form beforehand as well, does anyone know? When we get passed all this, I'll go back to having the MOT done.

Darren   

Edited by TR5tar
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Hi Darren - in short you need do nothing until your car is next due to be taxed.  VHI status is the default for your car unless it has been "significantly altered". Assuming it hasn't, when you next apply for tax online, partway through the process you will be presented with a page where you tick a box to declare that your car has VHI status.  Or, if you do your tax at a Post Office you just show them a completed paper form (V112??), downloadable from the govt.uk website, which they will look at and return to you.  It's as simple as that for most situations.

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16 minutes ago, sparky_spit said:

Hi Darren - in short you need do nothing until your car is next due to be taxed.  VHI status is the default for your car unless it has been "significantly altered". Assuming it hasn't, when you next apply for tax online, partway through the process you will be presented with a page where you tick a box to declare that your car has VHI status.  Or, if you do your tax at a Post Office you just show them a completed paper form (V112??), downloadable from the govt.uk website, which they will look at and return to you.  It's as simple as that for most situations.

Thanks. My MOT is due end of April, but tax isn't due to June, so as I didn't tick the exemption on the tax renewal last year, I'm not sure where I stand. Is it the case that I can just not get it MOT and then claim the exemption later when re-taxing it? 

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My daughter cars MOT runs out at the end of the week, she has it booked in for a service and MOT on Thursday. 
At the moment not sure if the garage will still be open. I was going to swap cars with her and take hers to the garage (she has 2 small children), we can do this with out any contact between us and means she doesn't have take the children to the garage.

At the moment not sure what the government guidance is.
Would be sensible would be for the government to suspend the MOT for 3 months, they have done it on public vehicles for 3 months.

mike

 

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Garages are considered an essential so should be open.
It does seem sensible to me that MOT testing should continue.

Here is a list from the (Scottish) Government: 
 

  • Supermarkets and other food shops
  • Pharmacies
  • Petrol stations
  • Newsagents
  • Bicycle shops
  • Home and hardware stores
  • Laundrettes and dry cleaners
  • Garages
  • Pet shops
  • Post Offices
  • Banks

Businesses will still be able to take online orders and deliver items to people's homes.

 

 

 

Ian

PS I used a list from the Scottish Government simply because it is clearer and more concise the the UK Government document.
The restrictions are the same even though the First Minister refers to it as a "lockdown".image.gif.bf4e6ac2b80f9a7b07b1922d46dc2567.gifimage.gif.bf4e6ac2b80f9a7b07b1922d46dc2567.gifimage.gif.bf4e6ac2b80f9a7b07b1922d46dc2567.gifimage.gif.bf4e6ac2b80f9a7b07b1922d46dc2567.gif

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Just reading the .gov news release and there's something that isn't clear to me ... https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-owners-to-be-granted-mot-exemption-in-battle-against-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR0n8zZj2Z0bzGuVjSDBpI1roJTEMvKhSU5Tdb63q6igcxj5TZDNSeVUf0Q

With my wife Tina's car, the MOT runs out before the new law comes into effect, so I wonder if it still qualifies for the exemption. I can see that cars that run out within the exemption period (6 months from end of March) won't need the MOT, but what about those that have run out before the exemption starts. For example, I have an old Peugeot that hasn't had an MOT for 5 years. Would that qualify for the exemption?

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1 hour ago, TR5tar said:

Just reading the .gov news release and there's something that isn't clear to me ... https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-owners-to-be-granted-mot-exemption-in-battle-against-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR0n8zZj2Z0bzGuVjSDBpI1roJTEMvKhSU5Tdb63q6igcxj5TZDNSeVUf0Q

With my wife Tina's car, the MOT runs out before the new law comes into effect, so I wonder if it still qualifies for the exemption. I can see that cars that run out within the exemption period (6 months from end of March) won't need the MOT, but what about those that have run out before the exemption starts. For example, I have an old Peugeot that hasn't had an MOT for 5 years. Would that qualify for the exemption?

Darren

Looking at the link from Rod, looks like your wife is still required to get an MoT. My daughter's expires Friday and tax due Monday. This morning she booked it in for a service and MoT. No problem getting time at the garage! She has no income as of last week so I am paying for her to keep safe. 

Miles

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My daughters car MOT runs out on the 31 March so just covered by this.

At the moment its booked for a service and MOT tomorrow but if the garage cant do  it will be covered by the new 6 Month extension. 

Our Campervan has a airbag ECU fault the only place I can find in the UK who are capable of fixing it (** see below) is a garage in Devon. I was booked to have it done today but felt that it wasn't right spending the day driving from Cambridge to Devon to get the Van fixed. I cancelled the visit and was resigned to SORN'ing the van until sometime in the future as the MOT runs out next month, airbag fault light = NO MOT. At least with the MOT extension I have a chance of getting it there in the next 6 months to get it fixed.

Mike

** 
Its a Peugeot Boxer van based camper. 2011. air bag ECU failure is common. Tried getting the unit repaired but not possible, tried getting a second-hand unit and getting the data from the original unit transferred into a second-hand unit. Tried 3 different ones from all over Europe but none of them worked.
You cant just plug a  new (or secondhand) unit in to the van as it wont be recognised by the main ECU. 
The Devon garage has brought the last compatible ECU unit in the UK. To install it he has to get onto Fiat's dealer network (Fait and Peugeots vans are basically the same) and find the original settings for the vehicle and then he can program the ECU and tell the main ECU (this bit is called Proxy Alignment) that it has  a new Airbag ECU....
The Devon garage was the only place who seemed to know how to do it, local Peugeot main dealer said there couldn't do it! 
This will probably cost me around £700 by the time it done. If it was an ordinary van then it would not be worth repairing, as its a Campervan it worth about £32k (campervans hold there value) so worth spending the money on, not that I am expecting to be able to use it this year.


This is the way of modern vehicles and is why there wont be a Classic vehicle movement in the future as it will be impossible to keep them running.... 
BTW I did think about doing something about the Airbag light on the dashboard, cant simply put a relay inline to turn it on and off as the dashboard is driven from the Canbus and very difficult to hack. 
Cant even replace the dashboard with doing a Proxy Alignment to get it work.  :(


 

 

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27 minutes ago, MilesA said:

Darren

Looking at the link from Rod, looks like your wife is still required to get an MoT. My daughter's expires Friday and tax due Monday. This morning she booked it in for a service and MoT. No problem getting time at the garage! She has no income as of last week so I am paying for her to keep safe. 

Miles

Typically, my wife's car has a valid MOT until the 30th. If it was the day before or the day after it would be easier to know. I'm reading it at the moment that she doesn't need to get it, but I could be wrong. I'd rather avoid getting the MOT if I can, as she is in the high risk category and I want to minimise going out.  

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Darren

I've looked at the link I posted above again - and it says "What to do if your car, van or motorcycle’s MOT due date is up to and including 29 March 2020."

I'm not sure it said that before.

There was also on one of the earlier link pages an instruction to check your MOT History - https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history   …  If you put the Reg in it should show the 6 month extension (you might have to keep checking as the DVLA get all the data in order - I don't envy any Gov dept at the moment with the workloads.

 

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Don't think it works like that Alan - all cars get 6 months extension to their existing due date and so that will spread it out.

I thought I read how long a period this would be for earlier, but I can't find it now. The scheme will have to be for a lengthy period, possibly a year(?) to avoid lumping deferred due dates into a period where other MOT's are due.

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6 hours ago, Rod1883 said:

There was also on one of the earlier link pages an instruction to check your MOT History - https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history   …  If you put the Reg in it should show the 6 month extension (you might have to keep checking as the DVLA get all the data in order - I don't envy any Gov dept at the moment with the workloads.

 

Thank you for the additional links Miles and Rod. I think the new information on the .gov link makes things a bit clearer, but it all seems to hinge on when exactly an MOT expires. On my wife Tina's car, it says that the MOT is valid until 30th March 2020. I wonder if that means it expires at midnight on the 29th, or if it includes the 30th.  

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So now there is a scramble for an unlucky few to get MoTs before a random cut-off date. Genius.....:( 

Probably pandering to some computer need and sod the humans.... Guess you shouldn’t run that close to the wire anyway but if you’ve been self isolating for a couple of weeks already......

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